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Human Race And Its Effects On The Ocean

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Not to common knowledge 90% of the world’s biomass is placed in the ocean, taking up 70% of the Earth’s surface. Studies have shown that 20% of the world’s protein is extracted from the ocean. Humans catch roughly 72 million tons of pelagic fish annually. We don’t just extract fish out of the ocean but also other resources such as oil, sand, gravel, salt and etc. Yes, we do extract resources from the ocean, but we don’t stop there, we continue to dump harmful substances such as 5 million tons of plastic back into the ocean. Asia alone has one billion people dependent on fish as a protein source. With all the benefits the ocean has to provide you would assumed that the human race would nurture and care for its defining feature, the ocean. Sadly, we have only taped off 1% of the world’s oceans. Marine protected areas also commonly known as MPAs have been around for a few decades, picking up in popularity in many nations. MPAs are areas such as fishery management zones, national parks, and what we have mainly focused on, marine reserves. We have not sectored off any more than the size of the west coast of the US. With the world extracting the majority of the protein source from the ocean we need to be aware of the effects it has on the marine fauna. Establishing these MPAs will help preserve keystone, endangered, exotic and commercial fished species. The idea of a sectored area of limits to man is not a new idea. The idea has been thrown around for centuries in Island nations

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