
© The Ocean Story/Vincent Kneefel
A report launched at the Third UN Ocean Conference, in Nice, shows that 35 per cent of the global fish stocks are being harvested unsustainably.
By Fabrice Robinet, reporting from Nice Climate and Environment
At the Third UN Ocean Conference in Nice, the “catch of the day” wasn’t a seabass or a red mullet – it was a figure: 35 per cent. That’s the share of global fish stocks now being harvested unsustainably, according to a new UN report released Wednesday.
As yachts bobbed gently and delegates streamed by in a rising tide of lanyards and iPads at Port Lympia, Nice’s historic harbor, that statistic sent a ripple through the conference’s third day – a stark reminder that the world’s oceans are under growing pressure from overfishing, climate change and unsustainable management.