Environmental Effects Of Overfishing

Overfishing has huge impacts on the biodiversity of our oceans as well as the lives of people across the globe

Overfishing, a situation which occurs when the rate of fish that is caught is higher than the rate of reproduction of the species, is a global problem with serious economic, social and environmental implications. Every day, billions of people across the globe depend on seafood for a source of nutrition and income. Every organism in the food chain also depends on the survival of the other. However, as more and more people are making these seafood delicacies part of their diet, our oceans face the threat of running out of its supply of edible sea creatures.

Before, fishing was much more maintainable since fishermen did not have the

Statistics show that 90 percent of all large predatory fish are already gone (Save our Seas, 2016). These apex predators tend to have a longer lifespan meaning they are late to mature making them more vulnerable to overfishing. Overfishing of apex predators will cause an overabundance of species lower in the food chain like sardines and anchovies. An example of this is when sharks were overfished. After sharks disappeared, their prey species, one being the cow nose ray, consumed all the bay scallops. This caused a scallop fishery to shut down. Hence, it is evident that apex predators keep ecosystems in the balance as well as helping to maintain the livelihoods of

Due to overfishing, the lack of fish meant numerous fishers lost their jobs for they could not enough money to provide for their families. The North Atlantic region of fish populations of cod, haddock and flounder have fallen as much as 95 percent during the past decade. Experts recommended for fishing activities to be stopped to allow populations to recover. (“Marine Fisheries and the World Economy.” 2010.) This lead to the collapse of Canada’s east coast fishery and the loss of 40,000