The Pros And Cons Of Overfishing

1311 Words3 Pages

By 1989, when about 90 million metric tons of catch were taken from the ocean, the fish industry had hit its high-water mark causing yields to decline or stagnate ever since then. The United Nations Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 25 percent of all fish trapped in nets are bycatch, which includes any fish or animal that is unusable or not licensed for fishing by the vessel (Moran). Modern ships today use technologically advanced, fish-finding sonar that can find a school of fish with almost military precision. Due to all this heavy fishing it can change the characteristics of a population by selecting for or against a certain trait. Overfishing is not only a crime but one of the contributing factors to the decline of animal population in the oceans and in increase in human greed. Overfishing occurs when more fish are caught than the population can replace through natural reproduction. Fish is a commonly eaten food in the United States, and commercial fisheries …show more content…

Sonar commercial fishing is just one of the many fishing technologies available to fishermen. But no matter what technology a fisherman has, if they continue to fish with the same harmful nets, then they will still have bycatch. Another technology that fishermen have access too is radar imaging which produces somewhat of a 3D image for the fisherman. This technology though somewhat useful, provides opportunity for overfishing by locating large schools of fish. The last commonly used method of finding fish is tagging and tracking fish. This method is probably the most unethical of all new technologies because it not only taggs the fish but helps lead you to their school. Though there are many different technologies for fisherman to use, many times, these nets and traps get left in the ocean and catch unsuspecting animals which is also known as ghost

