What is Fish Dependence Day and why we have already "run out" of Mediterranean fish in July

Mediterranean fish is virtually exhausted in the first six months of the year.For the WWF it is necessary to protect marine habitats and reduce the consumption of fish products.

• With its consumption of fish, Europe has virtually exhausted the fish resources of the Mediterranean.
• The problem of overfishing is exacerbated by illegal fishing and climate change.
• We need to increase the protection of marine ecosystems and the conscious consumption of fish.

He is called Fish dependence day and it is that moment in which theEurope virtually runs out the equivalent of the quantity of fish, molluscs and crustaceans that the Mediterranean Sea generates every year.As he recalls Wwf, it happens, every year, to July:it means, in fact, that if in first six months of 2024 European citizens had consumed Alone fish resources of the Mare nostrum, from July to the end of the year these would no longer be available and Europe would have to resort to imports to support growing consumer demand.

For this year, Europe has virtually run out of Mediterranean fish

In the Mediterranean the 58 percent of fish populations are overfished, compared to 37.7 percent of those overexploited globally.Each European citizen consumes on average approximately 24 kilos of fish per year with Italians exceeding the average with 31.21 kilos of fish per capita per year.In Italy, among the most overexploited species are the hake, the sardine, i shrimp (purple and pink) and the mud mullet. 

They weigh on the situation illegal fishing, unreported and unregulated, which puts health workers at risk marine ecosystems and local economies, and i climate changes which are causing effects like the tropicalization of the sea.As water temperatures rise, many native species are put at risk.Almost a thousand new ones invasive species, of which 126 fish species, have entered the Mediterranean, causing reductions in native species of up to 40 percent in some areas, for reasons of competition or predation.

Wwf:“We need to increase habitat protection, but also reduce and diversify fish consumption”

“Scientific evidence confirms that by increasing protection in key areas of the Mediterranean, marine habitats could recover, key fish stocks could be rebuilt and we could better combat the impacts of climate change,” he says Giulia Prato, Sea manager of WWF Italy.“Reducing our consumption of fish, especially as regards the most overexploited species, by diversifying our choices of seafood products is also essential to counteract overfishing, encourage the transition towards more sustainable fishing and support the resilience of the marine ecosystem”.

The WWF invites you to purchase adult fish, local and in season, choosing uncommon species, and avoiding the most overexploited ones, so as to balance the pressure on marine resources, favoring the maintenance of marine biodiversity and the regeneration of fish populations.