With 7.49 billion human beings, more than 4 million fishing vessels, more than 33,000 merchant ships conducting global trade using more than 500 million containers, our world seas and oceans are under tremendous pressure.

In 1950, the extraction of seafood (fish, shellfish, crustaceans, molluscs and mammals) was approximately 20 million tons per year, as of today, we could be extracting more than 130 million tons per year. According to experts, if we continue to overexploit our seas and oceans at this rate, we would be in danger of extinguishing by 2050 most of the species we eat today. We know that three quarters of them are being over-exploited. We have not understood that we must allow time for different marine species to reproduce. In the massive hunt for tuna, we must know that each kilo of tuna needs 10 kilos of other species to feed. And that if we continue to exploit anchovy indiscriminately, as the main food (flour) for large aquaculture farms, we are destined to the extinction of this species.

We have sophisticated vessels for over 12,000 years. At the beginning the fishing boats were with sails, oars and only of wood. Today we have tuna boats, trawlers, longliners, multipurpose tuna vessels, flyers and inshore vessels. We still use wood to build them, but now we build steel, fiberglass boats and surely some sport fishing boats and pleasure yachts must be using polycarbonate. Today we know that there are infinite types of ships, such as bajel, balandra, barca, brig, bombarda ,boat, caravel, ratchet, chamberlain, clipper, coca, corvette, felucca, faluche, filibote, flute, frigate, whip, galeaza, galeoncete , galley, galley, schooner, jabeque, speedboat, gunboat, lugger, mystic, ship, ship, liner, patache, pailebote, packet, package, pinnace, pingue, polish, ketch, saetia, sumaca, urca, yacht and zabra.

There are three main types of fishing: inshore, high-altitude and high-altitude, according to the distance from the coast to the fishing grounds or piers and how the fishing is carried out. Inshore fishing is carried out between the coast and about 60 miles, with boats of 20 to 100 tons of cargo and with little crew, since their routes and the fishing itself are carried out in a short time. The high altitude is practiced at a greater distance, longer and with a larger crew. And the high altitude can be carried out in all the oceans of the world, it can last from 6 to 8 months, with large boats, with large crews that fish, process and freeze, and even package their marine products. And these boats have sophisticated navigation equipment that detects the movements of fishing schools, with modern radars and telecommunications.

The most common techniques are trawling, which literally consists of plowing the bottom of the ocean, extracting everything in its path. With huge networks of up to 3,000 meters, they destroy entire marine ecosystems. Most of these catches lack commercial value, so they are returned to the sea, already lifeless. They are the so-called discards, a disproportionate sacrifice to obtain the greatest quantity of the sought marine species. Traditional fishing grounds, near the coast, have been depleted of life and large commercial vessels need to go further and further and scratch deeper and deeper to find fish. The problem is that wherever trawlers pass, life does not arise again. The habitat disappears and with it the species, which migrate from the place.

In the opinion of Daniel Pauly, a French biologist expert in oceanographic conservation and one of the 50 most influential scientists in the world according to Scientific American magazine, “trawling is like looting on a bank, where thieves destroy everything and leave with the money. What remains is a desert, and nothing grows in the desert. ” "Industrial fishing is posed as a war against fish," says Pauly. "Winning this war means the annihilation of life at sea."

Trap fishing simply uses traps (metal or plastic boxes) to catch fish. And the boats that practice it have a nursery with sea water to transport their fish. Purse seine fishing is used to catch surface species (sardines, herrings, etc.). A huge network supported by two cables is used. The one at the top has floats and the one at the bottom has a lead ballast that allows it to dive. Almadraba fishing is the traditional method where fixed nets that catch fish (bluefin tuna) are used.

Además de las embarcaciones pesqueras que se dedican precisamente a extraer de los océanos y mares del mundo, los productos marinos. También existen muchas otras embarcaciones, que de acuerdo con la ingeniería naval, se distinguen en dos tipos: los barcos menores, que son los barcos con una eslora (largo) menor a 24 metros y con 50 o menos de volumen interno y los barcos mayores que son aquéllos cuya eslora (largo) supera esas dos medidas.

Por su método de propulsión se dividen en: propulsión humana (canoas, kayaks, faluchos y los antiguos trirremes); los de propulsión eólica (vela, los barcos a rotor) y los de propulsión mecánica (motores o turbinas) y los submarinos nucleares. Los barcos comerciales que atraviesan el globo terráqueo, se conocen como buques portacontenedores, buques de carga en general, buques de carga refrigerada, buques graneleros (de carga a granel), buques cisterna (tanques), buques petroleros, buques aljibe, buque de carga rodante (ro-ro), buques de carga de vehículos, buques metaneros o LNG (con transporte criogénico de gas), buques de abastecimiento, buques para dragado, buques rompehielo, buques de exploración sismográfica y buques de perforación.

