Fish, they have been the subject of their own fish genocide, Each year consistently advancing in technology to hunt the remaining percentage of this dwindling vertebrate. A local maine Lobsterman visited our class to talk about what laws and regulations have been placed to try and refurbish the population. The lobsterman talked about the decline of fish over the years he’s been in the fishing industry. To my surprise the Gulf of Maine actually has had many regulations. One of the recent is implementing a maximum of three mackerel for every trip, and cod fish now must be at least 21 inches or be thrown back. These regulations show us what is left of the nature population that once inhabited the gulf. They say you could walk on water because there was so …show more content…
These aren’t pick of the bunch fish, but the reality of not having any other type of fish in 30 years will be the normal for them. They will live their life just as we did, eating more and more fishies. I am not sure how to combat this problem but the regulations currently in place are not adequate to save the fish population. We need to create a new system in which fish are given proper time to repopulate. A small outline of a plan I thought of sounds a little like this, first off give all primarily focused fish a year off to spawn and deal with eating more abundant fish. Each year there would be a different species that can be fished with added regulations that would depict the amounts hauled in as well. The first year of the program would include the species that is the most stable at the time while the less stable species has time to regroup. This program would probably not appeal to the public, but it would give the fish many more years of inhabiting earth. This project wouldn’t save fish, it would only prolong their lives. I do not know if there is a way to save the fish, our growing population and it’s thirst for fish doesn’t add
In this entertaining, search into global fish hatcheries, New York Times writer Paul Greenberg investigates our historical connection with the ever changing ocean and the wild fish within it. In the beginning of the book Paul is telling his childhood fishing stories to his friends, that night Paul discovers that that four fish dominate the world’s seafood markets in which are salmon, tuna, cod, and bass. He tries to figure out why this is and the only logical answer he could come up with is that four epochal shifts caused theses wild fish population to diminish. History shows that four epochal shifts happen within fifteen years causing certain fish species populations to diminish. He discovers for each of the four fish why this happened to
Due to the demand many packaging for the fish can find its was back to sea, or when fishermen are out at sea they can leave their garbage. Many nets from the boats and gears can also be found in the water, that fish can later see as food, eat it, and die; this ties back to extinction in fish. There is much pollution and decline stocks in fish because it is very hard to regulate the seas. To fulfill the growing demand for seafood, many companies are forced to fish beyond areas that are supposed to be non-fishing zones. This is because there are hardly any laws or restrictions telling them where they can and cannot fish. Sally Driscoll and Tom Warhol report in, ‘Overfishing’, that itt wasn’t until 1956 where we saw our first regulation, the United Nations organized the first UN Convention of the Law of the Sea or the NCLOS which helped promote rights of all countries by establishing boundaries off shore. Meaning that some seafood fished in certain areas of the ocean cannot be sold in certain countries, and in some areas it is illegal to fish unless you have a permit from that country. Economy also helps make it harder to regulate the seas, in ‘Overfishing’ it is explained that Preisdent Barack Obama brought up Antiquities Act of 1906, that let fishermen expand their fishing areas. The United Nations FAO estimates that 25 percent of all fish trapped in nets are labeled unusable or not licensed for fishing by the
The 1800’s the George’s Banks off the coast of New England was very generous to the fisherman who fished the sea for a living. There was a balance between what the fisherman took and what the sea could provide. By the mid-1900 that balances began greatly to shift. Technology developed during the 1950s allowed fishermen to take in much more fish than previous years. Through continued over fishing and lack of controls in place at the time, the fish stock depleted to the point the George’s Banks could no longer support the fisherman.
In the late 1990s fishermen were getting stressed and many of them turned in their boats. This is because the government made new rules and regulations for the fishing industry. These rules are supposed to help endangered fish, although some are not helping at all. The government allows small boat fishermen to catch only 500 pounds of cod per day and requires them to toss any extra overboard before they reach shore.
North America, especially the United States hosts some of the most beautiful rivers and lakes on the entire planet. That is in thanks to its geographical location, and the extent of the level of technology that is available to the world because of American engineers and scientists. Scientists are given the opportunity to create chemicals or other inventions that are beneficial to the waterways. As well as building structures strong enough to harness the sheer power of water; altering the course it will take downstream as well as blocking it from ever reaching a specific location. The Asian carp invasion is causing massive amounts of damage; one would believe that because of the advancing field of technology a solution would be a relatively
Simply, overfishing depletes fish stocks. The consumer demand for fish has risen dramatically over the past decade or so, so much that fisheries are designing new and innovate ways to catch more fish, and at a faster rate to meet consumer demands. What fisheries do not realize, though, is that their removal of fish from the oceans is too great and far too fast for new fish stocks to be made. So, no mating is occurring, leaving the oceans emptier each day. If this rate continues, all fish in the ocean will be almost non-existent. Already, we are experiencing a major decline in fish population: "In 2003, a scientific report estimated that industrial fishing had reduced the number of large ocean fish to just 10 percent of their pre-industrial population. "(par.6).Overfishing brings the main consequence of decrease in the fish population. People rely on fish for survival (in some countries, fish is their only source of food), and they rely on marine life for products (goods like lipstick, petroleum jelly, make-up, etc.)
Generation after generation gathered food off the land, people are continuing to practice this in our modern world today. Societies expressly continue to gather their own food as it provides an inexpensive, delightful tasting meal. One of the techniques of our historical past that is still in use today, that has been used for generation after generation is “netting” fish. Netting is a classic technique that has not faced as many revisions to its practice. It persists from one generation to the next due to the fact, that many do not understand it to be harmful to the environment; others may enjoy the idea of letting commercial fisheries catch large numbers of fish as it continues to keep some of Americans favorite meals low cost. Devastating fall out from neglectful thinking about netting will occur in the future if preservative action toward this way of life is not taken. Minimizing the use of nets in waterways will ensure salmon and other fish survive for many more generations to come, allowing this plentiful food source given to us by Mother Nature to be exploited and enjoyed by our future kin. With food sources now readily available, fishing with nets should be reevaluated as follows; who is allowed to fish with nets, what are their purposes, and how will this effect tributary fishing populations.
