TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Jennifer Jacquet: Will the ocean ever run out of fish?

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Fish are in trouble. The cod population off Canada's East Coast collapsed in the 1990s, intense recreational and commercial fihnsig has decimated goliath grouper populations in South Florida, and most populations of tuna have plummeted by over 50%, with the Southern Atlantic bluefin on the verge of extinction. Those are just a couple of many examples. onherviifsg is happening all over the world. How did this happen? When some people think of fishing, they imagine relaxing in a boat and patiently rlineeg in the day's catch. But modern industrial fishing, the kind that stocks our grocery shevles, looks more like warfare. In fact, the technologies they employ were developed for war. Radar, sanor, helicopters, and spotter planes are all used to guide factory ships towards dwindling schools of fish. Long lines with hundreds of hkoos or huge nets round up massive amounts of fish, along with other species, like seabirds, turtles, and dolphins. And fish are hauled up onto giant boats, complete with onboard flash frnieezg and processing fiaiitlces. All of these technologies have enabled us to catch fish at greater depths and farther out at sea than ever before. And as the distance and depth of fishing have expanded, so has the vraiety of seiceps we teragt. For example, the Patagonian toothfish neither sudons nor looks very ateipzipng. And fishermen ignored it until the late 1970s. Then it was rebranded and markteed to chefs in the U.S. as Chilean sea bass, despite the animal actually being a type of cod. Soon it was pnppiog up in markets all over the world and is now a dcelcaiy. Unfortunately, these deep water fish don't reproduce until they're at least ten years old, making them extremely vulnerable to overfishing when the young are cgauht before they've had the cacnhe to spawn. Consumer taste and pecirs can also have harmful effects. For example, shark fin soup is crosdeneid such a delicacy in China and Vietnam that the fin has become the most profitable part of the shark. This leads many fishermen to fill their boats with fins lvaieng monillis of dead sharks behind. The problems aren't unique to toothfish and skarhs. Almost 31% of the world's fish populations are overfished, and another 58% are feishd at the maximum sustainable level. Wild fish simply can't reproduce as fast as 7 billion people can eat them. Fishing also has impacts on broader ecosystems. Wild shrimp are typically caught by dragging nets the size of a football field along the ocean btootm, disrupting or doriytsneg slafoeor habitats. The ctcah is often as little as 5% shrimp. The rest is by-catch, unwanted animals that are thrown back dead. And coastal shirmp farming isn't much better. Mangroves are bulldozed to make room for shrimp farms, robbing ctaasol communities of sortm poetcirotn and natural water filtration and depriving fish of key nursery habitats. So what does it look like to give fish a break and let them rovecer? Protection can take many forms. In national waters, governments can set limits about how, when, where, and how much fishing occurs, with restrictions on certain baots and equipment. Harmful practices, such as bottom trawling, can be banned altogether, and we can establish marine reserves csloed to all fishing to help ecosystems restore themselves. There's also a role for cumnseor awareness and boycotts to reduce wfaeutsl practices, like shark finning, and push fishing intduierss towards more sustainable practices. Past interventions have successfully helped depleted fish plouipaotns recover. There are many solutions. The best approach for each fishery must be considered based on science, respect for the lcaol communities that rely on the oeacn, and for fish as wild animals. And then the rules must be erfenocd. International collaboration is often ndeeed, too, because fish don't care about our borders. We need to end overfishing. Ecosystems, food security, jobs, economies, and coastal cultures all depend on it.