Además de la gran presión que ejercemos por la sobreexplotación, al ecosistema marino, debemos considerar, que las propelas de todas estas embarcaciones generan ondas sonoras que se trasmiten de forma inmediata y a gran distancia en el agua, lo que ocasiona graves afectaciones las diferentes especies marinas. Eso sin contar la basura oceánica, que actualmente ha cobrado una relevancia mayor, debido a las miles de tonelada de envases de plásticos (polietilenos de baja y alta densidad) que estamos arrojando a indebidamente a nuestro mares y océanos. Esta basura oceánica proviene, entre otras fuentes, como las mismas playas de todos los continentes, como de los grandes cruceros que diariamente navegan las zonas turísticas del mar del caribe, del mar mediterráneo, del mar del norte y por supuesto de las islas asiáticas. Y también de los barcos mercantes. Además debemos recordar que en la playas y costa de nuestros continentes se encuentran asentados más de 2,000 millones de seres humanos, que con sus actividades de vivienda, y actividades de recreación (jet-ski) y buceo deportivo, hoteles, restaurantes, discotecas y toda clase de desarrollos urbanos, estamos generando infinidad de residuos, no solamente sólidos urbanos (basura) sino que también debemos estar concientes de que todas estas actividades turísticas de recreación y divertimento, generan sustancias químicas. Por ejemplo, ahora usamos ácido tricloroisocianúrico, para tratar las aguas de las albercas, que es una sustancia tóxica, que ayuda a eliminar las bacterias. Cuando se cambia el agua de dichas albercas, estas aguas terminan siendo vertidas al mar. Tenemos decenas de sustancias químicas en las formulaciones de los bronceadores solares, de cremas humectantes, perfumes y los cosméticos de las mujeres. Además de las aguas residuales, sin tratar, que son vertidas a los mares y océanos, que llevan cantidades enormes de carga orgánica y de estas sustancias químicas que van alterando diariamente la calidad del agua de nuestros mares. Las plantas termoeléctricas que están en las costas, generan una gran contaminación química. Por una parte, las plantas que queman todavía diésel o combustóleo, (como muchas de la Comisión Federal de Electricidad en nuestro país) generan emisiones tóxicas de SO3 que al reaccionar con el Hidrógeno que generan los grandes volúmenes de vapor de los sistemas de enfriamiento de agua de estas grandes plantas, se convierte en una lluvia ácida (ácido sulfúrico) permanente que cae sobre nuestro mares y océanos. Y la contaminación de sus agua residuales, que contienen metales pesados que son producto de la degradación de los fluxes metálicos que contienen los grandes intercambiadores de calor, de los enormes generadores de vapor, que cuando son limpiados con soluciones ácidas (ácido clorhídrico o muriático) para su mantenimiento, desprenden grandes cantidades de metales pesados.

The massive deaths of large mammals, killer whales, whales, dolphins that sometimes without explanation to our beaches, in different parts of the planet, should not be seen as scientific mysteries or magical legends. They are simply the result of so much chemical pollution that we are dumping daily into our seas and oceans.

We have examples in our country of regions such as Baja California Sur where in the last 3 years, we have had beaches in this region as cemeteries of more than 3,000 loggerhead carcasses. Specifically in the San Lázaro Beach, located in the port, Adolfo López Mateos in the Gulf of Ulloa, which although different NGO's presume that these deaths, may be caused by incidental fishing, the federal authorities (Profepa, Conamp and Sepesca) are determined to define fishing for this terrible mortality, of this endangered species.

En el Perú más de tres mil delfines aparecieron muertos en las playas del norte del país, afectados por las actividades de exploración y explotación petrolera, durante el verano del 2014. Las compañías petroleras usan frecuencias de onda acústica que producirían la muerte de estos cetáceos y de otros como lobos marinos y ballenas en las playas del norte. Esta mortandad masiva se debería a la llamada ‘burbuja marina’, una bolsa acústica que se forma al usar en la profundidad del mar equipos para buscar petróleo, gas y otros minerales. Según un informe de la Organización Científica para Conservación de Animales Acuáticos (ORCA) la revisión médica y los análisis de histopatología forenses realizados a estos delfines revelaron que padecían de síndrome de descompresión aguda evidenciado por fracturas en los huesos perióticos y hemorragia en el oído medio, enfisema pulmonar diseminado, y burbujas de aire en órganos como el hígado, riñón y vasos sanguíneos.

The dolphins did not present external injuries of any kind, so it is concluded that acoustic impact would be the primary cause of stranding. For the veterinary doctor and director of ORCA, Carlos Yaipén-Llanos, the effects produced by these “bubbles” are not visible to the naked eye or immediately, but rather generate subsequent effects in the impacted animals. "This fact has claimed the lives of more than 3,000 dolphins and other cetaceans. Furthermore, not all animals in the physical space or range of a "marine bubble" are affected. Only those whose communication / hearing frequency is in the acoustic range of the "bubble" will suffer the impact directly, causing them to lose balance, disorientation, internal bleeding, destruction of the inner ear, mandibular destruction, respiratory decompression, bubbles of air in organs and circulatory system, strokes, and eventually, death ”, describes the expert.

In conclusion: we are ending the great biodiversity that nature gives us in the seas and oceans of the planet. This immense source of marine products, as a food source (excellent source of animal protein) may soon be finished. It is essential that we reflect on reconsidering the form of intensive fishing that we carry out today. We must modify our behaviors when we are resting or having fun in the clowns of the world, to avoid dumping solid waste and chemical substances into the sea. We have to rethink sport diving and establish a new code of conduct that allows regulating the number of divers who can visit special places for sport diving, we must use canoes and rowing boats, instead of using boats with large noisy engines and fossil fuels and oils, which eventually end up at sea. The aggressive technology of "acoustic bags" for oil exploration and exploitation must be replaced by new technologies for electrical or magnetic resonance.

We should not wait for the marine catastrophe, when we cannot obtain any product from the sea to feed ourselves. We are on time.

Imagenes: pixabay.com