Pros And Cons Of Cetacean Bycatch

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

Cetacean bycatch in fishing industries has been a highly debated topic for decades and is still considered an ongoing problem(NOAA 8). However, when it is looked at in comparison, the problem of bycatch has already been solved as much as is possible while still allowing fishing industries to fish at all. Bycatch is defined as any marine life that is caught and returned to the sea, whether it is dead or alive(Brooke 2). Therefore, many marine animals that are considered bycatch are not harmed in any way. Including these animals, the national bycatch ratio is still low(Brooke 3). Many actions have already been taken since this has become an issue that has reduced bycatch by an incredibly large amount. In many areas, the amount of bycatch compared to the amount of fish that the fisheries in that area take in is only a small fraction(Brooke 3). There will always be bycatch in fishing, even if a single fisherman is fishing with a single

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

Bycatch is defined by Webster’s dictionary as: “the unwanted fish and other marine creatures caught during commercial fishing for a different species”. Bycatch is one of the most threatening facets of overfishing. It is responsible for removing vast numbers of aquatic life from the ocean, aside from the target species. Another stimulating characteristic found in Myers’ “Rapid Depletion” that is not present in Allan’s “Overfishing” is a solution to current crisis we face. While Allan’s article does a sound job of relaying the message of how important the issue itself is, Myers’ entry offers a suggestion on how to combat it. Specifically, in Myers’ “Rapid Depletion”, he states that there are several ways to successfully combat overfishing: “more efficiently catch target species and reduce bycatch, elimination of taking immature fish before they have time to successfully breed, and of course, momentarily decrease global catch limits” (Myers 281-282). Both articles contain relevant information and utilize visualizations, however the graphs and charts found in “Rapid Depletion” are clearly more advanced and target

Our delicate eco-system is struggling to maintain it’s complex equilibrium. The precarious state of our oceans are largely attributed to the climate changes that are on going throughout earth. Along with consistently rising global temperatures come many devastating consequences. Our atmosphere is not the only aspect of our environment that is heating. Global warming is melting polar ice caps, raising water levels in our oceans, and releasing carbon that has been trapped in ice for thousands of years. The warmer air temperature is heating the surface waters of the ocean and creating more frequent and more powerful storms. These warmer surface waters are being pushed under in the ocean conveyor belt and the overall affect is a rise in overall ocean water temperatures. Climate change has been estimated to effect 88% of cetaceans and endangering nearly 21%. More specifically, each of these changes have harmful, potentially deadly and lasting effects on Bottlenose Dolphins. Ultimately causing dangerous and toxic conditions leading to an increase of dolphin strandings and death.

Once relentlessly hunted by commercial industries for these products, cetaceans are now protected by international law.

Commercial fishing has a great affect on the marine life for many reasons. Those reasons include species of marine life going extinct, or over population. Some marine life are going extinct from overfishing because as scientists said fish are able to produce only a limited quantity of fish over time this problem cannot only affect the fish but it can affect the entire ecosystem in the ocean. Some species of fish are also going extinct from bycatch. Bycatch is when other species of fish or marine life is captured in the nets with the target fish that is supposed to be caught. It is estimated by scientists that 25 percent of the commercial fishing industries around the world harvest is discarded bycatch. Some species of marine life cannot only go extinct but it can also overpopulate. Certain types of marine life can go extinct because their predators are going also going extinct. This issue arose in the early 1900s when commercial fishing industries expanded their fishing fleets.

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

Dolphins are intelligent creatures that could be one of the only animals in the world that have similar intelligence to us Homo sapiens. Dolphins are also self-aware as seen in the movie “The Cove”. When the Dolphins were taken into the Cove with large honking sounds the immediately noticed it was a trap and tried to escape. The methods of killing dolphins are just horrendous and spine-chilling to think of. Dolphin fishing consists of fishermen using long acute poles and stabbing them into these Porpoises. Who do you think keeps the fish population down other than the Sharks and other Predators dolphins? Dolphins of course! This Exquisite creature can save humans and help to keep fish from overpopulating and affecting our society. This aquatic animal is just a wonderful creatures and killing them is ruthless and painful to even think

