Driftnet Fishing

Did you ever enjoy a Sunday afternoon fishing with your dad or grandpa? Where they taught you how to bait your hook, cast your line, snag a fish, reel it in, and take it off the hook. Do you wonder who taught them an dhow they know about fishing? The book Freshwater Fishing by Ellen Hopkins explains what you need to know about freshwater fishing. The author explains the history of freshwater fishing, the equipment, skills and techniques needed to fish, conservation of the habitats, and safety.

Many anglers catch the wrong type of fish in their drift nets. This leads to those fish becoming endangered and even extinct. For example, "up to 2,000 of the animals

These nets are illegal but still used quite often. A drift net is towed behind the boat and captures anything that swims or floats into it. This often results in by-catch, which is the unintentional capture of certain species, such as bottlenose dolphins (Dolphin p. 2). Another damaging technique used is long line fishing. “Hundreds…of baited hooks can hang on one line. Bait can be squid, fish… The lines can be set with anchors or left drifting with the current for 12 to 24 hours” (Long Line para. 1). These long lines are harmful to many different animals. Birds are often found on the lines, having drowned while trying to eat the bait. Loggerhead turtles, which are endangered, are found also. Sharks are the most common casualty of long lining. (Long Line para. 2). These are just a few of the consequences of common fishing techniques.

In 2015, commercial fisheries harvested in North Carolina caught more than four times the recreational coastal fish harvest, yet commercial fishermen ask for less stringency on commercial fishing (“Portal”). Within North Carolina waters the most effective way of catching fish can be noticed without looking very far. Over the past few decades, many more commercial fishermen have been popping up creating a lack of abundance in some channels and creeks that once were pristine. The methods used by many commercial fishermen can harm them by catch and nontarget species of the estuaries and nurseries. With the harming of these species we also begin to harm the keystone species of most coastal regions. There may have been an abundance of fish at one

Commercial fishing is a tremendously important economic activity, overfishing has led to a depletion of worldwide fish stocks, threatening the viability of the industry. Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is a significant problem that affects the marine ecosystem and those who depend on it for

Some of the most popular current fishing practices are bottom trawling, cyanide fishing, dynamite fishing, and ghost fishing. All of these practices have two things in

For example, one commercial fishing method that has significantly increased the amount of bycatch and destruction of marine ecosystems is known as bottom trawling. This popular commercial fishing technique was first introduced in New Zealand when fishers began searching for shrimp and other deep sea species. Trawling is now being used to catch a range of species, such as shrimp, hoki, ling, hake, squid, and halibut. Bottom trawling “involves one or two fishing vessels to tow a large net.” As these large nets drag through the bottom seafloor, nets can be towed for at least two hours at a speed of a high of four knots. With these weighted nets dragging along the seafloor, everything in its path is either disturbed, damaged, or completely destroyed. Although bottom trawling may be a more labor-saving method to catching large loads of shrimp and other deep sea life, there have been occurrences in which the amount of bycatch discarded exceeds the amount of target fish caught. For instance, in 2007, Belize only landed “19 metric tons of shrimp and likely discarded about 76 to 190 metric tons of other marine life.” From the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Kelleher stated that bottom trawling has been “one of the most destructive ways to catch fish, and is responsible for up to half of all discarded fish and marine life worldwide.” Not only has bottom trawling led to overfishing but it also has disrupted coral reefs, and many other seafloor habitats. As habitat destruction from these fishing techniques worsen, fish populations continue to be threatened and

Destructive fishing is a very hostile fishing practice that destroys marine habitats and environments. These practices such as: bottom trawling, poisoning the waters, overfishing, dynamite fishing, and even ghost fishing, are killing off many populations of fish around the world and destroying vital breeding grounds for not only fish, but for other marine wildlife, disrupting the natural order. Fish are no longer able to survive in their natural habitats, therefore, not allowed to reproduce – driving many species into extinction. Corals are also affected in such a way that their growth is repressed. Because they cannot thrive, they die out, leaving sediment behind, so new corals are not able to settle. Due to a dramatic decline in the sustainability

As far back as the history of man, humans have been dependent on the ocean and water resources for food and survival. While hundreds of years of single handed fishing rods in coastal and inland water channels have not alone been the root cause of overfishing, these common practices today still impact the environmental balance. Ocean overfishing is the removal or taking of wildlife from the oceans and seas at rates too high for fished species to replace themselves and is a threat that exists to our way of life. Overfishing can occur by commercial fishing, single person excessive fishing in a particular area of a body of water, or by other natural predatory activity. A recent report by scientists said that if commercial fish species – the fish caught for food – continue to decline at the current rate, by the year 2048 most commercial fish species will be in danger of never recovering because of the break in the natural ecosystem which would affect the diversity of wildlife in the ocean (Kurlansky, 2011). As a human species, we are responsible for educating each other on this worldwide concern to help save our planet. If this isn’t a reason to begin efforts of worldwide education on overfishing, what is? The impact of overfishing has long term consequences on the human race and the animal population as it threatens our biological balance and our ecosystem. The good news is that there are currently organizations, governments and entities working hard to make a

