Coral Reef Overfishing

Many people rely on fishing for both financial and nutritional reasons; not only is it a vital source of food for people around the world, but it also contributes $51 billion to the world’s economy through trade (Tidwell). Fish make up 16% of animal protein consumed by the population, according to a report conducted by Dr. James Tidwell, an expert in the field of aquaculture. Not only is fish a staple in the global diet, but it also employs over 6 million people globally (Teh). According to the NOAA, coral reefs house over 25 percent of all ocean life and fishers rely heavily on coral reefs to supply them with their fish. The survival of coral reefs is vital to the survival of ocean life, but this relationship works vice versa as well.

By focusing on decreasing consumption of livestock and fish to a sustainable level of intake, coral reefs will be less disturbed by the consequences of overfishing and animal agriculture. Organic farming has shown to be a cleaner substitution to conventional farming practices that use pesticides and other pollutants. These solutions can decrease the influence that human activity has on coral reefs and the environment and hopefully revive damaged reefs.

Though the implementation of these ideas would help save coral reefs, there are many consequences and obstacles that come with it and it is near impossible to predict if these solutions in combination would be enough to save and reverse the damage already done to coral reefs. A global transition to organic farming would not only take a long time to accomplish, but it would also have negative effects on levels of food production. Organic farming is far less productive than conventional farming, causing it to be a less sustainable food source. Organic farming yields 25 percent fewer crops than conventional farming practices, meaning that a proportionally smaller crop would result in a transition of farming practices (Gilbert). This would cause produce prices on the market to increase as well as an increased amount of land converted for agricultural purposes, which is responsible for a decent amount of land based runoff into the ocean that then hurts coral reefs. Practically, this transition would not be feasible globally and it would not be able to be accomplished as quickly as it would need to be. At the rate that coral reefs are deteriorating at, a more timely solution is needed to slow human influence on coral