Fisheries satisfy the conditions for being a common (public) good by being ‘non-excludable’ and ‘rival.’ No one can ‘exclude’ a person from fishing, but present-day intake of fish will reduce the amount available for other fisherman in the future (‘rival’). Around 80% of the world’s fisheries are being over-exploited leading to a devastating impact on aquatic communities as it destabilizes the food chain and destructs the natural habitats of many oceanic communities. Fish, however, are not the only stakeholders affected by these current threats. The different hazards to this industry also cause a socio-economic and financial loss. Oceans support the livelihood of over 520 million people involved in fishing and fish-related activities. (WWF) Various emerging economies around the world such as Bangladesh, Peru and Pakistan depend highly on the fishing industry for their national income. Additionally, seafood is a staple diet in many developing countries as it is a rich source of protein. With rising incomes in emerging economies, the global demand for fish is growing rapidly, affecting over 2.6 billion people. Due to the various threats, the overall economic position of many developing countries is under pressure. Furthermore, fisheries around the world are already working at or over capacity, causing overconsumption of seafood, leading to depletion in the amount of fish available for future generations. This impairment of fisheries is also coming from a number of
The questions begs a valid point and presents the challenges in the article and the Global Fishing Industry. It is evident in the case that there it has taken a significant amount of time for the notion of responsible fishing techniques. In the 50’s when the global fishing industry started picking up speed and the “Commons” precedent started taking effect with everyone trying to fish the maximum they can in order to maximize their immediate profit. It took almost three decades for communities to start feeling and exploring the effects of this overfishing and there was a need for
Overfishing is a death sentence to the world’s oceans. As technology continues to improve a great deal of fish can be caught quicker; but at what cost? The effects of overfishing can lead to the extinction of not just the animals being fished, but also the predators that rely on fish to eat. Ninety percent of the ocean’s largest animals have been wiped out due to overfishing (“Overfishing- A Global Disaster”, 2011). National Geographic cites the academic journal Science (2006) that predicts by 2048, all fisheries will collapse due to lack of ocean wildlife. Fish are not the only animal caught in the nets used by fishing vessels. Often animals such as dolphins, sharks, turtles, and seabirds are
Overfishing is a global issue that has many negative effects on the environment (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2009). Fish are a major resource that many people rely on for not only nutrition, but also for a means of income (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2009). As the population of the world increases, so does the demand for fish, which puts oceans under a lot of pressure (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2009). Due to advanced fishing technologies and equipment, going out further into the oceans and catching huge amounts of fish is easier than ever (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2009). Froese (2004) defines overfishing as capturing the fish before they reach their full growth potential and diminishing their chance of reproduction. In other
Oceana.org says, “The ocean feeds hundreds of millions of people and have the capacity to provide a healthy seafood meal to a billion people, every day.” As of now, the world’s population is seven billion, and by 2050, the population will be at nearly nine billion (Oceana). This means the oceans must produce at least twenty percent more fish for the upcoming population (Oceana). Overfishing will cause more of a problem in the future because it is an immense source of food for people across the world. If there is no action taken upon this, the world hunger rate will only continue to increase over time. Overfishing also has an economic impact because it does not guarantee protection in the fishing industry (ESchoolToday). Once the fish population is low, company's supply of fish will become low as well. Once the companies do not have enough food to supply their customers, it will put them out of business. This will lead to unemployment of many workers across the globe
One of the largest factors that is threatening both marine and freshwater fish populations across the globe is the issue of overfishing, which is made necessary in part by the overly voracious desires of the consumer economy. In addition, the unbalanced fish consumption that is encouraged causes only a select few species such as
People often take the ocean for granted due to its vastness since it makes up over seventy percent of the Earth, however the integrity of the ocean is deteriorating. One of the major, worldwide threats to the wellbeing of the ocean and its inhabitants is overfishing. Overfishing affects not only the ocean, but also the land dwellers. Many countries around the world depend on fish as their main source of food. Tons of fish are caught out of the sea daily, however, the rate that fish are being hauled is far too high where fish stocks are incapable of naturally recovering. There is a decline in population size of affected fish and some species have even faced extinction. Overfishing is the leading cause of ecological extinction, foregoing any other human disruptions to marine ecosystems, such as pollution, water degradation, and climate change (Jackson, et al). Overfishing causes an overwhelming devastation upon the oceans because it depletes food resources, disrupts the food web, and destroys habitats of aquatic organisms, due to this, overfishing causes an oceanic ecological collapse worldwide.
