Over fishing

Over fishing has become a global disaster because millions of people depend on the oceans for their livelihood. They rely on fishing for their employment and others rely on it as a daily source of food. Overfishing is defined in different ways including non- sustainable use of the oceans or exploitation of biodiversity due to heavy catching of fish leading to degradation to the system. Over fishing endangers species due to ignorance and lack of global management of biodiversity. It is one of the most dangerous threats to biodiversity. This is because of dramatic changes that come about, leading to a shift in the ecosystem. Thus, overfishing have led to diverse problems such as

1. Declining of fish in the fishing water bodies
2.  Pollution of water with associated health risks
3.  Collapse of fishing industries resulting to unemployment
4. Risk to the entire ecosystems
5. Global climate crisis

Decline of fish in water bodies is one of the problems that have remained a threat to social and economic welfare in many countries. This is because of reduction of important fish species in the water bodies. Fishing is not only an important aspect in many economies but it is also a traditional diet in some societies. In many African and Asian coastal regions, fish accounts for 50 percent of a typical diet. However, due to poor methods of fish harvesting, fish has declined in these coastal waters. This is because many anglers use illegal fishing methods such as poisoning, which leads to water pollution, resulting in the killing of other important species. This has contributed to the decline of important species in many oceans and water bodies all over the world.

In addition, fish has reduced especially when considering the 2008 United Nations report, which states that fishing fleets are losing billions of dollars every year. This is because of stock depletions and poor fisheries management. The report, which was produced by Food and Agriculture Organization, reveals that half of the fishing fleet in the world could be scrapped with no increase for fish caught. The report indicates that about 52 percent of fish stocks are exploited fully, 20 percent exploited moderately, 17 percent overexploited, 7 percent depleted and only one percent recovering from depletion. This serious problem shows that in the near future, there may be no fish in the oceans because the percentage of depletion is higher than the percentage of stocks recovering from depletion (Ripon, 2011).

Secondly, increased global fishing has caused water pollution, which results in serious problems on people’s health. This is through poor methods used such as fish poisoning which contributes to water pollution. Moreover, oils and other poisonous substances from heavy commercial fishing machinery pollute water leading to death of valuable fish species. When exploitation of commercially valuable species occurs, those species and habitats that share the same ecosystems are affected. Recent studies indicate that over-harvesting of large shark species has a flow effect on the food chains of sharks. This is because the number of prey sharks increases, leading to decline of smaller fish and shellfish species. In addition, large scale fishing which unintentionally kills untargeted marine life such as corals, juvenile fish, sharks and even whales has an effect on the marine ecosystem. All this results because of poor harvesting means used which contributes to water pollution thus affecting the fish breeding grounds.

Thirdly, the collapse of fishing industries is due to imminent danger of overexploitation thus the fishing industry is in a state of collapse thus contributing to unemployment. Already about 90 percent of the world’s predatory fish species have disappeared (Smith (2011). Thus, the world is at risk of losing species together with depletion of the entire ecosystem. Thus, the ecological unity of the global ecological unity is under stress and at risk of collapse leading to unemployment. In addition, the world is at risk of losing valuable seafood that many people depend on for dietary, social and economic issues. Already some industries have collapsed due to over -exploitation and poor management of fishing grounds and a good example would be Newfoundland, Canada. Here, there was a loss of more than 40, 000 jobs in the fishing industry (Smith, 2011). Other areas that are experiencing similar problems include North Sea and Baltic Sea fishing industries.

Gaines (2011) mentions that not only fish that are affected by reducing but also people are affected due to unemployment. This means that those people who depend on fishing activities are likely to lose employment due to fish reduction in the seas. This is because the loss of marine biodiversity will lead to closure of fishing industries and other related industries that depend on fishing materials will either close down or reduce the number of employees. Experts reveal that due to current global exploitation rates caused by overfishing, important fish stocks will be removed from the system in about twenty-five years from now. This is a serious problem, which indicates that social and economic activities associated with fishing will be affected.

The fourth problem of over fishing is a grave environmental concern in relation to the global climate crisis. Smith (2011) argues that unsustainable fish harvesting has led to serious problems in the global climate. This is due to increase in carbon emissions, which change the chemical composition in the sea and this has already led to destruction of coral and oyster reefs. The wind pattern has drastically changed because of rising air temperatures and more than 400 oceans are dead zones (Smith, 2011). Because the entire marine ecosystem is affected, the entire global climate will continue to change unless the issue is addressed. The Federal Fishery Director and environmentalists cite that for decades, people have been catching more fish using unsustainable methods (Gaines, 2011). Some of this fish caught can be replaced through reproduction but because of rampart unsustainable means used in harvesting fish, even those that have been replaced are now disappearing.