Open Cloze

Fish are in trouble. The cod population off Canada's East Coast collapsed in the 1990s, intense recreational and commercial _______ has decimated goliath grouper populations in South Florida, and most populations of tuna have plummeted by over 50%, with the Southern Atlantic bluefin on the verge of extinction. Those are just a couple of many examples. ___________ is happening all over the world. How did this happen? When some people think of fishing, they imagine relaxing in a boat and patiently _______ in the day's catch. But modern industrial fishing, the kind that stocks our grocery _______, looks more like warfare. In fact, the technologies they employ were developed for war. Radar, _____, helicopters, and spotter planes are all used to guide factory ships towards dwindling schools of fish. Long lines with hundreds of _____ or huge nets round up massive amounts of fish, along with other species, like seabirds, turtles, and dolphins. And fish are hauled up onto giant boats, complete with onboard flash ________ and processing __________. All of these technologies have enabled us to catch fish at greater depths and farther out at sea than ever before. And as the distance and depth of fishing have expanded, so has the _______ of _______ we ______. For example, the Patagonian toothfish neither ______ nor looks very __________. And fishermen ignored it until the late 1970s. Then it was rebranded and ________ to chefs in the U.S. as Chilean sea bass, despite the animal actually being a type of cod. Soon it was _______ up in markets all over the world and is now a ________. Unfortunately, these deep water fish don't reproduce until they're at least ten years old, making them extremely vulnerable to overfishing when the young are ______ before they've had the ______ to spawn. Consumer taste and ______ can also have harmful effects. For example, shark fin soup is __________ such a delicacy in China and Vietnam that the fin has become the most profitable part of the shark. This leads many fishermen to fill their boats with fins _______ ________ of dead sharks behind. The problems aren't unique to toothfish and ______. Almost 31% of the world's fish populations are overfished, and another 58% are ______ at the maximum sustainable level. Wild fish simply can't reproduce as fast as 7 billion people can eat them. Fishing also has impacts on broader ecosystems. Wild shrimp are typically caught by dragging nets the size of a football field along the ocean ______, disrupting or __________ ________ habitats. The _____ is often as little as 5% shrimp. The rest is by-catch, unwanted animals that are thrown back dead. And coastal ______ farming isn't much better. Mangroves are bulldozed to make room for shrimp farms, robbing _______ communities of _____ __________ and natural water filtration and depriving fish of key nursery habitats. So what does it look like to give fish a break and let them _______? Protection can take many forms. In national waters, governments can set limits about how, when, where, and how much fishing occurs, with restrictions on certain _____ and equipment. Harmful practices, such as bottom trawling, can be banned altogether, and we can establish marine reserves ______ to all fishing to help ecosystems restore themselves. There's also a role for ________ awareness and boycotts to reduce ________ practices, like shark finning, and push fishing __________ towards more sustainable practices. Past interventions have successfully helped depleted fish ___________ recover. There are many solutions. The best approach for each fishery must be considered based on science, respect for the _____ communities that rely on the _____, and for fish as wild animals. And then the rules must be ________. International collaboration is often ______, too, because fish don't care about our borders. We need to end overfishing. Ecosystems, food security, jobs, economies, and coastal cultures all depend on it.

Solution

fishing
freezing
sounds
enforced
considered
appetizing
recover
delicacy
needed
ocean
sonar
populations
facilities
storm
chance
catch
seafloor
closed
marketed
destroying
leaving
prices
bottom
boats
millions
sharks
local
protection
coastal
hooks
species
wasteful
reeling
consumer
industries
popping
shrimp
variety
target
caught
shelves
overfishing
fished