According to a study done by Living Planet Report in 2015, 29% of the world’s fishing stocks are considered overfished and an additional 61% is fully exploited with no possibility to produce more fish. Our environment is currently afflicted by a number of different problems, one of which is overfishing. Overfishing is defined by FishOnline as, “Fishing with a sufficiently high intensity to reduce the breeding stock levels to such an extent that they will no longer support a sufficient quantity of fish for sport or commercial harvest.” The overfishing situation is being exacerbated by non-sustainable and destructive fishing practices and unfair fisheries partnership agreements; while there are currently attempts being made at fixing these problems and their effects on overfishing, nothing has been extremely effective.
In addition, studies demonstrate that Japan has the largest number of catches. Japan’s economy has the most to loose if they do not protect their valued specie. They have made little efforts for change and the ISC concluded that current levels of fishing have now become unsustainable. It has been concluded that this stock will continue to decline in 2018 (Nickson, 2018). This specie has fallen a tragedy of the commons model due to individuals trying to gain the greatest benefit, without realizing what the long term effects would be when the demands of the resource overwhelms the supply. This will hurt the well being of multiple societies, and most important, the well being of the Bluefin Tuna. The ISC stated that these species need new management plans to ensure it’s sustainability.
This articles discusses how fish all over the world are going extinct due to overfishing. The world wildlife federation claims that " the planet’s fishing fleet is two to three times larger than the oceans can support" which just lets the reader know how big this problem is. The article also express that this is mostly because the restaurants are exploiting certain species. This is not just occurring to fish, even Maine lobster are suffering.
Overfishing can impact marine ecosystems and communities that rely heavily on marine mammals. Large reductions in population sizes of marketable fish species caught yearly may significantly create economic stress within fishing communities, especially if they mainly rely on fish for income or food, such as 3rd world countries. If marketable fish population numbers drop too low fishermen and even whole communities may be forced to give up their way of life, which has been passed down from generation to generation, and find jobs elsewhere (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2009). Loss of income and jobs is caused from decreased population sizes, which lower productive fish stocks, and results in business closures and lowered economic status (Lee and Safina, 1995). Food security is also affected by overfishing. Many coastal communities depend on fish as their main food source. When consumable fish populations decrease the food supplies and food availability also decrease, resulting in shortages to occur and fish becoming an unreliable source of food (World Wildlife Fund, 2016).
Human Consumption and Commercial Fishing have led to a depletion of Cod stocks, specifically, the Atlantic Cod in the North Atlantic Region. The ecological, social and economic implications this has on society is not only evident today, but poses long-term consequences as well. Wicked problems are characterized by social complexity. (stakeholders, incomplete contradiction knowledge, opinions etc.) (Kolko, 2012) this issue may be considered a wicked problem because the Atlantic cod remain a demand in human consumption and the commercial exploitation remains a factor in the depletion of their stocks.
In order for there to be plenty of fish in the years ahead, fisheries will have to develop sustainable fisheries and some will have to close. Due to the constant increase in the human population, the oceans have been overfished with a resulting decline of fish crucial to the economy and communities of the world. The control of the world's fisheries is a controversial subject, as they cannot produce enough to satisfy the demand, especially when there aren't enough fish left to breed in healthy ecosystems. Scientists are often in the role of fisheries managers and must regulate the amount of fishing in the oceans, a position not popular with those who have to make a living fishing ever decreasing populations.
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
The ocean is one of the largest sources of food and income for countries all across the globe. As the fishing industry and human population grow, more and more resources are being taken out of the ocean every year. If this process continues without any type of new regulation, our oceans’ supply of resources will quickly start depleting. Without a sustainable output from our oceans, millions of people will be losing income that they thought they could rely on forever. While most people are not aware of this problem, over the past fifty years overfishing has developed into a huge environmental issue that could have catastrophic global effects on us in the future if left untreated. According to WorldWildlife.org, ”More than 85 percent of the world's fisheries have been pushed to or beyond their biological limits and are in need of strict management plans to restore them”(WWL.org). This statistic shows that most of our oceans’ resources are being overused and depleted. Some of the the most important fish species, for example, the bluefin tuna, have been exploited to the point that their population’s survival is at risk. The overfishing of top predators disrupts marine ecosystems and food chains, leaving a large quantity of smaller populations. This type of imbalance can be very dangerous to the oceans ecosystems by throwing off the natural order of predators.