Cyanide and Dynamite Fishing
Cyanide and dynamite fishing are cataclysmic fishing techniques that have detrimental and long lasting effects on coral reefs and marine ecosystems. Although illegal in many countries, cyanide and dynamite fishing continue to be executed in un-policed areas, especially in regions like South East Asia. The equipment needed for these fishing methods are relatively cheap however, the damages caused ultimately lead to very irreversible consequences that are only increasing as the practice of these methods gain popularity.
Cyanide fishing involves the use of the toxicant cyanide to temporality stun and gather reef fish for life fish industry and aquarium trade. Cyanide pellets are crushed and mixed with seawater before being squirted on to coral heads. This allows fishermen to catch fish that try to escape into crevices. Cyanide toxicants disturb the symbiotic relationship between the coral polyp hosts and zooxanthelle. But since the early 1980s, a more profitable business has emerged that involves supplying live reef fish for the restaurants of Hong Kong, Singapore, and Mainland China. About 20,000 tons of live fish are sold annually and for every live fish caught using cyanide, a square meter of the coral reef is killed. According to the Community Investment Forum, loss of live coral in Indonesia, as a result of cyanide fishing, is approximately 0.052 m2 per 100 m2 of reef per year.
Despite the fact that cyanide fishing is nominally illegal in almost all Indo-Pacific countries, the high premium pay for live reef fish, weak enforcement capacities, and frequent corruption have spread the use of the poison across the entire region. As the stocks in one country are diminishing, the trade proceeds to new fron...
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Ignorance, unemployment, poverty, greed and lack of discipline are only some of the factors that have led to the growth in popularity of Cyanide and Dynamite fishing. These dangerous fishing methods may not seem like a big deal but in the long run it can bring tragic consequences. We share this earth with not only other humans, but with other animals and organisms. Neither one of us can survive without the other, and wiping out coral reefs through Cyanide and Dynamite fishing wipes out hundreds of other species that are crucial to the ultimate survival of our planet. There are better and safer fishing methods that we can practice which will allow coral reefs and their environments to grow and thrive. We always have a choice, so let’s make the choice to be more aware and help rather than hurt those we share our planet Earth with.
In the past twenty years a large amount of bottlenose dolphin have been killed due to the tuna fishery. In the Eastern Pacific swim large schools of tuna, these shoals tend to be under herds of dolphins, for some unexplained reason. Because of this, fishermen can easily find schools of tuna. The tuna are being caught under purse seine nets, which encircles the shoals of tuna and then is pulled back on board the fishing vessel, catching both tuna and dolphin. Initially the mortality rate was 500,000 each year for dolphins alone. Although some efforts are made to encourage the dolphins to leave the net by backing down part of the net, which allows the dolphins to escape, there are still a large number of mortalities (Bryant). On the other hand, in the last few years there has been dramatic progress in stopping the fishing industries from using purse sine nets. It has been found that dolphins are in immediate danger of extinction if these fishing techniques don’t stop.
With a coastline of over 202 000 km and over a fourth of the world’s freshwater resources, it is no wonder why Canada’s fishing industry is a huge part of its economy.1 Canada exports more than 75% of its fish to over 130 countries worldwide. Many of the 7 million people who reside on the coast depend on the ocean’s resources. In total, Canada’s entire fishing industry is worth around 5$ billion dollars a year, being one of the world’s most valuable. However, the coasts have not been treated by respect; overfishing, over consumption, and wasteful practices has deteriorated, not only the industry, but the ecosystems and fish populations. This is a huge global issue; the worldwide collapse of fisheries has been project for 2048. 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 specie, the cod.
Accoring to “Overfishing of Blue fin Tuna: Incentivizing Inclusive Solutions,” it is estimated that 53% of tuna is exploited, while Blue fin Tuna have shown a significant decrease in the stock of reproductive Blue fin tuna by 80% since 1972 (Boon 1). By these statistics, it is clearly shown how much we take them for granted. Originally, Blue fin tuna were considered an inexhaustible food supply. However, as time has shown that ignorance really is bliss. If we stop and think of alternatives on how to save the Blue fin tuna population, we would be able to preserve the species for later generations to come.
