Our world is a water world, because up to 70% of the world's surface is covered by oceans, seas and other bodies of water . Although these bodies of water may seem like a calm, empty void, beneath the surface they hold life and mysteries that one could barely imagine. However, the lives of these fish and other marine animals are quickly being wiped out by the planet's largest predator; dude. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essay Humanity has evolved over the years and developed many survival skills, but it seems that the skills we have acquired could lead to our destruction. This can be seen in the way we overexploit our oceans. For centuries, millions of people have turned to the ocean as a source of income and livelihood through fishing, while billions use it as a source of food. Think about it: isn't the ocean's ability to provide food for the billions of people alive today simply incredible? However, in providing food for the growing world population, intensive commercial fishing has rapidly depleted the ocean's fish population, sparking concern that we are wreaking havoc on the ocean ecosystem through overfishing (Shakouri . can be defined as the capture of fish in excess of what the population can replace through natural reproduction (WWF, nd). Simply put, overfishing prevents fish from maintaining their own life cycle. Although environmentalists now highlight the impacts of overfishing, the beginning of the modern era of exploitation of ocean fish dates back to the 11th century (Fagan, B. 2017). This period in our history brought many developments in fishing technology that allowed fishermen to fish new areas for longer periods and for larger catches. Simply, the development of this era allowed fishermen to wreak havoc on an area's fish population until it dwindled, then move on to newer, more prosperous areas and this continues until this day as technology has developed further. (Greenpeace. 2011.) Centuries later, after the rapid rise of large-scale industrial fishing operations, it was widely recognized that global fish stocks were overfished and declining, but industrialists still continued to fish (Worms and Myers, 2003). Today, data shows that up to 32% of global fish stocks have been exploited beyond the sustainable limit; The amount tripled in the 1970s and continues to rise! (FAO, 2013) Therefore, the need for humanity to consume fish in its diet has led the World Conservation Union to add species such as southern bluefin tuna and northern cod to the “list red” from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). critically endangered species (Sumaila et al. 2006). Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay But even despite the endangerment of not just a few fish species, but the entire fish population, and the collapse of many major global fisheries, the expansion of fishing efforts continues. continues without any sign of slowing down. With global declines in fish populations apparent, the question arises whether we can continue to.?