For thousands of years, humans have been relying on the ocean of their living. In some areas along the coast, people’s lives depend on the sea. People living in those areas use fishing as their main business. They got many profits by this economy and they could live wealthily. However, the technology has been improved so much that the fishermen use different techniques to catch the fish. This leads to getting them more money but on the other hand, it causes over hunting. In some places, people have been overfishing with their equipment using new technology such as radar and sonar. People hunt for huge profits; over time, they fish much deeper and catch them more rapidly. Some species have gone to extinction due to overfishing. However, in Alaska, Alaskan fish are some of the least contaminated in the world, and the salmon population continues to thrive despite the yearly fishing.

When fish populations are low in one area, fishing boats will need to move to another area where fish are more abundant. This renders oceans and their sea life helpless and severely damaged until all of the fish in the oceans are completely gone. That is why governments need laws establishing the length of time a person could spend at sea fishing, in order to reduce overfishing and increase recovery of fish populations. One example of a fish population suffering from overfishing is the Pacific bluefin tuna. “Overfishing has left the world with less than five percent of its Pacific Bluefin tuna, says the Pew Environment Group” (Kowalski). This statement explains to the world how overfishing can drastically decrease a species’ population in an extraordinarily short time period. The Pacific bluefin tuna and other fish are very much stressed by overfishing, and suffer severe losses of population every day. Moreover, overfishing will soon lead to the extinction of fish species like the Pacific bluefin tuna. The European Commission even admits that the “EU’s [European Union] stocks are 88% overfished” (“An Icelandic Success”). This reveals Europe’s failure to prevent overfishing from spreading throughout the continent and beyond its borders. The majority of Europe’s fish supply undergoes the harmful effects that overfishing brings. Additionally, the fish

For human populations, particularly people in the poorest countries across the globe, fish is an important source of nourishment and food. As a result, fisheries catches represent a huge export of energy and mass that can no longer be utilized by trophic levels that are higher than those fished. For a long period of time, several human populations across the globe have continued to depend on fish as a significant source of food and nourishment, which has contributed to widespread overfishing. The widespread overfishing has in turn resulted in the decrease in the global catch of fish. Nonetheless, the links between overfishing and food security have remained largely unclear and uncertain. According to the findings of research, approximately 50 percent of commercial marine species have been overfished in the past five decades (Srinivasan, Cheung, Watson & Sumaila, p.1).

According to the United Nations, 17% of fish stocks worldwide are currently overexploited; 52% are fully exploited; and 7% are depleted. This means that only an estimated 20% of worldwide fish stocks are not already at or above their capacity(Seafarms, 2013). Catches of Pacific herring have decreased by 71% since the 1960s, with Atlantic herring catches falling by 63%. Atlantic Cod catches have fallen by 69% in the same time(Seafarms, 2013). These are just a few of many facts and statistics on the topic of overfishing. The effects of these statistics and facts impact people’s and animal's lives around the

Over the past several decades, humans have caused the health of our ocean to decline considerably. Along with climate change and ocean acidification, overfishing has destroyed many marine ecosystems. In the 1990’s, one of the worlds most abundant cod populations was quickly destroyed. The Newfoundland cod fishery had been one of the most productive cod fisheries in the world. Fishing for cod in Newfoundland had dated back to the 16th century, when the amount of fish seemed endless. The Canadians had traditionally fished sustainably for cod using small boats and traditional methods such as jigging or small inshore gill nets, but in the 1950’s and 1960’s other countries began to join in on the fishing, using larger boats and nets. England, U.S., The Soviet Union, Spain, Portugal and Germany all joined in on the action, increasing the annual catch from 250,000 tons to over 800,000 tons in 1968. From then on, the population slowly began to decline. With so many being caught each year, the fish were no longer able to reproduce as efficiently and renew their numbers to keep up with the demand. In addition to an increase in the commercial fishing fleets, new fishing technologies were created to help catch as many fish as possible. Larger nets that dragged along the bottom were created to catch every possible fish. These nets were killing young fish, other marine life, and the food source for the cod, which eventually led to the entire

Overfishing refers to the act of overexploiting fish such that they reduce to unacceptable limits. The problem occurs if humans harvest large fish quantities than they can be replaced via natural reproduction in a given water body. Although catching large amounts of fish appear profitable, it has dire social and economic consequences. Overfishing interrupts balance of the marine ecosystem. Similarly, majority of the coastal population depends on fishing as their source of livelihood. This implies that the overpopulation causes an economic crisis to both the people who rely on fishing occupation; as well as several people who rely on fish diets. For many centuries, the oceans have been a reliable source of fish diets that