The Atlantic And Pacific Coasts Fish Stocks Overall Show Little Improvement

Iconic Cape Cod Massachusetts is named after the Atlantic Cod. For centuries, this fish has provided food and trade for New Englanders. In this time, there have been several instances of overfishing by humans from the aboriginal era to colonial times but none so drastic as the present conditions of cod fisheries (Jackson, Kirby, Berger, and Bjorndal, 2001). Overfishing is a human induced occurrence where humans are fishing more than a body of water can sustain. In other words, humans are catching more adult fish preventing the existing population from growing to replenish the fish that were caught (Overfishing: A Global Disaster, n.d.). Worldwide, over 80% of the fish stocks are “fully- to over-exploited, depleted, or in a state of collapse” (Overfishing: A Global Disaster, n.d.). The results of this careless behavior has reduced the biodiversity in the Gulf of Maine and landed the Atlantic Cod on the endangered species list as being “vulnerable” (Cod, n.d.). In the neighboring region of Newfoundland, Canada, communities are already feeling the effects of overfishing. In 1992, at the beginning of the fishing season in the Grand Bank region, there were suddenly no more cod. The local economies collapsed and to this day, the region has not quite recovered (Brennan and Withgott, 2005).

Factors on the collapse of the West Coast fishery•Overfishing•Changes in the Environment/Global Warming•Different agreements/lack of treatiesOverfishingIn the 90's there was an 800,000 tonnes catch per year for salmon. Instead of being over 100 major fish processing plants in British Colombia, there's fewer than 10.Changes in the Environment/Global WarmingThe Pacific Ocean is increasing in temperature due to Global Warming, which there's a possibility of threatening the salmon's habitat. The preferable temperature for salmon is below 7 degrees, so if the water temperatures keep rising, the salmon will move towards the Bering sea because its cooler. Instead of the spawning occurring in British Colombia, it will be in

One of the many problems the severe water drought has caused has affected many of the animals such as the American river fish, salmon, and steelheads. In the Sacramento Bee the article “Drought Threatens American River Fish” by Matt Weiser explains how the steelhead are threatened species who are about to hatch in the American River, but due to the drought the sunny temperature and the

Kaeriyama et al. studied the effects of climate events on Pacific salmon species in the offshore waters of the central Gulf of Alaska during the early summers of 1994-2000. They based their study on analyses of stomach contents, and carbon and nitrogen isotope concentrations. In all species except Chum Salmon, Gonatid squid was the dominant prey. During

The first Pacific salmon hatchery was constructed on the McCloud river in California in 1872, and its purpose was to produce Chinook salmon eggs that would be distributed far and wide, starting a practice of introducing non-native fish for human enjoyment and consumption that has proven very destructive, both to populations of salmon and other fish species (Maynard and Trial 2013). During this time the main goal of hatcheries was to produce as many salmon as possible, regardless of the carrying-capacity of the effected stream, a practice that was largely motivated by the canning industries who benefitted significantly from increased salmon production. During this period, the natural environments that shaped the development of each salmon run were not only seen as unimportant, but actually detrimental to salmon-production (Maynard and Trial 2013). Current research makes it clear that these factors, which early hatchery managers saw as detrimental, are in fact key to healthy salmon

Black sea bass is an important recreational and commercial species along the Atlantic coast of the U.S. The market for black sea bass is for human consumption and is primarily sold fresh or frozen. In May of this year, NOAA scientists declared the southern stock of black sea bass successfully rebuilt. The catch limit for this popular fish will more than double this fall. The rebuilding plan was required by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which requires that overfishing end immediately, that overfished stocks be rebuilt, and that stocks be subject to annual catch limits. The fish are also larger on average and are showing up in places where they haven’t

Salmon are semelparous animals, meaning they only spawn once in a lifetime. The fish then quickly deteriorate and die. Not being able to adapt to the freshwater after being in the saltwater ocean for so long.

The Atlantic cod fishery collapse left terrible ecological consequences. As mentioned above, the fishing technology was a major destruction to the ecological system by using deployment and draggers. The huge nets that were dropped and dragged along the bottom of the ocean destroyed the underlying eco-system in the process. The effect of selective fishing on spawning grounds – that is, selectively over-exploiting one species in an ecosystem – had disastrous effect on the feeding relationships in that ecosystem. This contributes to the overall reduction of spawning stock biomass of the targeted species, but also an increase in the number of invertebrate and vertebrate predators such as crustacean and fish which will prey on cod eggs, larvae, and younger fish. It is a little wonder that a species like cod, would eventually run into difficulties struggling to survive when its habitat is being continuously destroyed and the balance of their food chain had been wiped out.

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

During the 1960 's, catches of northern cod peaked at 800,000 ton; which declined to 140,000 ton by 1978. In 1977, Canada expanded its exclusive economic zone, thus

In Canada, the Grand Banks habitat is in “environmental degradation” (Connor and Taitano) due to bottom trawlers tearing up the sea floor displacing and destroying the vegetation at the seafloor and therefore disrupting the habitat of the small fish the cod prey upon (Connor and Taitano). Bottom trawls also disrupt the “breeding patterns of the cod.. Damaging fertilized eggs.. And greatly reducing the amount of young born” (Connor and Taitano). In the United States, the Gulf of Maine provides evidence of a loss of the young and old cod due to predation (Connor). Farming atlantic cod, like many fisheries are doing to replenish the atlantic salmon populations, have resulted in a breakout of the disease Yersiniosis (Connor and Taitano).The disease affects the fish’s intestinal tract before spreading throughout its body. The mortality rate with this disease is low, about 5%, however the illness prevents the affected cod from being sold at a market due to health violations (Connor and

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.

For starters, a fish stock is the subpopulation of fish that is studied in a particular region and are old enough to reproduce. Understanding a fish stock is important because they can tell scientists a lot about the population of fish in the area, and the oceanic conditions. This can help research and environmental efforts because they perform fish stock assessments as previously described in order to send out to fisheries to protect the fish and the environment. Assessments of fish stocks raise the question of how much catch can yield a sustainable population, current status’ of

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