1. What We Eat Makes A top predator requires exponentially more energy to survive than does
a fish at a lower level of the food chain. When wealthy nations catch or
a Difference buy top predators, they increase their impact on the ocean compared to
poor nations, which tend to eat smaller fish.
LEVEL LEVEL LEVEL LEVEL
4 TOP PREDATORS
When you eat
3 INTERMEDIATE
PREDATORS 2 FIRST-ORDER
CONSUMERS 1 PRIMARY PRODUCERS
1apound 100 pounds 1,000 pounds
10 pounds or or
of level 2 fish of level 1 organisms
of level 4 fish,
of level 3 fish
it’s like eating ...
But if you consume
1 pound 10 pounds or100 pounds
of level 3 fish,
of level 2 fish of level 1 organisms
it’s like eating ...
Mariel Furlong, NGM Staff, and Alejandro Tumas
Source: Sea Around Us Project, University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre