When Henry Hudson first sailed into the waters around what is now New York, he reported seeing rivers full of fish, so many that they were beyond counting. Since then, of course, between fishing and pollution, those waters are no longer full of fish. We don’t think much about fishing, but the worldwide problem of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing destroys ocean ecosystems, often using forced labor as well.
Companies, usually from poor countries, run what are known as factory ships, overfishing an area, prepping the fish or other sea creatures into marketable cans, and leaving the dredges in the ocean. The U,S,, Canada, and UK along with many other nations have a compact on fishing and are working with other countries such as Ecuador, Panama, and Vietnam on this serious problem that is destroying ocean ecosystems.
As consumers of seafood, we need to make sure that our consumption does not rob the world of future ocean life. We need to leave something for the future, our children’s future.
Prayer for the Day
You have given us the gift of the oceans, rivers, and streams, O God,
Full of the life you have created for our use on this earth;
You have entrusted us with care for life even within the deep,
Swirling with creatures we do not even know as of yet.
Enable us, O Lord, to care for the waters, even those unknown to us,
So we do not destroy the important balance of life therein.
In the name of the One who called the fishermen of old,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
If overfishing continues, if pollution continues, many of these species will be wiped off the face of the earth.
- Bernard Marcus, co-founder of The Home Depot
In years past, we would just take, take, take, from the oceans, but now we realize this is not an option, that the oceans keep us alive, and that we need to tread more carefully.
- Sylvia Earle, oceanographer
Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1: 20-21