Fish, one of the worlds’ leading food source in all regions of the world, but what if one day that food source was to deplete so drastically that one could no longer use it as a food source? What would happen to the people that rely solely on this source? What would happen to the people that relied on catching fish as a job? What would happen to the worlds’ economy? These are only a few questions that should be a concern in the result of Overfishing. The ocean is a big and mass world living among us, taking up seventy eight percent of our space on Earth. This makes the idea of overfishing sound ridiculous and people often ignore the idea. How could we possibly deplete such a large resource? However, overfishing is not a concept to be taken lightly. Not every fish in the ocean is editable and not every fish is able to be reached by fisherman. However, the fish we do commonly eat and catch is being caught at an alarming rate, faster than they are able to reproduce, but we will talk about this more later. For one to better understand overfishing, one must be aware of the causes of Overfishing and the effects it has on our society. In order to better understand a concept, one must really dig down beneath the surface in order to truly understand it. We will go over the causes and effects of overfishing and its effects on the marine life, what it does to the food supply for civilization, and the subtle signs warning us about overfishing. Not all marine life is edible, but that
Clover’s stance on overfishing may seem over dramatic, but Clover’s statement is correct in pointing out that the real danger to the ocean’s wildlife is overfishing. Overfishing is when fish and other sea animal populations are being depleted to the point that sea animals cannot keep up with being fished by reproduction. Fishing massive amounts is degrading the oceans, yet there are both developed and developing countries whose economies rely heavily on fishing.
First of all, fish is a common food source in the world especially in areas around the ocean. People all around the world rely on fish for their main food source everyday. The fish population is severely depleting because of lots of overfishing. To show how much less fish there are, my research shows that the amount of fish consumption has gone down in the past few years. Many types of seafood have been overfished also. Places like restaurants have had to replace normal fish on the menu with similar looking and tasting fish because of the lack of seafood. Species like eel and king crab have been overfished to critically low levels. Loads of these species get caught in nets everyday with the chance to escape.
The earliest accounts of overfishing occurred in the 1800s, when the demand of whale blubber nearly wiped out the whale populations. In the mid 1900s, the harvesting of Atlantic cod, herring, and California sardines drove them to the brink of extinction. These high disruptions cause regional depletions of animal resources which is starting to cause a global problem. There has never been a more urgent time for fishing nations to make a commitment towards the sustainability of our oceans. More than 80% of the world’s fisheries have been, or are being pushed beyond their limits and are in dire need of strict management plans. Populations of fish and elasmobranch fish such as tuna, grouper and sharks have been declining to the point where the survival
As the population on earth increases ,overfishing has become a growing issue in all parts of the world. Fish is a vital food source for many, in the world and counts for many of the cultures and heritages in the world, which means there is a high demand for it . This high demand has caused overfishing to occur. This is a cause for concern since due to the development of better technology, there is a higher risk of overfishing if not managed properly. Canada in particular has been facing the problem overfishing for years now. Due to Canada’s issue of overfishing, the environment and wildlife as well as human settlements all have negative impacts ,therefore a sustainable solution must be implemented. If action isn’t taken, Canada’s issue of overfishing will continue to worsen.
Thanks to the movie Jaws, many people are scared of sharks. Seeing a fin in the water terrifies all but the most experienced of beach goers. Sadly, this perception means that most do not really care if the sharks are hunted to extinction or not. However, society’s opinion on sharks needs to change if we want any hope of saving the world’s oceans. Sharks, as an apex predator, are an important part of the ocean’s food chain.
The earth’s oceans are overfished. Nearly 80 percent of commercial fisheries are overexploited and some experts believe that global fisheries will completely collapse by 2048 (Barkin page 1). While these are just facts that tell the worst-case scenario, they should be alarms that spark change in the way we fish. This paper, however, will specifically target overfishing in the Grand Banks in Newfoundland, Canada, and analyze its impact on Earth, its Environment and Humanity. Over fishing is simply when fishermen catch more fish than are being reproduced. Eventually the stock of fish in the environment will be completely depleted. That is exactly what happened off the shores of Newfoundland in 1992. With Cod fishing at an all time high, the Canadian government discovered that the Cod population was almost exhausted. New technology and poor decision-making led to the complete destruction of the cod population in the Grand Banks and this is a mistake that we should never repeat.
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
The article states, “…there is ample evidence that overfishing is a significant factor in the decline of numerous species and fisheries…” (Allan et al. 1045). This statement alone summarizes the article accurately and illuminates the major problem addressed in the scholarly journal. While relaying an indistinguishable message, an article by Myers and Worm finds a different way of relaying information.
Overfishing is an issue that not everyone is aware. People tend to think that the ocean is infinite, as well
There are multiple ways of protecting our oceans and keeping a balanced, ecologically diverse population of fish. An effective way of preventing overfishing is instituting preventative legislature. Developed and developing countries may consider passing laws that protect certain fish or certain areas with endangered fish. Another way of preventing overfishing is to quarantine or create sanctuaries to protect aquatic animals like the National Marine Sanctuaries, http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/visit/fishing.html. Sanctuaries will provide a shelter for animals that are rare and have a low population
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 contemporary society, human society is progressing rapidly on various fronts. Nevertheless at the same time, the problem of overfishing is becoming increasingly worrisome and attract extensive attention of the society. In this essay, I will address overfishing and propose some possible causes of this phenomenon which can give contribution to some solutions.
The main causes of overfishing are poor fishery management with a lack of regulation, unrestricted access to the ocean and illegal fishing. During the last few decades the demand for edible seafood globally has skyrocketed and the high demand is causing us to overfish to keep up with the demand. Unfortunately, fisherman are catching more fish than can be naturally reproduced. There are only limited regulations in place, which means that fishing companies are basically fishing when and where they want to with out any oversite. Overfishing causes such serious effects such as the ocean life getting knocked out of balance. Coastal communities rely on the benefits of the fishing for social and economic health. When we overfish it
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.
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