Jessie Powell
Univ 112 11am
Overfishing
Overfishing is a pressing and often underestimated problem facing our world
today. The causes of the drastic loss of marine life over the past 50 years are
varying, but can be linked to human population and industrial growth both directly
and indirectly. If human patterns of destruction are not rectified soon, the loss of
marine ecosystems will affect the entire global community, through food shortages,
climate change, and unforeseen consequences. However, scientists and
governments are starting to work together to solve the problem, by regulating
protected areas, or “Hope Spots,” and spreading awareness so that everyday citizens
can make educated decisions regarding seafood.
As technology has advanced, we humans have developed more and more
efficient ways of fishing and often destroying marine habitats. We also know more
about the ocean than we ever have before and are beginning to realize the
ramifications of this overfishing. While fishing on this scale can mean more food,
healthier diets, better economies, livelihoods for thousands…it also is unsustainable.
Even today many fishermen are losing their livelihoods since they cannot catch the
amount of fish they once could, or industrial fishing companies are putting locals out
of business. This is especially a problem with tribal communities who depend on a
fishing culture to survive, and have been doing so for years, but cannot compete
with large scale operations (FAO).
Overfishing began with the slaughtering of countless whales for blubber for
lamp oil in the 1800s, and continues today with the decimation of many more
species. In the past 50 years alone 90% of large ocean fish populations, such as
orange roughy, Chilean sea bass, bluefin tuna, as well as many shark species have
been depleted (National Geographic). This affects the entire ocean ecosystem, since
these are the big predators often times. The fishing companies use technologies that
gather fish and other byproduct species at such a rate that they cannot replenish in
time; technologies such as long lines with baited hooks every few feet – stretching
up to 50 miles, industrial trawlers and draggers that move along the sea floor and
destroy everything in their way, vacuums that suck up hundreds of fish in just
minutes, the use of explosives, and “ghost fishing” are all a part of the problem. One
of the most wasteful things about these fishing strategies is the amount of
byproduct. This means that for every load brought on shore from a trawler, for
example, up to 80 or 90% of the marine life caught is not the target species, and is
thrown overboard again, already dead. When sharks are caught, their fins are cut off
and the sharks’ bodies are thrown overboard to die – a form of byproduct fishing.
“Ghost fishing,” another issue, is when animals get caught in abandoned nets or
traps and are left to suffocate or starve for no reason (Mission Blue). All of this is
done to feed the growing global population of humans. Sometimes this is indirect,
such as when it comes to killing anchovies and sardines for their oils, or feeding kelp
to cattle, destroying an entire kelp habitat in the process (Mission Blue).
One solution is thought to be farm fishing, or aquaculture; there are issues
surrounding this industry as well, though. Many times the coastal region where a
farm is going to be put in place is destroyed, including mangrove forests housing
bird and crab species, natural bunkers against storms, and sometimes human
homes. Fresh water sources are drained to lower the salinity of the farm’s water,
which can displace people who rely on those water sources. Wastewater is dumped
into surrounding natural habitats, which can lead to algae blooms and make native
fish ill since they are not given the antibiotics the farm fish are (WWF). Although
farm fishing can solve the problem of overfishing the ocean’s native populations, it
needs more regulation to prevent it causing more problems than it solves.
The ocean is Earth’s circulatory system in many respects; it regulates our
climate, CO2 levels, and is involved in every cycle (water, nitrogen, oxygen…) on
Earth. If the life below the surface of the water is tampered with, the whole system
could become skewed. Ecosystems only work if everything is in balance, and when
one species is depleted, the entire food chain feels it – this is called a “trophic
cascade.” Without cod and haddock, shrimp and capelin populations are expanding
unhindered in the Northwestern Atlantic; without predators like tuna, anchovy
populations are booming in the Black Sea; without predators, urchins are more
prevalent on coral reefs, leading to erosion and decreased algal-feeding fish
diversity (WWF). These are just a few examples of the ramifications of overfishing,
but there are infinitely more. Much of the ocean remains unexplored to this day, so
really it is impossible to know what and how everything will be affected by
overfishing. Deep ocean creatures are often left out of the sustainability discussion,
but are some of the most sensitive to environmental changes since they live in such
a unique environment. It is in our best interest to reform the fishing industry so that
it is sustainable, because if we eat all the fish we will not have any left, those
currently employed by the industry will be unemployed, the jobs the oceans
perform to regulate the Earth systems will collapse, and we will lose beautiful coral
reefs and biodiversity.
