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Despite warnings that already depleted stocks could drop further, Namibia's government increased hake catch quotas.
It's Spain's most popular fish. The average citizen eats over nine pounds annually in a nation consuming more fish than almost all other European ones. At the same time, people don't always get what they pay for.
According to an ICIJ study, almost of 10% of fish in Spanish markets are mislabeled. In 2010, Spanish and Greek researchers at the University of Oviedo and Aristotle University of Thessalonika discovered high levels of mislabeling hake imports in both countries.
South African species were called European or South American ones. The latter two bring double the market price of South Africa's.
Spain's Europe's most important fishing nation. Researchers focused on it because regional economies and fish stocks are in shambles.
Part III explained as fisheries push their limits, giant trawlers move south toward Antarctica to catch what's left. In addition, researchers documented how Asian, European and Latin American fleets devastated southern Pacific stocks.
Once one the world's richest waters, they're vastly depleted. As a result, experts say the only solution is banning fishing entirely for five years to provide time for generating new supplies.
In Peruvian and Chilean waters, jack mackerel are severely depleted. What used to take hours to catch now takes days. Chileans call them jurel. Once, plentiful in southern Pacific waters, they going fast toward entirely disappearing based on current trends.
Rich in protein, they're also reduced to feed for aquaculture and pigs when there's not enough for humans. It takes over 11 pounds of jack mackerel to raise two pounds of farmed salmon.
In two decades, stocks dropped from an estimated 30 million metric tons to less than three million. As a result, new fishing grounds are sought. Areas around Antarctica are being exploited to secure what's left.
An ICIJ southern Pacific study showed why jack mackerel depletion foretells fishing stock fates globally. At issue is decades of unchecked plunder, government complicity, and public indifference. University of British Columbia's Daniel Pauly calls mackerel a metaphor for overall decline.
Looting the seas unchecked assures eventual demise of a valued global food source for millions.
It's one of many environmental crimes destroying planet earth for profit unless stopped.
Doing so requires holding corrupt politicians responsible and replacing them with honest ones. Only grassroots activism can achieve it.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at Email address removed .
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/ .
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