Overfishing is one of the biggest threats to marine ecosystems. Today, over 80% of the world’s fish stocks are fully exploited, overexploited, depleted or recovering from depletion.
The UAE has a large appetite for fish, with many species being taken out well beyond sustainable levels. Studies show that the overall number of commercial fish in the country has declined by 80% in the last 30 years.
Hamour, a highly favoured fish in the UAE, is being overfished 7 times beyond its sustainable level, with a decline of 87-92% since 1978, putting it at the top of the overfished species list.
Aiming to provide people with the necessary knowledge to make an informed and wise choice, a wallet size consumer guide has been developed with the support from Environment Agency- Abu Dhabi, classifying 19 popular fish types into 3 categories, based on stock assessment studies that have been carried out by scientists at the Agency. The guide assigns a colour to each of those categories ( see the picture bellow) with the colour red distinguishing overfished types that include many of the popularly consumed fish, such as Shaari, Kanaad, Farsh, and Hamour.
For more details about what we should do when fishing please visit http://www.choosewisely.ae/
or click the picture bellow