Shark finning, the act of removing a shark’s fins and dumping its carcass, is arguably the biggest threat to shark populations worldwide. Each year, anywhere from 73 to 100 million sharks are killed to make a traditional Chinese dish called shark fin soup (Jefferies, 2012). While most countries have laws in place to regulate shark finning, the immense demand for shark fins has created an international black market. China’s large population coupled with a recent economic boom has made the shark fin industry increasingly unsustainable (Clarke, Harley, Hoyle, & Rice, 2013). Sharks are particularly vulnerable to overfishing because they don’t reach sexual maturity until later in their lives, which means many sharks are being killed before they are able to contribute to the next generation. While shark conservation has come
For years corporations have been depleting the oceans of its wildlife for our benefit. However, one thing these corporations tend to not mention is the bycatch they encounter when catching fish for the purpose of consumption. The definition of bycatch “is the unintended capture of nontarget animals…”(Crowder and Murawski pg.1). Bycatch takes a negative toll on our ocean ecosystem that cannot be reversed.
The killing of the 20,000 Bottlenose dolphin in the Pacific Ocean in Taiji Cove, Japan is devastating and these killings are becoming an epidemic because the multi-million dollar a year aquariums and marine parks like SeaWorld are the main clients making demands for show dolphins. In the documentary The Cove,1 Richard O’Barry stated that “the aquariums request the best looking dolphins and for the other dolphins they are killed for their meat.” Although these dolphins are being killed the other few which hard to produce an approximate amount are kept alive for profit and are sold to Marine parks. “20,000 dolphins are killed every year between September through March,” Sea Shepherd3. Spear rods are used to kill the dolphins, and that technique turns the waters red with blood. Metal rods are now driven through the dolphins to cause paralysis.1 People should care about this topic because if the killings continue the side effect will be a rapid extinction of the Japanese Bottlenose dolphin, global mercury poisoning from consuming contaminated dolphin meat and major disruption in ocean ecology food chain. A journalist “Boyd Harnell2 there have been cases linked to Japanese children with birth defects because the mother has been consuming mercury contaminated dolphin meat.” This problem is occurring in the Pacific Ocean; the actual killings of the Bottlenose dolphins is in Japan, specifically the Taiji Cove.1 This cove is a naturally secluded lagoon and, this is where these butcheries happen.1 This problem is global because these carnages not only happen in Japan they happen in Peru as well, although, Japan is receiving much of the controversial heat. This is a local problem because of the secrecy and the governmental cover ups to help ...
DuTemple points out that there are also many threats to coral reefs relating to humans’ fishing and recreational activities, such as poison fishing, blast fishing, overfishing, and careless tourism/human contact. Fishermen sometimes stun fish residing in coral reefs by shooting cyanide, an extremely toxic poison into the reef.
Overfishing refers to an act of fishing more than what the population can replace through normal reproduction (WWF, 2016). This was led by international government efforts to increase fishing capacity in the mid-20th century, which then led to the increase in availability and affordability of protein-rich foods. With this, profitable commercial fleets became aggressive, scouring the world’s oceans and developing sophisticated technologies to find and catch their targeted species. Thus, with a wide selection of fish species available at affordable prices, customers soon became used to them (Geographic, 2016).
There are many impacts that fishing and land animal farming have on the ocean, which are detrimental to ocean ecosystems as well as many other aspects of the environment. Overfishing, killing fish at a much quicker rate than the fish can repopulate, is one major problem. Three-fourths of the world’s fisheries are either fully exploited, overexploited, or depleted (Cowspiracy). Researchers have estimated an end of all viable fisheries by 2018 if the current trends of fishing continue (Mason). According to the Monterey Bay Seafood Watch, hundreds of thousands of animals die every year as bycatch, with one of the worst offenders being shrimp fisheries, catching up to six pounds of bycatch per pound of shrimp. Endangered species are also caught, including predators which are important in keeping the balance in ocean ecosystems (Smith). While many organizations such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch recommend consumers to eat more “sustainable” fish, this will not stop the massive environmental impacts. Sustainable fishing for one does not account for the natural flux in the population of species of fish; what is considered a sustainable amount of fish to harvest one year may deplete the fishery in another year (Smith). Sustainable fish also are becoming even less sustainable as companies that label sustainable fish must find more For example, after Wal-Mart pledged to selling Marine Stewardship
Overfishing has rapidly gone down in many parts of Australia's fish stocks. The two major factors that are a result of this issue is ; some areas already have decreased biological productivity , along a wide range of fishing efforts that are resulted from commercial and recreational fisheries. Species that are vulnerable to overfishing are continually overfished include the most effective southern bluefin tuna; blue warehou; silver trevally; orange roughy; and bigeye tuna that are found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans beyond the Australian Fishing Zone. Illegal fishing places put continued pressure on some species, with patagonian toothfish in the southern ocean and shark in northern Australia are being the most affected.