In the article, “Columbus’s Legacy: Genocide in the America’s,” by David E. Stannard, the theme can be identified as contrary to popular belief that the millions of native peoples of the Americas that perished in the sixteenth century died not only from disease brought over by the Europeans, but also as a result of mass murder, as well as death due to working them to death.
Rupert Murray’s The End of the Line focuses on the depletion of the oceans fisheries and the devastating effects it has already begun to have on ecosystems and less affluent populations. The film opens with a description of the tribulations of Newfoundland. Once possessing waters so populous with cod that one could “walk across their backs in the water,” improved technology and larger fishing vessels began to deplete the fish stocks. Despite placing a moratorium on fishing in 1992, the fisheries had already been depleted to the point of complete collapse. Similar processes are occurring around the world, as only .6% of the ocean is restricted to fishing vessels. According to the film, much of the ocean’s catch has declined by 90%; the continuation of current trends if continue, stocks will collapse by 2048.
Parliament of Canada. (n.d.). Northern Cod: a failure of Canadian fisheries management. Retrieved June 17, 2014, from Parliament of Canada: http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=2144982&Mode=1&Parl=38&Ses=1&Language=E&File=21
Catches of salt cod helped schooners and boat building industry made shipyards the busiest in the world. Ground fishing were caught with bait fished right from the dories and schooners (4). In 1930 early signs of stress due to the popularity of haddock fish. Scientist were asked to study the causes of the decline of fish. Harvard University had started a scientific investigation which resulted in a suggestion of increasing the sizes of mesh when catching fish. But that didn’t help much because there was such a decline in fish that congress had passed The Magnuson Act in 1976 by trying to take control of the economic zone and regulating a system of a domestic industry. They also decided to develop a program to help failing fishing by offering job retraining, vessel buyouts for fishing families that solely relied on
Slowly, as the trends continue, we will inevitably see many fish species start to disappear. In fact, the ill-treatment of species on the Canadian border has already devastated a large species, the cod. In the 1950s the Newfoundland Grand Banks was home to a plentitude of cod; early European explorers said,”that if you lowered a basket into the water, cod will fill it to the brim.” It supplied the locals with an item of trade and a source of food.
To fish or not to fish is a personal choice. The fact that the oceans are being overfished is a growing concern for individuals, organizations, and governments throughout the world. In this paper I want to discuss the effects of overfishing on the restaurant industry, and possible solutions to solve the problem. Fishing is an ongoing source of food for people around the world. In many countries it is a food staple in their everyday diet. In more modern societies eating fish has become a sensual experience, and not just for the wealthy. It hasn't been until population explosions in the last century that the demand for seafood has led to more effective fishing techniques and technologies. Now the demand for popular fish like the salmon, tuna, sea bass, cod and hoki, which is the key fish in McDonalds filet o' fish, is diving wild populations to dangerously low levels. The methods used to catch the amount of fish demanded by the industry do not leave sustainable populations in the wild. In an attempt to preserve the fish population, governments have set limits on the minimum size that may be harvested and how many of each may be taken. Boundaries have been set up saying which areas can be fished and which ones should be left alone. A number of smaller fisheries have gone out of business because of the limits imposed by the government. This leads to even less fish being harvested and brought to market. Therefore the amount and varieties of fish at markets are smaller and can cause shortages for wholesalers and restaurants. Some restaurants will no longer have the variety on their menus that they used to enjoy. If a restaurant thrives on its seafood menu they may be unable to cope with the shortages and will go out of business. In the ...
When economic incentives overshadow moral reasoning, people often disregard, or temporarily repress moral arguments, and eagerly turn toward the economic incentives. In January 2009, a 440 lb Bluefin tuna sold for $173,000 (Keim, 2009). The average weight and size of a bluefin tuna is 770 lbs and 2-2.5 m. This high selling price reflects an irresistible incentive to catch these immense fish and sell them to the highly demanding market. Demand for bluefin tuna has grown so high that demand is starting to supersede the supply. In anticipation of resolving this problem, commercial fisheries began large-scale fishing of the tuna. Bluefin Tuna have very fast swimming speeds, which allow them to migrate between cold temperate feeding grounds and warm water spawning grounds regularly (Fromentin and Powers, 2005). Atlantic Bluefin Tuna can sustain cold (down to 3°C) as well as warm (up to 30°C) temperatures while maintaining stable internal body temperature (Block et al. 2001). One problem with the unrestricted fishing of Bluefin tuna is their susceptibility to being overfished. Northern Atlantic Bluefin Tuna in particular have life spans of over 30 years. This causes them to be more vulnerable to getting caught at some point in their lifetimes. In addition it takes them eight years to mature which leads to a very slow reproductive cycle (Fromentin and Powers, 2005). By the time they reach eight, there is a very good chance that they will already be caught eliminating their chance for reproduction. Egg production, for the individual species that do make it to maturity, appears to be size-dependent: a smaller, younger female produces an average of five million eggs, while a larger, older female can carry up to 45 million eggs (Rodriguez-Ro...
Unless the current situation improves, stocks of all organisms that are currently fished for food are predicted to collapse drastically by 2048 (WWF 2.) Briggs emphasizes that over-fishing “has induced population collapses in many species. So instead of having less than a hundred species at risk, as was the case some 30-40 years ago, there are now a thousand or more