Problem Definition
Overfishing is the process of removal of the species of fish from a body of water at a rate that the species cannot replenish in time, resulting in those species either becoming depleted or very underpopulated in that given area. It has spread all over the globe and has been present for centuries. Overfishing can occur in water bodies of any size, such as ponds, rivers, lakes, or oceans, and can result in resource depletion, reduced biological growth rates, and low biomass levels. Sustained overfishing can lead to critical dispensation, where the population of fish is no longer able to sustain itself. Some forms like overfishing of sharks have led to the upset of entire marine ecosystems.
Overfishing occurs when more amount of fishes are caught than the population can replace through reproduction and it is a serious issue that is often ignored. It is a problem within the United States but even worse outside of it. Some stocks of large fish have decreased by up to 90% in the past 70 years. Overfishing leads to so many deaths of fish that the oceanic ecosystems are being negatively impacted. By protecting more areas in the ocean and creating more 'no fishing' areas across oceans, the effect of overfishing would be reduced and fish populations may begin replenishing themselves. More than 80 percent of the world's fisheries have been pushed beyond their biological limits and are in need of strict management plans to restore them.
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- What leads to overfishing?
The primary cause is poor fishing management. Around the world, many fisheries are governed by rules that make the problem worse or have no rules at all.
- Why does overfishing matter?
Overfishing is endangering ocean ecosystems and the billions of people who rely on seafood as a key source of protein. Without sustainable management, our fisheries face collapse — and we face a food crisis.
Efforts are taken to stop overfishing
The world’s oceans are so big that we thought for a long time that there was a myth that nothing humans could do to hurt them. But now we’re facing an imminent global collapse of fisheries, projected to happen as early as 2047, thanks to overfishing, wasteful fishing practices, and massive overconsumption. But, there are a few keys tried and tested solutions for overfishing that have been successfully implemented all over the world. The simple trick is to increase these solutions up to a global level, encouraging other countries that have originally been resistant to help and get them on board, and to support countries that don’t have enough means to update their fishing policies by themselves.
The Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation & Management Act has already helped rebuild fish populations like New England scallops, Mid-Atlantic bluefish, Pacific lingcod, and Gulf red snapper. A new report by the National Research Council says 43 percent of overfished populations have been rebuilt already or will be rebuilt within a decade. And if we continue to allow the Magnuson-Stevens Act to work, another 31 percent of these populations are on track toward rebuilding as well.
The report also highlighted the challenges and complexities of trying to evaluate fisheries science and make decisions about catch limits and other management measures. In the face of those challenges, however, we are seeing success and must continue on this path for the long haul.
Created more Marine Protected Areas
Currently, less than two percent of the world’s oceans are protected in marine parks; and less than one percent of the oceans are protected from any kind of fishing. We have to establish no-catch zones that must allow fish populations to grow and their ecosystems to recover and replenish by themselves. The Marine Conservation Institute wants to increase that number tenfold, and have nine percent of our oceans become Marine Protected Areas by 2021. We would like to see 20 percent of the ocean protected to ensure increased healthy fish stocks in the future.
Stop Trawling
Trawling drags huge nets in the ocean that scoop up each and every animal and the ecosystem in its pathway, resulting in massive wasteful bycatch – dead fish are thrown to the sea because they weren’t the target fish. We don’t have that kind of sea life to waste. Though there are many programs that focus on decreasing by-catch, and worldwide there are small regions where bottom trawling is banned or limited, these measures aren’t enough. Trawling needs to be banned outright. Facing depleted fish stocks with an imminent and complete collapse, the Chinese government imposed a trawling ban in Hong Kong’s waters that took effect in December 2012. They did this by buying fishing vessels fitted for trawling, and supporting deckhands who’d be affected by the reduced amount of fish caught. Bans like this in the waters of Alaska, Chile, and elsewhere are being fought for by environmental organizations. They need our help!
