Fishing Fleets Threw Away 10 Percent of Their Catch Over the Past Decade

“Waste not, want not.” The origin of this proverb traces back centuries, but time has hardly tarnished its relevance. It’s a warning every generation would do well to heed: Mismanaging precious commodities today will lead to an impoverished future. It’s so simple. It’s so true. It’s so often ignored. Case-in-point: global industrial fishing operations. Over the past decade, fishing fleets simply threw away more than 10 percent—enough to fill 4,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools—of the world’s total catch, according to a decade-long study conducted by the “Sea Around Us” initiative. And although survival rates vary depending on species, it’s often the case that perfectly marketable fish are dying or already dead by the time they are discarded. Every year, researchers estimate, 10 million tons of fish are wasted. The practice is particularly egregious given 85 percent of the world’s fisheries are now being pushed beyond their biological limits, and the very ...