Try to picture the ocean, the world without fish. Imagine diving into or snorkeling over the sea, in the( disturbingly tranquil/ dead still) water. No fish, sharks, turtles or squid, no sea life, no life of beauty, just water, all because of our careless overfishing, draining the waters of it’s exuberant life. This is what the not so far out future generations might be left with,if we don’t do something about it, and soon. Overfishing is a global catastrophe affecting anyone and everyone in one way or another.
Overfishing is when fisheries take unsustainably large amounts of targeted and untargeted fish species at a rate that they can not reproduce fast enough to keep up with. This seemingly habit it quickly deplenishing the ocean. This disaster is mainly caused by specific unsustainable fishing methods, and is largely due to new fishing technology and boat capacity allowing fishers to take large catches in one trip. Many people in authority over look this issue which only leads to more damage.
Overfishing is very damaging to the food web, it creates a lot of bycatch,and it affects the ocean’s biodiversity and resources immensely. support. #1 Draft: ‘Fishing down the food web’ is the term used to describe when fishers target predatory species at the top of the food chain until they are very scarce, then move on to a smaller species instead. When fishers start at the top of the existing food web or chain, which are often priced higher, they fish to near extinction and then start moving down the food web, fishing smaller and smaller species along the way.
According to seaweb. org, “When commercial fisheries then target these vital species at the base of the food chain, adding to this already delicately balanced situation, they push the entire ecosystem to the brink of collapse. ” Since the food web is so interconnected and closely related, even a small falter in one of the species can have a large affect on another which affects another and another, creating a huge’ domino effect’ to ripple through the food web, causing ups and downs in different parts of the food web.
According to dartmouth. du “The annual total global catch of fish is 124 million metric tons, which is equivalent in weight to 378 Empire State Buildings. ” That is a lot of fish being taken from the ocean in a single year. With all this fish being taken, it’s impressive that any of those species have been able to sustain themselves thus far. Support. #2 draft Bycatch is when fishers unintentionally or carelessly catch large amounts of untargeted fish in their nets which are usually killed and thrown back or thrown back injured and soon to die.
One of the main causes of modern day bycatch is the new technology fishers use. The problem with the the technology is that it is very unselective so it does not just pick up the one or few kinds of targeted species. according to Dartmouth. edu-”There are already more than 135 species of shark on the IUCN’s list of endangered animals and more are being added each year. “ ” the number of scalloped hammerhead shark has decreased by 99% over the past 30 years. ” This downfall has been largely contributed to by bycatch.
This special species is mainly affected by bycatch because they are often caught and killed as byproduct, or bycatch, even though they were not specifically targeted. This breed’s downfall in sustainability is mainly due to humans as a whole, and our extremely wasteful and careless fishing methods. Many destructive methods catch things like corals, turtles, and young and immature fish along with much, much more. According to panda. org, “Widespread pirate fishing adds to this problem by ignoring regulations on net mesh sizes, quotas, permitted fishing areas, and any bycatch mitigation measures.
This is another cause for why despite some cautions taken, there is still lots of bycatch. There are many illegal fishers that completely ignore the at risk or protected areas, often protecting recovering or endangered species. Many regulations that are in place are not enforced, only causing to more people to continue disobeying the support. #3 draft Lastly but equally importantly, Resources and marine biodiversity-our seemingly endless food supply gained from the ocean is not as endless as we had once all believed. As stated in Overfishing. rg,”We are in risk of losing a valuable food source many depend upon for social, economical or dietary reasons. ”
It has been a fairly recent discovery of overfishing and litterings effects on the ocean. The ocean has a very delicate and easily unsettled balance of each specie and the amount of it, which we humans, as a species are disrupting greatly due largely to overfishing. Over 75% of our Earth’s surface is covered in water and supplies us with a lot of natural resources. Some say 91% of Earth’s species live in the ocean, and say that as little as 10% of the oceans species have been discovered.
Who knows how many other species we are disrupting their diets and lifestyles balance of without even knowing, besides the abundance we already know of. Drawing form eoearth. org “The worldwide problem of overfishing can be linked to several fundamental issues” one being, “ the rapid expansion of the human population is creating extraordinary demand for food in all forms;”, and because of it’s growing demand from the growing human poulation and the higher expectations from consumers to have a large variety and abundance of fish in the markets. Conclusion draft:
In conclusion Overfishing is one, destructive to the ocean’s food web, two, creates a lot of wasteful bycatch and three, it negatively impacts the ocean’s biodiversity and human and animal food resources. The food web is a delicate pattern of the food chain which due to overfishing can start a brutal domino effect. because of bycatch, we are being even more wasteful than just overfishing alone by wasting other species caught in the nets. The ocean is full of over a million different species that are currently getting wiped out, leaving fewer and fewer varieties of fish and cutting down the ocean’s biodiversity.
When trying to be more sustainable with eating fish you can try to cut down the amount of fish you eat and you can also help by eating slightly underfished species to give the fish being overfished a break. Some examples of good fish to keep an eye out for are tuna, Arctic char, Barramundi, oysters, sardines, and mussels. Some fish not to buy are eel, salmon, sturgeon, and black sea bass. Everyone in some way is affecting and is affected by the ocean in one way or another. The ocean is one of our main sources of life, and we need to start taking better care of it, so it can keep taking care of us.