The universal image of the dolphin portrays the illusion that dolphins are always happy because they consistently appear to be smiling. This, however, is nature’s greatest deception as it is simply the shape of their mouth. Throughout the film the juxtaposition of the beauty of nature is harshly contrasted with the ugliness of the underlying secrets of the industry in Japan and around the world. The fishing industry is largest in Japan therefore that is where this movie was filmed. The captive industry has become a lucrative billion-dollar worldwide trade, with all money made from the exploitation, imprisonment and lifelong suffering of these living beings. A live dolphin captured for a marine mammal park can be valued up to $200,000. The most shocking fact is that this is legal. The International Whaling Commission outlawed commercial whaling in 1986, but dolphin hunts remain legal. The film’s impact was largely due to the emotional ties between O’Barry and dolphins. Although the filmmakers are extremely biased, his convincing pleads for our help are strategically made at the most emotional moments. He believes that bottlenose dolphins are being hunted the most “The fishermen are searching for bottlenose dolphins like flipper”. Luckily this type of dolphin is not yet endangered but this

Throughout the years, marine mammal bycatch has continued to be a growing concern due to a steady increase in mammal mortality rates. Mike Gaworecki mentions in his article that during this past month the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration initiated a rule limiting seafood imports from different countries that do not meet the United States new bycatch standards. Bycatch is a term that means catching unwanted species when intending to fish for a different type of species. On a daily basis multiple dolphins, whales, and other unwanted animals are being captured because of inappropriate or ill-suited forms of netting and traps. By implementing this rule the United States government hopes to prevent and reduce future cases of inappropriate capture. NOAA claims that they feel this is necessary because they want to enforce more restrictions on fishery related marine mammal deaths, while influencing other countries to improve on their fishing methods.

Obviously mismanagement is a factor overfishing itself, and is the result of the limit for cod placed by the federal government. As well, the the advancement in geotechnology, like radars, sonars and satellite navigation systems helped find large fish bodies, all rapidly collected with trawlers. Another undiscussed matter, is climate change; over the years it has played a significant change in driving away fish populations because of dropping temperatures and changing of salinity. One idea discussed by the article is the monitoring of cod numbers, as well as monitoring the seal population. The article states to limit seal population to keep the fish alive; the textbook states “They contend that the greater number of seals ate larger quantities of caplin, a small fish that is a major food source of groundfish,” (pg 285). I find that bringing back the sealing industry could help maintain cod numbers, functioning as a way to bring back 2 banned commercial

Cetacean bycatch is an ongoing problem in the oceans of the world. Cetaceans are defined as whales, dolphins and porpoises(CBRC 1). Bycatch is “marine mammals that are “captured” but discarded”(Read 2). This happens when fishing industries are fishing for a certain type of marine animal and other marine animals are caught accidentally along with the intended catch. Many times, this leads to the death of the animal that was not meant to be caught, and the animal is tossed back into the ocean. This happens with all kinds of marine life, and it has caused the depletion of many different species. However, this is specifically bad for cetaceans, such as dolphins and whales, because they have such a long lifespan(Brown 2). They also take a very long time to mature(Brown 2). These factors make catching these animals very detrimental to the species as a whole because it takes longer for them to reach an age where they can reproduce(Brown 2). The population of many cetaceans have decreased exponentially. When there is someone watching the nets that cetaceans are accidentally caught in, many times they can be saved. However, there are only select few types of fishing methods that do this, and they are not of the prevalent fishing methods that produce cetacean bycatch. This is a problem because there is a connection between most living animals. If a certain part of the connection is eliminated, it will all fall apart. For example, the relationship between

‘Flipper’ seems joyful on the outside but heartbreaking on the inside. After watching this documentary, I begin to think about the way captive dolphins were treated. Perhaps, the dolphins who are captured and trained are luckier than the rest which are being hunted and killed. In the Japanese coastal village of Taiji, there is a cove nearby where is used to distract dolphins and lure them to a cul-de-sac, after that the dolphins will be caught and killed. Many people may question, why the fishermen keep on slaughtering dolphins when dolphins’ flesh is dangerous to eat due to high level of mercury? The answer is, to mislead the public that dolphin meat as whale meat. Since whales have been being hunted and become extinct, the Japanese

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