The Consequences Of Overfishing

Introduction

Overfishing occurs when fish and other marine species are caught faster than they able to reproduce. It is the result of growing demand for seafood around the world, combined with poor management of fisheries and the development of new, more effective fishing techniques. If left unchecked, it will destroy the marine ecosystem and jeopardise the food security of more than a billion people for whom fish are a primary source of protein.

Below are a few definitions in use by organisations and governments.

1. The practice of commercial and non-commercial fishing which depletes a fishery by catching so many adult fish that not enough remain to breed and replenish the population. Overfishing exceeds the carrying capacity of a fishery.

It has serious consequences as overfishing interrupts in balancing of life in the oceans and the economic and social of coastal communities who rely on fish for food sources and other purposes as well. There are several causes that lead to overfishing. One of the causes is growing population of human. There are a huge number of people who depend on fish for food sources as fish is one of the sources of protein that are available on Earth. The larger the human populations, the higher the demand for

It is used commonly in marine fisheries,where the individuals longlines can be severals kilometers in lenth and possesses thousands of baited hooks. Longlining can be set to hang near the surface (pelagic longline) or along the seafloor (demersal longline). The pelagic longline is suspended in the water by floatlines attached to floats to keep it elevated in the water , which may have flagpoles, lights or radio beacons and the types and sizes of the hooks and baits depends on the targeted species. The depth of the hooks is controlled by the length of the short line. It is usually set and hauled once daily and are usually allowed to drift freely for several hours while