Why Kill the Dolphins?
1189 Words | 3 Pages
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.
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Monster Debris Summary
471 Words | 1 Pages
First of all, the article Too Many Fishermen enlightens the readers about the dangers and risks of overfishing. For example, on lines 12 through 15 it states, “Overfishing depletes fish stocks by taking fish at a rate faster than they can replace themselves. Many fish are harvested before they are even mature enough to reproduce. As a result, marine species are dying at an alarming rate.” The author used this evidence to better show how real and harmful the situation is. This is used by the author to help support the idea that humans have a negative impact on the ocean and helps to spread the word easier.
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Essay On Canada's Fishing Industry
1832 Words | 4 Pages
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 species. Overfishing causes a ripple effect that hurts the entire ecosystem. The balance of the chain depends largely on the interaction between the predator and the prey.
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Strategies Of Revamping Fishing
1446 Words | 3 Pages
Generation after generation gathered food off the land, people are continuing to practice this in our modern world today. Societies expressly continue to gather their own food as it provides an inexpensive, delightful tasting meal. One of the techniques of our historical past that is still in use today, that has been used for generation after generation is “netting” fish. Netting is a classic technique that has not faced as many revisions to its practice. It persists from one generation to the next due to the fact, that many do not understand it to be harmful to the environment; others may enjoy the idea of letting commercial fisheries catch large numbers of fish as it continues to keep some of Americans favorite meals low cost. Devastating fall out from neglectful thinking about netting will occur in the future if preservative action toward this way of life is not taken. Minimizing the use of nets in waterways will ensure salmon and other fish survive for many more generations to come, allowing this plentiful food source given to us by Mother Nature to be exploited and enjoyed by our future kin. With food sources now readily available, fishing with nets should be reevaluated as follows; who is allowed to fish with nets, what are their purposes, and how will this effect tributary fishing populations.
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Taking a Look at Overfishing
590 Words | 2 Pages
Earth's oceans make up over 75% of the Earth as a whole. With that being said, it is vital to understand the significance on the contents of the oceans. Since fish and marine products make up a large portion of our diet, fishing practices need to be properly managed. In this essay, overfishing will be defined, its consequences will be revealed, and plans for proper fish distribution will be executed.
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Persuasive Essay On Commercial Fishing
1991 Words | 4 Pages
Due to the demand many packaging for the fish can find its was back to sea, or when fishermen are out at sea they can leave their garbage. Many nets from the boats and gears can also be found in the water, that fish can later see as food, eat it, and die; this ties back to extinction in fish. There is much pollution and decline stocks in fish because it is very hard to regulate the seas. To fulfill the growing demand for seafood, many companies are forced to fish beyond areas that are supposed to be non-fishing zones. This is because there are hardly any laws or restrictions telling them where they can and cannot fish. Sally Driscoll and Tom Warhol report in, ‘Overfishing’, that itt wasn’t until 1956 where we saw our first regulation, the United Nations organized the first UN Convention of the Law of the Sea or the NCLOS which helped promote rights of all countries by establishing boundaries off shore. Meaning that some seafood fished in certain areas of the ocean cannot be sold in certain countries, and in some areas it is illegal to fish unless you have a permit from that country. Economy also helps make it harder to regulate the seas, in ‘Overfishing’ it is explained that Preisdent Barack Obama brought up Antiquities Act of 1906, that let fishermen expand their fishing areas. The United Nations FAO estimates that 25 percent of all fish trapped in nets are labeled unusable or not licensed for fishing by the
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Pros And Cons Of Overfishing
603 Words | 2 Pages
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).
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The Pros And Cons Of Overfishing
794 Words | 2 Pages
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
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Bycatch Research Paper
1293 Words | 3 Pages
Why does bycatch occur? To start many of the modern fishing gear used today are not very selective because most fishermen would like to catch lots of fish not just one specific type. This means fishing gear has to be large and cover lots of areas without being selective. There are also reports of devices that have been made to stop bycatch of a certain type of specie, like the turtle, but they are not always used due to lack of enforcement or political will (Rayment paragraph 3). This shows that even though there are measures being taken to prevent bycatch, sometimes they do not always work because of other hidden agendas. Another reason that affects fishermen is that, “Some policies actually create incentives to discard
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Bycatch Research Paper
109 Words | 1 Pages
Bycatch is the accidental capture or damage of other marine species during commercial fishing. Animals such as dolphins, sea turtles, whales, seals, sea lions, etc… get caught in the nets or hooks during trawling. These animals usually end up dying from various causes, often broken fins, deep lacerations, and drowning. It is estimated that more than 300,000 small whales and dolphins are killed each year from commercial fishing. (Anne Houtman pg. 246) Furthermore, fishing methods such as bottom trawling destroy spawning grounds and invertebrates. There are fishing methods and equipment that reduce bycatch and they are growing in popularity, however, bycatch still remains a major threat to marine life.
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The Effects of Overfishing on the Restaurant Industry
1580 Words | 4 Pages
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 ...
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Argumentative Essay On Overfishing
1623 Words | 4 Pages
Many of the methods used in commercial fishing are very destructive to the aquatic systems. Industrial ocean trawlers scrape the bottom of the water, often dragging up the seafloor with them. This destroys the habitat and kills many of the bottom dwelling organisms that are vulnerable to these practices. There is also a large amount of marine animals that are unintentionally caught by the large nets. These animals are considered bycatch, having no value to fishermen and are usually killed. These large fishing vessels also add a significant amount of pollution to the water. Fishing vessels cause oil spills as well as discharging chemical elements and wastes into the water. The thousands of of trawlers that pass through Japanese waters create large quantities of water pollution that can devastate aquatic life by changing the chemical composition of the water and affecting all the organisms that inhabit these
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Oceans in Crisis
1833 Words | 4 Pages
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...
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Marine Life Extinction Essay
1941 Words | 4 Pages
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).”
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Disadvantages Of Ghost Fishing
820 Words | 2 Pages
Ghost Fishing is what happens when fishing gear has been lost dumped or abandoned at sea. Lost fishing gear is among the greatest killers of marine life in our oceans. Hundreds of kilometers of nets and lines are lost every year. Any man made contraption designed to catch fish or other marine organisms is considered capable of ghost fishing when left unattended and without anyone profiting from the catch. Ghost Fishing is a serious problem because it affects already depleted commercial fish stocks. Caught fish die and in turn attract scavengers which then get caught in the same net, creating a tragic cycle. Due to the material used to create these types of gear, they can and most likely will continue to fish
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The Pros And Cons Of Overfishing

Why Kill the Dolphins?

Monster Debris Summary

Essay On Canada's Fishing Industry

Strategies Of Revamping Fishing

Taking a Look at Overfishing

Persuasive Essay On Commercial Fishing

Pros And Cons Of Overfishing