How important is the ocean? Plants growing in the ocean produce half the oxygen that the world's population needs to survive (The Nature Conservancy, 2014). Carbon dioxide released by the body is also absorbed by ocean waters (The Nature Conservancy, 2014). The medicine used to fight cancer and treat diseases is formulated with ingredients from the ocean (The Nature Conservancy, 2014). Not only does the ocean keep the world's people healthy, it accounts for $128 billion of GDP, keeping the economy healthy as well (The Nature Conservancy, 2014). The ocean is an important part of what makes Earth a place where humans can live and thrive. It's amazing that despite the ocean's great importance, people are still destroying it, through a series of events that begin with a simple trip to a local sushi restaurant. Tuna consumption causes destruction of the ocean due to species elimination and its effects on the food chain. Tuna consumption causes an increase in demand for tuna. Demand for a product is defined by Reem Heakal as “how much (quantity) of a product or service is desired by buyers” (ND, p. 1). When a person walks into a sushi restaurant and orders the specialty blue fin tuna, the chain reaction starts. Purchasing a product is like giving the product a rating to the company that controls its production or compared to tuna when the product is killed. However, with a product like tuna there is not an infinite supply that a company can produce because tuna is a living thing. When a person eats tuna, the demand for tuna increases. When the demand for tuna increases, more tuna must be killed to meet the demand. Supply is the other side of the coin of demand. Reem Heakal defines...... middle of paper......011/05/bluefin_tuna.htmlNational Geographic (2014) . Are there many fish in the sea? Not always. Retrieved from http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-overfishing/The Nature Conservancy (2014). Five reasons why we are all connected to the oceans. Retrieved from http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/habitats/oceanscoasts/explore/five-reasons-we-are-all-connected-to-oceans.xmlSave our seas Foundation (2014). Threat 1: Overfishing. Retrieved from http://saveourseas.com/threats/overfishingValasquez-Manoff, M. (2008, June 10). Nowhere to hide: the onslaught of fishing technology. Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2008/0610/nowhere-to-hide-the-onslaught-of-fishing-technology Walsh, B. (2013, January 11). Pacific bluefin tuna are going, going... . Retrieved from http://science.time.com/2013/01/11/the-pacific-bluefin-tuna-is-almost-gone/