Overfishing is a harmful practice, that will eventually lead to the collapse of aquatic ecosystems, if it’s not dealt with promptly. Overfishing emerges from the combination of our over consumptive society mixed with the great profits that come from hauling in a good catch. The consumers demand for fish in Japan seems to be at an increasingly high rate due to the enjoyment and cultural values that arise from sushi and other traditional dishes involving seafood. Approximately 23 percent of Japan’s protein intake comes from the ocean, and as a nation consumes 7.5 million tonnes of seafood annually. CITATION
Shark fin soup is a popular dish in the Chinese culture and it is mainly served in special events, it consists of a shark fin and chicken. It is mainly consumed by a wealthy minority. Although many people in the chinese culture seem to enjoy this popular delicacy, the shark population is declining, through the process of shark finning. Shark finning begins with the removal of the shark’s fins, once all of the fins are cut out, anything remaining left from the shark is thrown back into the ocean, and the shark is sometimes still left alive. Shark finning should be banned, because it is inhumane, sharks play a major role in the ecosystem, and it is declining the shark population.
Illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, or pirate fishing, is a huge threat to the marine environment, it's bio diversity in food development is dependent on it. Losses due to pirate fishing are estimated to be between 10-23.5 billion U.S. dollars per year. Representing 11-26 million tons of fish. West African waters are estimated to have the highest levels of pirate fishing in the world. Fish is a crucial source of protein for millions of people. Fishing is the major coastal employment along the coast's. During a dramatic two year investigation, the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) has documented mass amounts of pirate fishing on the West Coast of Africa. Pirate fishermen are literally out of control. They are fishing in protected areas, destroying local fishermens nets and sabotaging them, hiding their names, and shipping their catch illegally at sea. They evade arrest, attack local fishermen, and abusing their own crews. The catches of these pirates have been entering the EU. the worlds largest import market for seafood. This is despite a new EU regulation. The regulation requires all fish imported into Europe to be accompanied by a catch certificate that asks for name, address, validating authority, fishing vessel name, license, and homeport. This is all declares that the catches have been declared legal.y 90% of the vessels documented by EJF fishing illegally are bottom trawlers. Bottom trawlers are are vessels that drag heavy nets across the sea bed catching all marine life in their path. Up to 75% of call the catches made on these vessels are dumped back into the sea, dead or dying. Fish is the principal source of protein for 2.9 billion people. But the United Nations recognizes 80% of the world's fisheries are e...
Overfishing is the most major problem related to oceans, but it is also the most overlooked. Fishing has been going on for thousands of years, and fish have always been seen as a renewable resource, that would replenish itself forever for our benefit. But around the world there is evidence that fish are not recove...
Did you know that more than 90 percent of all organisms that have ever lived on Earth are extinct? According to Pandey, the author of Humans Pushing Marine Life toward ‘Major Extinction’, nearly 10,000 species go extinct each year, and this rate is estimated to be 1,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate (1). Human beings are causing irreversible damage to the oceans and their wildlife, which is being led by two major reasons: Commercial fishing or over-fishing, which damaged the marine environment and caused a loss in the marine life diversity, and pollution, which is a primary way of the extinction causes that drastically modifies the marine life habitat. As a result of the commercial fishing and pollution, many of the marine species will start disappearing of the oceans. 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 (10).”