Original Text

Fish are in trouble. The cod population off Canada's East Coast collapsed in the 1990s, intense recreational and commercial fishing has decimated goliath grouper populations in South Florida, and most populations of tuna have plummeted by over 50%, with the Southern Atlantic bluefin on the verge of extinction. Those are just a couple of many examples. Overfishing is happening all over the world. How did this happen? When some people think of fishing, they imagine relaxing in a boat and patiently reeling in the day's catch. But modern industrial fishing, the kind that stocks our grocery shelves, looks more like warfare. In fact, the technologies they employ were developed for war. Radar, sonar, helicopters, and spotter planes are all used to guide factory ships towards dwindling schools of fish. Long lines with hundreds of hooks or huge nets round up massive amounts of fish, along with other species, like seabirds, turtles, and dolphins. And fish are hauled up onto giant boats, complete with onboard flash freezing and processing facilities. All of these technologies have enabled us to catch fish at greater depths and farther out at sea than ever before. And as the distance and depth of fishing have expanded, so has the variety of species we target. For example, the Patagonian toothfish neither sounds nor looks very appetizing. And fishermen ignored it until the late 1970s. Then it was rebranded and marketed to chefs in the U.S. as Chilean sea bass, despite the animal actually being a type of cod. Soon it was popping up in markets all over the world and is now a delicacy. Unfortunately, these deep water fish don't reproduce until they're at least ten years old, making them extremely vulnerable to overfishing when the young are caught before they've had the chance to spawn. Consumer taste and prices can also have harmful effects. For example, shark fin soup is considered such a delicacy in China and Vietnam that the fin has become the most profitable part of the shark. This leads many fishermen to fill their boats with fins leaving millions of dead sharks behind. The problems aren't unique to toothfish and sharks. Almost 31% of the world's fish populations are overfished, and another 58% are fished at the maximum sustainable level. Wild fish simply can't reproduce as fast as 7 billion people can eat them. Fishing also has impacts on broader ecosystems. Wild shrimp are typically caught by dragging nets the size of a football field along the ocean bottom, disrupting or destroying seafloor habitats. The catch is often as little as 5% shrimp. The rest is by-catch, unwanted animals that are thrown back dead. And coastal shrimp farming isn't much better. Mangroves are bulldozed to make room for shrimp farms, robbing coastal communities of storm protection and natural water filtration and depriving fish of key nursery habitats. So what does it look like to give fish a break and let them recover? Protection can take many forms. In national waters, governments can set limits about how, when, where, and how much fishing occurs, with restrictions on certain boats and equipment. Harmful practices, such as bottom trawling, can be banned altogether, and we can establish marine reserves closed to all fishing to help ecosystems restore themselves. There's also a role for consumer awareness and boycotts to reduce wasteful practices, like shark finning, and push fishing industries towards more sustainable practices. Past interventions have successfully helped depleted fish populations recover. There are many solutions. The best approach for each fishery must be considered based on science, respect for the local communities that rely on the ocean, and for fish as wild animals. And then the rules must be enforced. International collaboration is often needed, too, because fish don't care about our borders. We need to end overfishing. Ecosystems, food security, jobs, economies, and coastal cultures all depend on it.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
fish populations	2

Important Words

altogether
amounts
animal
animals
appetizing
approach
atlantic
awareness
banned
based
bass
billion
bluefin
boat
boats
borders
bottom
boycotts
break
broader
bulldozed
care
catch
caught
chance
chefs
chilean
china
closed
coast
coastal
cod
collaboration
collapsed
commercial
communities
complete
considered
consumer
couple
cultures
dead
decimated
deep
delicacy
depend
depleted
depriving
depth
depths
destroying
developed
disrupting
distance
dolphins
dragging
dwindling
east
eat
economies
ecosystems
effects
employ
enabled
enforced
equipment
establish
examples
expanded
extinction
extremely
facilities
fact
factory
farming
farms
fast
field
fill
filtration
fin
finning
fins
fish
fished
fishermen
fishery
fishing
flash
florida
food
football
forms
freezing
giant
give
goliath
governments
greater
grocery
grouper
guide
habitats
happen
happening
harmful
hauled
helicopters
helped
hooks
huge
hundreds
imagine
impacts
industrial
industries
intense
international
interventions
jobs
key
kind
late
leads
leaving
level
limits
lines
local
long
making
mangroves
marine
marketed
markets
massive
maximum
millions
modern
national
natural
needed
nets
nursery
occurs
ocean
onboard
overfished
overfishing
part
patagonian
patiently
people
planes
plummeted
popping
population
populations
practices
prices
problems
processing
profitable
protection
push
radar
rebranded
recover
recreational
reduce
reeling
relaxing
rely
reproduce
reserves
respect
rest
restore
restrictions
robbing
role
room
rules
schools
science
sea
seabirds
seafloor
security
set
shark
sharks
shelves
ships
shrimp
simply
size
solutions
sonar
sounds
soup
south
southern
spawn
species
spotter
stocks
storm
successfully
sustainable
target
taste
technologies
ten
thrown
toothfish
trawling
trouble
tuna
turtles
type
typically
unique
unwanted
variety
verge
vietnam
vulnerable
war
warfare
wasteful
water
waters
wild
world
years
young