Facts About Fish: Earth Day Network

FISH
FACTS ABOUT FISH
• Fish can be found in all bodies of water: lakes, rivers, seas,

oceans, and ponds. In total, it is estimated that there are over
32,000 different species of fish worldwide.193
• The difference in size amongst fish is as wide as the oceans
themselves! A cyprinid fish, the world’s smallest, is only .3 inches
long194 while the Whale Shark is one of the world’s largest at over
30 feet long!195
• The amount of fish that humans capture is staggering. In 2016, an estimated 91 million tons of fish
were captured.196
• It is becoming clearer that humans are overfishing and destabilizing the marine ecosystem. Within
the last century, over two-thirds of the population of predatory fishes, such as sharks, have also
declined.197
• Overall, there has been a decrease in both biodiversity and abundance irrespective of what marine
ecosystem is observed.198
WHY WE NEED TO PROTECT FISH

Role in the Ecosystem: Fish make a major contribution to their
ecosystem: providing essential nutrients that support the whole
ecosystem.199 Simply put, fish are excellent recyclers of the nutri-
ents that algae and other bottom-level species need to survive that
in turn support the remainder of the ecosystem. The importance of
this function suggests that overfishing can be highly detrimental to
the proper functioning of the whole ecosystem.200
Ecosystem Services: Fisheries provide both ample ecosystem

services for a great number of communities.201 Specifically, species of fish provide both recreational
Protect Our Species Primer and Action Toolkit
and cultural services around the world – from sport fishing in ponds to various religious ceremonies.202
Economic Contribution: Food from fish alone generated $231.6 billion in value for 2016.203 Globally,
the supply chain of fisheries employs an estimated 120 million people, with 116 million of these jobs
located in the developing world.204
Uniqueness: As fish are found in all different habitats around the world, from deep in the ocean to
shallow streams, fish have evolved and adapted to their respective habitats in fascinating ways. For
instance, some species of fish navigate and hunt through electroreception, a process by which they
detect and respond to electrical stimuli, to learn things such as the speed of the current.205
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THREATS TO FISH
Climate Change: Rising water temperatures in oceans and seas threaten to disrupt the migration and
distribution of numerous fish species,206 from the Pacific Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.207 What is
more, many species of fish are decreasing in size as a result of climate change.208 Most concerning,
the degradation of coral reefs due to rising sea temperatures has had disastrous effects on the fish
species that are supported by the reef; according to one study, the loss of coral reefs in Papua New
Guinea led to a 50% decline in the population of the endemic fish species.209 Lastly, roughly a third
of all carbon emissions from fossil fuels is absorbed by the ocean; this has made oceans about 30%
more acidic in the last few decades.210 As the ocean acidifies, species that support the well-being of
fish, such as coral and oysters, face difficulty in forming their shells.211
Habitat Loss: Since the 1960s, the amount of water held by dams in reservoirs has quadrupled,
severely impacting the population levels of freshwater fish.212 Also, agricultural development, water
treatment facilities, and raw sewage pollute fish’s ecosystems.213
Overfishing: Around 35% of the world’s fish stocks were overfished in 2016.214 The European eel,
to use one example, has seen its population decrease by over 90% since the 1970s.215 The Atlantic
salmon has seen its population decrease by 90% as well.216
Ocean Pollution: Pollution in a fish’s aquatic home can come in

many forms and from different sources – chemicals from produc-
tion plants, plastic from waste facilities, fertilizers from agriculture
– but the end result is exactly the same: it either severely harms or
kills fish.217 Not only does pollution affect the fish and their ecosys-
tems, but the effects of pollution make their way back to the pol-
luters (us) in the form of contaminated seafood.218 In one instance,
the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010
decimated much of the region’s fisheries and inflicted an estimated
$3.5 billion in economic losses.219
HOW TO HELP FISH

Prevent Water Pollution: Whether you are by a body of water or farther inland, chemicals and pollut-
ants linked to human activity make their way to the ocean. Helpful actions include properly disposing
of waste or recyclables and reducing or eliminating lawn and garden fertilization. Plastic debris in
waters is a big problem for fish—ingestion and entanglement are among the problems. Actions such
as joining or organizing a beach or river cleanup, switching to reusable plastic bags, and reducing
plastic consumption overall can help prevent and reduce the risk to fish and other marine life.
Support Sustainable Fisheries: Overfishing can deplete fish populations past the point of recovery. Protect Our Species Primer and Action Toolkit
By buying fish and fish products from certified sustainable sources, you can help ensure that the fish
and their ecosystems continue to thrive. To learn more about the different types of eco-labeling, click
here.
Test your knowledge about threats to ocean ecosystems with our Oceans Plastic Pollution Quiz.
Help End Plastic Pollution by learning about the actions you can do with our Plastic Pollution Primer
and Action toolkit.
Check out all of Earth Day Network’s resources to help Protect our Species.
Sign our pesticide pledge.
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
ARTICLES/BLOGS/READINGS
Scientists hope DNA in water could be way to save rare fish – Associated Press
http://bit.ly/2ItR19J
Scientists in Maine are using DNA to try to preserve the remaining populations of a fish that lives in 14
lakes and ponds in the state and nowhere else in the continental United States.
VIDEOS
These are the Ocean’s Protected Areas—and We Need More – National Geographic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2oNrX_ZFE8
The ocean faces many challenges, but has the extraordinary power to replenish when it is protected.
Marine protected areas facilitate resilience and recovery for degraded areas of the ocean, and offer
opportunities to rebuild stocks of commercially important species, such as various fish species.
STORYTELLING
TEDx Talk: Are Fish Smart? Do They Have Personalities? - Even Moland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdMKQBrHKdc
In studying the behaviour and movement of fish and lobsters – how they live, where they hide, which
ones are caught by fishers, and which ones escape to obtain large sizes and old age – he’s also
learning how marine populations can be protected.
OTHERS WORKING ON THIS
Deep Sea Conservation Coalition

http://www.savethehighseas.org/
The DSCC was founded in 2004, to address the issue of bottom trawling on the high seas in the
absence of an effective governance regime. The coalition is made up of over 70 non-governmental
organisations, fishers organisations and law and policy institutes, all committed to protecting the
deep sea.
REPORTS
Protect Our Species Primer and Action Toolkit
Agriculture’s Impact on Aquaculture: Hypoxia and Eutrophication in Marine Waters – OECD

https://www.oecd.org/greengrowth/sustainable-agriculture/49841630.pdf
This report summarizes and assesses the environmental externalities of nutrient enrichment, eutrophi-
cation, and hypoxia associated with the expanding agriculture on the aquaculture sector.
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FISH

FACTS ABOUT FISH

• Fish can be found in all bodies of water: lakes, rivers, seas,

WHY WE NEED TO PROTECT FISH

Ecosystem Services: Fisheries provide both ample ecosystem

EARTH DAY NETWORK

Ocean Pollution: Pollution in a fish’s aquatic home can come in

HOW TO HELP FISH

Sign our pesticide pledge.

EARTH DAY NETWORK

OTHERS WORKING ON THIS

Deep Sea Conservation Coalition

Agriculture’s Impact on Aquaculture: Hypoxia and Eutrophication in Marine Waters – OECD

EARTH DAY NETWORK

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