Algae Vs Plankton

Throughout many decades there has been a huge environmental problem, not only putting marine life at risk but also human health. Ocean pollution is a big threat to the habitat and still today we haven’t stopped throwing trash, chemicals or toxins into the oceans. During the 1940’s, a technical service of the Army dumped a lot of chemical warfare into the sea, believing the type of gas will dissolve in the water becoming harmless in minutes. At that time, fishermen were able to catch a lot of fish, it wasn’t until they were out of luck and all they could see were dead fish floating on the surface. Many people think that oil spills and trash are the only types of ocean pollution, but they’re also forgetting about chemical, bacterial and thermal pollution. Polluted seas can be the cause of many diseases or infections, especially if people don’t take big measures like telling their kids not to “accidentally” drink water from rivers or lakes when swimming. Marine animals are a big part of our food chain if they carry diseases or toxins we’re also in big danger. Today, there have been many people who have been trying to stop others from polluting the oceans, but they still haven’t been able to convince the whole world to end ocean pollution. The government, instead of wasting money on unnecessary things like building walls or building more towers and creating more trash they should build trash contractors that will help with the trash floating around in the seas. There are

Well, at the end of the day people can think what they want but if you ever see a shark you will see that they are not trying to hurt anybody they are just trying to be their true selves. This is why we should protect sharks, because most are harmless, not dangerous, and most of them are already dying because people are killing them, this is why we should protect the sharks no matter what. So whatever you do to the sharks just know that the sharks are not trying to hurt anybody you are just

Whenever you go to the Fish and Chips shop, have you heard about “Flake”? Flakes are a type of shark. They have been killed just for us to eat. The price of them are also increasing. At least 100 million sharks are killed every year. In Eastern parts of Asia, Sharks were being culled for shark fin soup. Dragging out the sharks out of the ocean and cutting off their fins and throwing their dead body back into the ocean is unacceptable. How would you feel if we were dragged out of our home by a random person, got our arm cut off and got put back into our home again? I’m sure that we would all be horrified and terrified by this. It is said that Shark Fin Soup costs around $100 per bowl of soup. There are also some countries that have completely banned shark culling. They are Israel, Ecuador, Mexico, Egypt, Indonesia, Fiji and so on. It is very unfortunate that Australia isn’t a part of this. Sharks also help with ecosystems.

Economically speaking, these algal blooms are responsible for millions of dollars in losses annually. Local economies prosper thanks to the millions of recreation tourists who benefit from this vacation destination, but in 2011 alone, Lake Erie algal blooms cost Ohio’s recreation fishing industry and Maumee Bay State Park an estimated combined total loss of 3.7 million dollars US (McLean et al., 2014). Not to mention, treating the toxic water to make it potable again has costly demands, as well (Yeoman, 2011).

People are polluting the oceans which not only affects us but also affects the beautiful underwater habitats and interesting sea creatures. Two billion people within 30 miles of the coast create 100 metric tons of coastal plastic waste (Doc.1). This plastic waste can get caught around sea animals, injuring them or even killing them (OI). Oils spills can really hurt marine life (Doc.2). Some creatures could eat it or get covered in it. If the fish eats the oil and then someone or something eats the fish they could get extremely ill. When there are excess nutrients in the water algal blooms occur, which is when algae has too many nutrients and reproduces in large numbers, this can also hurt people (OI). For these reasons and many more we should

Regier, H. A., Whillans, T. H., Christie, W. J., & Bocking, S. A. (January 01, 1999). Over-fishing in the Great Lakes: the context and history of the controversy. Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management, 2, 3,

WA Labor opposes to the cull and catching of sharks after an attack as the evidence does not suggest it will actually prevent shark attacks. The strategy is likely to result, in yet again, the death of other marine species including dolphins, turtles, and non-threatening shark species and may in fact increase the risk to swimmers by attracting sharks

Numerous research and scientific studies were performed on the impact of the extensive fishing along the U.S. coastline. In 1871, National Marine Fisheries Service was launched. Their mission as stated on their website, www.nefsc.noaa.gov/history/, “…devoted to the protection, study, management, and restoration of fish.” (www.nefc.noaa.gov, 2004) While the organization contributed significantly to the study of the fish and the region, the organization was completely ineffectual in any manner in protecting the fish from over fishing and unable to get passed any effective policies to control fishing. Their biocentric view allowed the organization to study fish in a manner that many groups at the time had no concern with due to the mindset of the endless capacity of the sea. The value of many of these studies while questionable at the seriousness at the time they were taken, when looking back through the history and learning from the impact that man has on our environment. In particular, this example there is good data that supports the early thoughts of a bountiful sea of fish. As the years, progress data that clearly shows the decline of various fish species as fishing continues onward. Newton, Dillingham and Choly reported (2006), “The take of Atlantic cod, crucial to the New England economy, had peaked in 1968 at 3.9 million tons; by 1992, it was down to 1.2 million tons— a