In addition, the condition of marine ecosystems affects all other ecosystems on the land. The ocean ecosystem covers two thirds of the earth‘s surface and due to poor fishing methods used such as poisoning of fish, the entire life in the land surface is affected. This is because of water pollution that results from poisoning methods used thereby affecting people. One such example is in the manifestation of water borne diseases. Overfishing threatens seafood supply that provides protein necessary for maintaining the health of the body. Life in the ocean plays a crucial role in the carbon cycle because the phytoplankton and marine plants absorb carbon dioxide produced by human beings and release oxygen that people and other creatures require to survive.

Lastly, another problem is that the entire ecosystem is now at risk due to overfishing. The entire ecosystem has been put at risk due to overfishing and the long-term consequences are not yet properly understood but the immediate consequences have already been severe (Gray, 2011). Nevertheless, several signs have been manifested because overfishing is drastically changing both the ocean and the dry land surface. The top ocean predators such as sharks and tuna have been removed due to overfishing. This has led to high population of jellyfish, which have led to clogged harbors and sinking of boats. Even in the recent past, several nuclear power plants have shut down due to jellyfish blooms Gray, 2011). Moreover, overfishing is linked to algal blooms, which choke and block the surface of the sea. They also block oxygen and penetration of light into the sea, killing valuable sea plants and sea.

According to Lee (2007), bluefin and bigeye tuna are among the fish type subjected to overfishing. Tuna is a stable seafood in the globe thus a lot of pressure has been put on it. The report on fishing which was released on August 8, 2011 indicates that overfishing remained a big problem in the last year. The report indicates significant progress, which was made in the decades ago to renew the prosperity of fisheries in America but nothing has been done to reduce over fishing problems (Lee, 2007). Therefore, the conservation and management councils are required to stop overfishing through introducing measures of preventing future overfishing. They are supposed to provide maximum sustainable ways of controlling overfishing because of the negative effects that have resulted from overfishing (Lee, 2007).

Although consumers are being conscious about harvesting of seafood sustainably, the root cause of overfishing is over-consumption of seafood. According to news reported in January by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (Jaelithe, 2011), the record of seafood consumption per capita is too high. The global consumption of seafood per capita increases at a rate of 3.6 percent since 1961. The report indicates that the number of people consuming fish daily is on the increase as the seafood consumption rates keep on increasing. The global fisheries in the last year harvested more than one hundred and forty five metric tons of seafood from the ocean in order to meet the demand of the increasing number of consumers. This has greatly resulted in numerous consequences that relate to the biodiversity of the ecosystem.

In conclusion, overfishing has led to diverse problems. First, overfishing has led to declining of fish. This has remained a threat to the social and economic welfare in many countries. In addition, it has caused an effect on ocean health thus those species and habitats that share the same ecosystems have been affected. Another problem is the collapse of fishing industries resulting to unemployment. Moreover, entire ecosystems are at risk due to overfishing and even though the long -term consequences are not yet properly understood, the immediate consequences have already been severe. Lastly, in relation to the climate crisis, there has been an increase in carbon emissions, which change the chemical composition in the sea. The wind pattern has also drastically changed because of rising air temperatures that have been a result of the global climate crisis.

 

References

Gaines. R (2011). ‘One-time top NMFS candidate faces time overfishing violations’. Gloucester

Times. Retrieved on August 8, 2011 from on http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x906048201/One-time-top-NMFS-candidate-faces-time-over-fishing-violations

Gray, R. (2011). ‘Overfishing and dams driving freshwater fish towards extinction’.

smh.com.au. Retrieved on August 8, 2011from http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/overfishing-and-dams-driving-freshwater-fish-towards-extinction-20110801-1i875.html

Jaelithe, J. (July 14, 2011). ‘Is Seafood Sustainable? Part II: The Overfishing Crisis’. Care2.

Retrieved on August 8, 2011 from on http://www.care2.com/causes/is-seafood-sustainable-part-ii-the-overfishing-crisis.html

Lee, M. ( March 5, 2007). ‘Overfishing found for Pacific bluefin, bigeye tuna’. Sign on Sa

Diego News. Retrieved on August 8, 2011from http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jul/14/feds-say-pacific-bluefin-tuna-overfished/

Ripon (August I, 2011) ‘Fears overfishing as flood works go on’. Ripon Gazette. Retrieved on

August 8, 2011from http://www.ripongazette.co.uk/news/ripon/fears_over_fishing_as_flood_works_go_on_1_3630932

Smith, B (August 6, 2011). ‘The Sustainable Seafood Myth.’ Truthout. Retrieved on

August 8, 2011from http://www.truth-out.org/sustainable-seafood-myth/1312649703

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