International

The Perils Of Overfishing, Part 1

Published November 1, 2009 at 9:30 PM PST

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

Daniel Pauly warns that overfishing and the pollution of the oceans could force seafood off of our plates.

This is the first segment of Fresh Air's two-part interview with Daniel Pauly. The second part of the interview airs Nov. 3, 2009.

Daniel Pauly, a professor at the Fisheries Centre of the University of British Columbia, warns that the global fishing industry has drastically depleted the number of fish in the oceans. In an Oct. 7, 2009 article entitled "Aquacalypse Now: The End of Fish," published by The New Republic, Pauly writes that in the past 50 years "we have reduced the populations of large commercial fish, such as bluefin tuna, cod, and other favorites, by a staggering 90 percent."

Pauly says that as the fish populations decline, boats have begun to catch fish that weren't considered before — sometimes renaming them to sound more appetizing. (Thus the "Patagonian toothfish" becomes the "Chilean seabass.")

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