Why Is Competitive Fishing Wrong

Fishing can have some positive effects on the environment and the economy. First fishing helps provide food for restaurants to sell to their customers. Fish are also sold at fish markets so people have food to survive. Many places in the world rely on fishing to sustain their way of living. Without fishing, they would not be able to make a living or survive. In some countries certain fish and fish eggs are a very important delicacy to them. Fishing helps the world go round and provides jobs for many people who fish on commercial fishing boats. Fishing helps many people in the world, but still some people have their negative views on it.

Fishing has always been a way to collect food, but did you know how it became a competitive sport? It all started with a game of basketball. I am sure you are thinking to yourself; a game of basketball is how fishing tournaments came about?

The changes needed for sustainable fishing are too big and do not fit with America’s view of the economic system. Unfortunately, without these changes, the fish population will continue to decline. So, you can see that sustainable fishing in new England is not possible. Although New England and the US cannot have sustainable fishing because of their capitalistic values, as shown throughout history their values may

Regier, H. A., Whillans, T. H., Christie, W. J., & Bocking, S. A. (January 01, 1999). Over-fishing in the Great Lakes: the context and history of the controversy. Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management, 2, 3,

The influence of the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulfstream in Southwest Florida Waters make the temperature just right for literally hundreds of different kinds of fish. In 2011, “Florida’s recreational anglers caught roughly 121 million marine fish, 74 million of which were released.” These statistics support the notion that fishing may be one of the most loved hobbies. Since fishing efforts have been drastically increasing over the years, dozens of species are threatened with extinction and many more are experiencing serious population declines. In order to ensure that a fish’s populations will remain sustainable for future generations, anglers need regulations that will sustain the existence of a fish population.

In most cases there is no repercussions for catfishers and that’s why the problem is still continuing to grow. This issue has made people wary and untrustworthy of who they are really talking to. A recent study showed that 54% of online daters believe someone has put false information in their profile (D’Costa). If someone does fall for the fake profile it can cause emotional damage to the person after finding out that it isn’t real. There are many stories involving people falling for these fake profiles, including the high profile case involving Manti Te’o who played football for the University of Norte Dame. He was involved with a girl who he believed to be real, until he got a call saying she had died. After receiving the news, he made a

The fishing industry can be a very exciting and fulfilling world to work in. You’re always working, traveling to new places, dealing with challenges, and experiencing new things. This is what draws many people to the trade, but it is a dangerous job. In a report from the National Transportation Safety Board found that, in 2007 that the commercial fishing had the highest fatality rate in the country with 111.8 deaths for every 100,000 workers. (NTSB). There are many reasons why it’s so dangerous and on March 23, 2008 the crew of the fishing vessel Alaska Ranger experienced some of the dangers that life at sea can bring when their ship sunk in the cold icy waters off Alaska. There were many factors why the vessel perished, but the main reason

Establishing and maintaining Freshwater Protected Areas (FPAs) is a great tool that is used by many fisheries. “They should be used in High-Risk, High-Value locations so that it may make the biggest ecological impact” (Garman et al. 2013). Another way to mitigate the issue, although it is still in the experimental phase, would be Electrofishing. This technique electrocutes fish in a stretch of water using and electrical field, it has not been widely used because of its chances of killing non target fish in the areas. “Experimental electrofishing for commercial applications would require a significant financial investment (20K per vessel) and strict oversight by agencies but might be fundable through fishery resources grant (FRG) or similar programs” (Garmin et al. 2003). Local awareness of the issue is another way to mitigate the problem. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources launched a statewide campaign to educate its citizen about the invasive fish and its impact on native species and what anglers can do to help. For instance, it started the DNR program which stands for “Do Not Release”. This asks anglers to remove and kill any blue or flathead catfish that are caught. It also implemented a fine on anyone who is caught transporting these fish to different bodies of water, which can be between $1000 to $2500. There is also a group called the Sustainable Fisheries Goal Implementation Team (SFGIT) that is made up of jurisdictional managers and fishery stakeholders who are trying to put policies into place to help reduce the problem

A major point they bring awareness to is that fish can feel pain just like any other animal. It is not only about the pain from the hook that these fish experience, it is also how frightened they get being take out of their natural habitat (PETA). Of course once they are taken out of the water, they cannot breathe. “Once out of the water, the fishes gills often collapse and their swim bladders can even rupture because of the sudden change in pressure” (PETA). One thing fishermen may not be aware of is that when fish are handled, this can mess with the coat that protects their bodies.

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.

So your sitting by the river or lake with your family eating fish and catching fish and having a good time. Then all sudden the DNR comes to you and ask you for your fishing license then you tell them you have one and then gives you a ticket. The DNR then tells you you can fish no more. So now your family are upset and your mad and the DNR takes you so you can't even just have a family time because then the DNR comes and tells you can't .So people should not have a fishing license because people can't afford one and some people don't have a local bait shop also people are dying from starvation.

One of the most practical ways is to set up regulations that are enforced and therefore followed. Fishing companies should have a limit as to how many fish can be caught, and the fish stocks should also be given adequate time to grow. This would help them recover. If we regulated how much fish could be caught, it would give the fish time to recover and become numerous once again. The regulations should be reasonable and not as outrageous as that fishermen can’t fish, but laws that truly help the fish prosper. Another way would be to have certain zones in the ocean that are specifically off limits to fishing. If we made these zones unreachable for at least a few years, they should be phenomenally full of fish by the time we’re ready to

When fish like salmon are farmed, often the fish are still kept in the ocean; however, they live inside of nets so that they are still contained. There are many ethical arguments based around these net systems because these nets pose threats to wild salmon. Captive salmon can escape from the nets, which allows them to breed with wild salmon. This can disrupt the natural gene pool of wild salmon. Farmed salmon have been shown to outgrow wild salmon when introduced into the wild, and typically have higher mortality rates, which would be poor traits to be introduced into the wild gene pool, (Hindar, et al., 2006). Unfortunately, with the invasive farmed salmon being introduced to wild populations from escapees of net systems, the recovery of the original wild salmon is unlikely, even if decades went by without more intrusive farmed salmon being present, (Hindar, et al., 2006). Another problem is that the nets do not contain wastes from the captive salmon inside, wastes such as uneaten feed, and feces from the fish are dispersed into the open waters of the ocean. Wild salmon can contract infections and parasites from captive farmed salmon in nets. A study indicated that these parasites, such as sea lice, and infections lead to high mortality rates in wild salmon passing near

Many breeds of fish are being captured at a faster rate than they can reproduce. Some species such as orange roughy fishing became popular in New Zealand in the 1970’s. Over time, it spread to many countries around the world. In the last 20 years, there has been a decline in catch up to 75%. It is no longer common to see in grocery stores as well as restaurants. The amounts of fish that are captured and distributed around the world are alarming opposed to the rate the fish can multiply.

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