The first thing that comes to one's mind when fish is mentioned is usually, smelly, nasty, or to some, delicious. In a nutritional aspect, fish is a top priority in a diet because of the protein that it has. Many people fish for food, or just for leisure. Overfishing mainly started in the 19th century, when humans started looking for blubber for oil lamps, which they used for light during the night. When humans started overfishing for the whale blubber it severely reduced and damaged the whole population of the sea life. In the fish population, many fish such as the Atlantic cod and herring were overfished to the point where they almost went extinct by the mid 1900’s. The depletion of the fish population disrupted the aquatic food chain, which became massively catastrophic by the late 20th century. More than 75% of the planet is covered by oceans, which homes much of the world’s biodiversity and a vital source of food (WWF, 2011). Today, there is no chance for any fish on the floors of all seas to escape with all the technology all of these anglers (another term for a man who fishes) are equipped with. Humans now have the technology to find and catch every fish on the planet with all sorts of complex nets, cages, GPS systems, and many more contraptions. As a result, fishing has expanded to virtually all corners of the ocean over the past century, which has damaged fish populations. Overfishing has rapidly become a vast global issue that affects many. Recent studies found that overfishing in the ocean is diminishing sea life around the world. Overfishing makes it hard for the sea life to replenish and rehabilitate itself. Overfishing is a situation where one or more species of fish are reduced to below levels of acceptance for t...
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... Ago: Study › News in Science (ABC Science)." Overfishing Began 1000 Years Ago: Study › News in Science (ABC Science). N.p., 25 May 2009. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
Heimbuch, Jaymi. "Thailand Attempts to Solve Overfishing By Dumping Tanks, Trains and Trucks into Sea (Video)." TreeHugger. N.p., 13 Aug. 2010. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
"One Solution to Global Overfishing Found." - Wildlife Conservation Society. N.p., 19 Mar. 2012. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
"Overfishing." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
R, Matt. "A Better Way to Prevent Overfishing." The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 25 Mar. 2013. Web. 08 Mar. 2014.
"Threat 1: Overfishing." Overfishing. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2014.
"Unsustainable Fishing." WWF. N.p., 2010. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
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Larabee, John, and Richard Price. "Tide of Troubles has Fish Industry Reeling/ Crisis Caused by Pollution, Development, Over-Fishing." USA Today 10 Mar. 1994: 9A
...s to remove the selfish entertainment from nature and focus instead on its intrinsic value. This in situ approach to conservation of cod, although seemingly surface level transcends the boundaries of economic, cultural, or any of such approximations and places the value on the existence of the species. Another projected solution for the crisis of the overexploitation of fish is the institution of moratoria, which establish that a certain species can no longer be hunted or fished in this context. This in situ attempt at regulating the consumption of cod allows the cod for time to replenish themselves and their populations. Yet, this type of regulation suggests that all humankind must do is step back and let for the problem to take care of itself, and as has been proven several times before stepping back and letting things resolve themselves do not end accordingly
Overfishing is defined as a form of overexploitation where fish stocks are brought down to unacceptable levels. In the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s 2 yearly report (SOFIA), it states how over half of the fish stocks, worldwide, are fully exploited. Other research has shown it only takes 10-15 years of industrial fishing to obliterate a tenth of the intended specie. Overfishing causes a ripple effect that hurts the entire ecosystem. The balance of chain depends largely on the interaction between the predator and the prey. For example, if the larger fish are removed than its prey begins to overpopulate, due to the lack of population control. The balance in the oceans are a urgent problem, around 90% of predatory fish stocks are depleted. The ripples can extend even further to land creatures like
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.
Overfishing can lead to sea creatures becoming extinct. This can ruin an entire food chain and continues
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.
Overfishing is a major problem in economy today. The practices of fishing too much or too often result in a decrease of the fish population. Constant removal of fish from the oceans (fishing) accounts for both adult and baby fish. With the consistent decrease in adult fish, mating becomes more difficult or even impossible, resulting in an overall lack of fish in the oceans. Pepijn Koster defines overfishing as, "Overfishing can be defined in a number of ways. However, everything comes down to one simple point: Catching too much fish for the system to support leads to an overall degradation to the system. Overfishing is a non-sustainable use of the oceans." (par.1). When fish stocks cannot be replenished faster than they are being depleted, a reduction in fish population occurs, which is what is referred to as overfishing.
Overfishing may have some benefits to it, but does it out way the negatives? By fulfilling our demand we can wipe out our whole oceans! Not just the fish, but water mammals too. Sure it can create jobs, but as what cost? It can help bring up our economy, but at the same time it can bring it down with many fish companies closing down due to lack of profit. Fish is a great source of nutrients, but too much can kill you! In other words, fish can be both beneficial and harmful to not only humans, but everyone and everything surrounding fish. There are three things people can do to help with overfishing, the first thing is to be aware of what you are eating. Is the fish on the fear of extinction list? Also asking yourself is the fish you’re about to eat really the fish you intend to eat? Another thing to ask is, was it shipped over seas? If it was it doesn’t benefit anyone, it won’t help the economy or you. Many fish shipped from a long ways creates pollution and may have lost its nutrients value from the long voyage. One last thing to do is if you see a sewer with a sign leading to the ocean, try not to leave trash near it, or better yet don’t litter at all! All the litter left out on streets or near sewers can cause pollution in oceans, lakes, and rivers which is very harmful for marine life. You can still enjoy fish, but not at such a high demand as
Overcapacity of vessels in the water is one main reason for overfishing. It is said that there are enough vessels in the water to fish 4 planet earths—crazy, right?. There is so many powerful boats out there with intense competition for limited fish. Technological advances such as sonar detection leaving the fish no hope for escape. These vessels have become so efficient that they have
As a whole the world has so many resources used in everyday life for different reasons. These include water, wood, oil, air, animal products, and plants, but these resources will not last forever. People every day are causing harm to the environment through different methods like, deforestation, pollution, global warming and overfishing. Warner Brother’s Happy Feet showed that overfishing is a great harm to many species of penguins near the Antarctic areas. Overfishing is when fish are caught at a faster rate than the fish can actually produce themselves. This in returns creates a shortage of fish for other animals who eat them as a source of food. Without the fish they no longer have a food source and are endangered to die from starvation. Since Happy Feet aired in 2006, the concept of overfishing causing animals to become extinct or endangered has surfaced in the minds of many people.
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 is a growing world problem. In 2013, 93 million tonnes of fish were caught
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 ...
“Overfishing occurs when more fish are caught than the population can replace through natural reproduction”. CITATION
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