More and more people have been introduced to a very dangerous practice called shark-finning. Even the people who are aware of the harmful effects they bring still continue on doing it. People are afraid of sharks due to their fierce appearance and the bad publicity they get such as the movies wherein sharks attack humans. Only about 5 people are killed by sharks every year. In fact, vending machines has a higher death rate of 13, while ants can kill about 30 people annually. Sharks are very beneficial to us, why do people keep on harming them? Why is shark-finning so important? Shark-finning gives both advantages and disadvantages economically, politically, cultural, societal, and environmental. It is important to recognize the

Fishers in the Atlantic Ocean seem to not care at all about the well being of the environment and they care more about the quick catch as I like to call it. The quicker the catch the faster the cash is filling selfish, greedy fisher’s pockets. They are willing to go to great lengths to get the fast money regardless of the lasting damage they cause. It all comes down to their bad fishing techniques. Bottom trawling is a good example of this. They make trawls with large rubber tires or rollers and they help for the net to move over the rocky regions and coral reefs of the ocean floor (Fishing Problems: Destructive Fishing Practices.) These trawls literally destroy homes for fish and make it nearly impossible for them to recover (Fishing Problems: Destructive Fishing Practices.) In fact, 4km of scars on the reefs of the north-east Atlantic Ocean have been found (Fishing Problems: Destructive Fishing Practices.) Dynamite fishing is the next bad fishing technique used. Okay, let’s just take a moment to think of how bad “dynamite fishing” sounds in and of its self. I think we can all understand what type of damage this does not only to the sea life, but to the environment. They literally kill all the fish and wait for them to float to the surface so they can easily scoop them up (Fishing Problems: Destructive Fishing Practices.) They must not be thinking with any foresight because the destruction that fishing like

The fishing industry can be a very exciting and fulfilling world to work in. You’re always working, traveling to new places, dealing with challenges, and experiencing new things. This is what draws many people to the trade, but it is a dangerous job. In a report from the National Transportation Safety Board found that, in 2007 that the commercial fishing had the highest fatality rate in the country with 111.8 deaths for every 100,000 workers. (NTSB). There are many reasons why it’s so dangerous and on March 23, 2008 the crew of the fishing vessel Alaska Ranger experienced some of the dangers that life at sea can bring when their ship sunk in the cold icy waters off Alaska. There were many factors why the vessel perished, but the main reason

Do you like to visit Lake Erie? Of course you don’t! The water is so unsanitary from pollution. Well, the fish feel the same way, and that is their environment. Many people think that washing down products with chemicals in them will not harm anything.Well, it does. The water dumps into Lake Erie. Then with all of the chemicals, the water starts to get polluted along with the animal’s environment. Fish deserve a healthier environment. Just because fish are animals does not mean that they should live in unhealthy water.

Establishing and maintaining Freshwater Protected Areas (FPAs) is a great tool that is used by many fisheries. “They should be used in High-Risk, High-Value locations so that it may make the biggest ecological impact” (Garman et al. 2013). Another way to mitigate the issue, although it is still in the experimental phase, would be Electrofishing. This technique electrocutes fish in a stretch of water using and electrical field, it has not been widely used because of its chances of killing non target fish in the areas. “Experimental electrofishing for commercial applications would require a significant financial investment (20K per vessel) and strict oversight by agencies but might be fundable through fishery resources grant (FRG) or similar programs” (Garmin et al. 2003). Local awareness of the issue is another way to mitigate the problem. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources launched a statewide campaign to educate its citizen about the invasive fish and its impact on native species and what anglers can do to help. For instance, it started the DNR program which stands for “Do Not Release”. This asks anglers to remove and kill any blue or flathead catfish that are caught. It also implemented a fine on anyone who is caught transporting these fish to different bodies of water, which can be between $1000 to $2500. There is also a group called the Sustainable Fisheries Goal Implementation Team (SFGIT) that is made up of jurisdictional managers and fishery stakeholders who are trying to put policies into place to help reduce the problem

In our effort at keeping algae away from our tanks, algae eaters can be great allies. Here is a short list of some saltwater algae eaters I know (more will be added later). If you know any other fish or invertebrates that should be added to this list or would like to add some information to this list, please use the comment box bellow. Thanks!

Overfishing is an enormous issue that needs to be corrected or there will be no more fish to catch in the future. The true definition of overfishing is as defined by the national fisheries act from 1996 overfishing is “a rate or level of fishing mortality that jeopardizes a fishery's capacity to produce maximum sustainable yield (MSY) on a continuing basis(kennedy, 2016)." Some of the facts of overfishing are so shocking they would blow you out of the water, as well as some of the effects overfishing can have on the fisheries. The solutions to overfishing are extremely simple and completely within our power to do.