How important is the ocean? Plants that grow in the ocean produce half the oxygen all of the world’s population needs to survive (The Nature Conservancy, 2014). The Carbon dioxide the body releases is also absorbed by the ocean’s waters (The Nature Conservancy, 2014). Medicine that is used to fight cancer and cure disease is formulated from ingredients from the ocean (The Nature Conservancy, 2014). Not only does the ocean keep the people of the world healthy but it accounts for 128 billion dollars of the GDP, keeping the economy healthy also (The Nature Conservancy, 2014). The ocean is a big part of what makes Earth a place where human beings can live and flourish. It is surprising that despite the oceans great importance people are still destroying it, through a series of events that starts with a simple trip to a local sushi restaurant. Eating tuna causes destruction of the ocean because of the elimination of species and it’s effects on the food chain.
Eating tuna causes demand for tuna to go up. Demand for a product is defined by Reem Heakal as “ how much (quantity) of a product or service is desired by buyers” (N.D., pgh. 1). When a person goes into a sushi restaurant and orders the blue fin tuna special the chain reaction is started. Purchasing a product is like sending a vote for the product to the company who controls the production or in regards to tuna the killing of the product. However with a product like tuna there is not an infinite supply that a company can produce because tuna are living creatures. When a person eats tuna it causes the demand for tuna to go up.
When the demand for tuna goes up more tuna have to be killed in order to satisfy the demand. Supply is the other side of the demand coin. Reem Heakal defi...
... middle of paper ...
...011/05/bluefin_tuna.html
National Geographic (2014) . Plenty of Fish in the Sea? Not Always . Retrieved from http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-overfishing/
The Nature Conservancy (2014) . Five Reasons We are All Connected to Oceans . Retrieved from http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/habitats/oceanscoasts/explore/five-reasons-we-are-all-connected-to-oceans.xml
Save our seas foundation (2014). Threat 1: Overfishing . Retrieved from http://saveourseas.com/threats/overfishing
Valasquez-Manoff, M. (2008, June 10) . Nowhere to hide: The onslaught of fishing technology . Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2008/0610/nowhere-to-hide-the-onslaught-of-fishing-technology
Walsh, B. (2013, January 11) . The Pacific Bluefin Tuna Is Going, Going… . Retrieved from http://science.time.com/2013/01/11/the-pacific-bluefin-tuna-is-almost-gone/
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
...e use of FAD-associated purse seine caught tuna and will only sell tuna caught using environmentally responsible methods, currently defined to include pole & line and un-associated purse seine.” (JW). Some other conservation groups include the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission who works with the Government of member nations in the group to examine the human effects on tuna population and give recommendations on the amount that should be caught to keep a sustained population. WWF is another large group who collaborate with numerous other groups to help the population. Two such collaborations are with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) who work by certifying tuna fisheries, and encouraging retailers to buy from MSC certified fisheries and the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation who help in the conservation and management of tuna populations (WWF).
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
Earth's oceans make up over 75% of the Earth as a whole. With that being said, it is vital to understand the significance on the contents of the oceans. Since fish and marine products make up a large portion of our diet, fishing practices need to be properly managed. In this essay, overfishing will be defined, its consequences will be revealed, and plans for proper fish distribution will be executed.
Stone, Richard. "Massive Outbreak of Jellyfish Could Spell Trouble for Fisheries." Yale Environment 360. Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, 13 Jan. 2011. Web. 01 May 2012.
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.
Cod stock analysis showed that until the 60’s fish landings had never surpassed 300 tons, however by this time more and more foreign fleets had been starting to arrive in the Northwest Atlantic area to catch cod. One reason of this heavily growth in the landings, according to Higgins (2009), was the fact that fishing technology rapidly evolved. The striking growth of factory-freezers trawlers, which could stay for months on the sea storing hundreds of tons of fish on-board, is an example of this fishing evolution. In 1968, an historical catch records that 810 tons of cod was landed, more than twice times the amount of early 60’s. Atlanti...
The United States Pacific Northwest has historically been a significant player in the global fishing industry. However, over the last half-century, the fish population in the area has been declining at an alarming rate. Popular species of fish such as cod and salmon have been particularly susceptible to these decreases. What once was a region flourishing with abundant fish populations, is now in danger of being exploited to the point of extinction of certain species. The majority of these population drops is attributed to increased industrialization and overfishing in the region. The ocean is a commons, as defined by Garrett Hardin in his “The Tragedy of the Commons”, and is being exploited as an open resource, resulting in a reduction of fish and industrial fisheries in the Pacific Northwest. Enforced government regulation is the only viable course of action to deter the declining fish populations. Fisheries have been exploiting the region, and limiting the amount of fish one can catch, particularly of specific species, may lead to more balanced levels of fish population.
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.
...tlanticcity.com>. Irwin, Neil. "Environmental groups pressure chefs on menus." Washington Post June 19, 2002. April 26, 2011 Miller, Michael. "Group says it won't move oyster farm to Delaware Bay" Press of Atlantic City, The. August 3, 2010. Press of Atlantic City online. Atlantic Cape Community College, Mays Landing, April 26, 2011 National Sea Grant Law Center. California Enacts Sustainable Oceans Act. 2006. University of Mississippi April 28, 2011. Naylor, Rosamon L.
“Overfishing occurs when more fish are caught than the population can replace through natural reproduction”. CITATION
Every time we throw away a plastic bottle, drive our cars, and even burn those millions of fossil fuels to operate all those huge factories, there is a chance it will pollute the ocean and eventually affect the way we live. There should be stricter laws regulating human pollution, in order to protect our ocean ecosystem. The ocean is an abundant source of life. It is home to thousands of different creatures, provides a great source of food, and provides the earth with about one half of the oxygen needed to sustain life. National Geographic: Pollution, especially plastic, is a catastrophic problem.
Analysis of The Tragedy of the Commodity: The Overexploitation of the Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna Fishery In the context of deteriorating bluefin tuna stocks, Stefano B. Longo and Rebeca Clausen successfully critique the classic theory of the tragedy of the commons by ecologist Garett Hardin, in their article “The Tragedy of the Commodity: The Overexploitation of the Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna Fishery”. Hardin’s theory was widely accepted as a model for the overfishing of bluefin tuna, however, Longo and Clausen observe here that the tragedy of the commons is overly simplistic. The authors dive deeper beyond Hardin’s shallow explanations to demonstrate that it is the commodification of our ocean’s resources, instead of self-interested users exploiting a common resource, that leads to overfishing and the depletion of fisheries.
Pollution comes in many forms. In the ocean we dump a variety of substances, including human wastes, chemicals from fertilizers, oil, and trash such as plastic which all contribute to the growing issue of our ocean pollution. In addition to, our usable waters are finite. More than 97.5 percent of the water on this planet is undrinkable salt water; the remaining 2.5 percent has two-thirds of the usable fresh water locked up in glaciers, snow, and permafrost. Of the one-third of freshwater that is available for human use, 20 percent is used for industrial use. (“Water Pollution”) “In effect, water pollution reduces the volume of water available for use by human and other populations.” (Robin Clarke, Jannet King) Knowing that there are approximately 7.2 billion people and growing on this planet with only 0.83 percent of available for our use wouldn’t you want to do everything possible to help put an end to water pollution? (worldometers)
The ocean can serve man purposes things for many different people; as a school, a home, a park...