There is hope, however, for the oceans. Places where protective measures
against fishing and pollution have been put in place (MPAs or Marine Protected
Areas) have proven that with time, fish populations can recover. So far, only 3% of
the world’s oceans are protected, but more action is starting to be taken (Mission
Blue). In the US in 2000, an executive order was issued to encourage the
“Department of Commerce, the Department of the Interior, and other federal
agencies to work closely with states, territories, tribes, fishery management
councils, and groups with an interest in marine resource conservation to develop a
scientifically-based, comprehensive National System of MPAs representing diverse
U.S. marine ecosystems” (NOAA). Since this order, the US has mandated several
locations where the ocean is either fully protected, a no-take zone, or some other
form of a marine sanctuary, such as the Marianas Trench Marine National
Monument where scientists are still exploring new deep-sea discoveries. Globally,
there are 57 “Hope Spots,” named so by prominent Marine Biologist Silvia Earle,
where diverse marine habitats around the world are protected and have been
successfully recovering. These Hope Spots can be found in every ocean, and range
from tropical to arctic waters. These places are beneficial to humans in that they
replenish collapsing food stocks for surrounding fishing waters, are CO2 sinks, allow
sanctuaries for endangered species and juveniles to grow, maintain diverse and
precious ecological habitats, and help preserve local traditions and livelihoods for
cultures deeply linked to the ocean (WWF). As individuals, we can make educated
decisions at the grocery store about what seafood and fish oil we buy, and be sure to
know where it came from, as well as spread awareness.
This is an ethical issue because there are many parties and interests involved,
and there is not one clear answer to the problem. On one hand, the growing world
population will always demand fish to eat, and fishermen will always need jobs. Yet
this unsustainable pattern we have established will ultimately lead to the
decimation of both of these things. So what to do? There needs to be a balance
established between fishing areas and protected areas, fishermen need to respect
the limits of the ocean, CO2 levels need to drop to prevent ocean acidification, and as
individuals we need to become informed about these problems. Only if we are
informed can we make ethical decisions. The fish have the right to live, yet humans
have the right to eat. As with any ethical decision making process, all sides and all
outcomes must be considered.
In conclusion, recent decades have seen a dramatic decrease in global fish
stocks due to the increase in industrial fishing and new fishing technologies that do
not allow the fish populations time to replenish. The fish are not growing to be old
enough to migrate to their usual places, food chains are being disrupted, and reefs
are dying. This can be stopped now if more protected areas are mandated, such as
the Hope Spots seen around the world today, where marine populations are given
the chance to replenish. The ocean is crucial to the survival of every species on the
planet, which is why it deserves to be protected.
Citations
Mission Blue. Hope Spots. Silvia Earle Alliance, 2015. Web. April 3, 2015.
<http://mission-blue.org/hope-spots-new/>
NOAA. The Road to End Overfishing: 35 Years of Magnuson Act. NOAA Fisheries.
Web. April 3, 2015.
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<http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/stories/2011/20110411roadendoverfishing.ht
National Geographic. Overfishing. Web. April 3, 2015.
<http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-overfishing/>
WWF. Unsustainable Fishing. Web. April 3, 2015.
<http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_planet/problems/problems_fi
shing/>
FAO. Aquaculture. Web. April 27, 2015. <http://www.fao.org/aquaculture/en/>