Worldwide Catch shares
Catch shares are a system of fishing management that is proven to allow fish stocks to replenish while saving the livelihoods of fishing communities by preventing a sudden collapse. A total allowable catch is established, using scientific data about the health of fish stocks and the environment in a certain area, and catch shares are licensed out to each fishing business telling them exactly how much of each seafood species they’re allowed to catch. Using catch shares makes seafood more valuable, meaning a higher, more predictable profit for fishermen while protecting the environment. As opposed to limiting the time of a fishing season—driving fishermen on a mad dash to make their living in a short time and using trawling or other unsustainable fishing methods to do it—catch shares foster communication and stewardship.
A study of American and British Columbian catch shares systems found that over a decade, the total allowable catch increased by 19 percent, by-catch decreased by 66 percent, and fishermen made 68 percent more money while having one-third fewer accidents on the job. And 100 percent of fishing businesses complied, rarely going over their limit. It’s a proven system that needs to be implemented worldwide and strengthened where it does exist, like the Common Fisheries Program in Europe or on the Pacific Coast of the US and Canada. The 2010 United Nations Environmental Program has listed numerous marine species as threatened species due to overexploitation, affecting up to 55 different species living along most major coastlines. Also, more than half of all marine extinctions are reported to have resulted directly from overfishing. While overfishing is globally recognized as a human-induced problem that needs to be addressed, little is actually being done to effectively limit the overexploitation of marine ecosystems aside from regulations placed directly on the fishing industry. However, the main cause of overfishing is human demand for fish as food, medicine, fertilizer, and many other commercial products. Rather than focus on limiting the fishing industry’s ability to fish, industry efforts should be concentrated on educating consumers to decrease demand for overexploited fish species and advancing industry-sustainable methods to support healthy marine ecosystems. When people think of overfishing they usually end up blaming the fishing industry for taking too many fish out of the ocean, and as a result, the government stepped in to place a variety of restrictions. Depending on where the fishery is located, they might have a quota on the amount of fish they can haul in or a restriction on the period of time when they are allowed to fish, or maybe some combination of the two. While these measures seem like they would be beneficial in helping to reduce fishing, they can have adverse side effects. For example, a fishing industry regulated with quotas often brings in bycatch, which is fish above and beyond the quoted limit. It is unrealistic to expect commercial fisheries to carefully extract just the right amount of fish to reach their quota for the week. Commercial fishermen do not painstakingly count each fish as they pull in their lines, as a father and a son would do in a little fishing boat. The reality of the fishing industry is they use nets, bottom trawling, and ghost fishing to catch whatever fish they can.
Despite all this, there was some good legislation geared towards the prevention of overfishing, but economic constraints and worries held those policies back from being effective on a scale that truly mattered. New catch limits for the fishing industry were put into effect in 2011; these having been determined by scientific assessments that accounted for how marine ecosystems function and the regeneration of fish populations.
A new program for fisheries has since been established that is similar to a carbon cap-and-trade model. Each boat is given a share in the market, furthering their incentive to keep fish in the oceans. In addition, fisheries can buy extra fishing shares, which increase their overall quotas allowing them to decrease bycatch. In this, the amount of fish being taken out of the ocean does not really change, and fishing methods such as bottom trawling are still in play—especially by the large commercial companies buying out all the fish stocks. Creating marine reserves is one example of regulation aimed at preservation. Considered the national parks of the sea, these marine reserves set aside areas of the ocean as no-fish zones. This level of protection allows species to reproduce at a natural rate, such that populations gradually reach natural levels without suffering the impacts of fishing. Studies have shown that marine reserves contain a higher percentage of “spawning fish” indicating that fish are reaching maturity and breeding in the area before moving out of the reserve into potentially fishable zones, which documents that marine reserves are effective at protecting fish populations within a given area. The first national marine reserve in the Atlantic was recently declared and will remove 5,000 square miles from the fishing industry (Prupis, 3). There is a wide variety of biodiversity in this region, and environmentalists hope this will be the first step in reversing the negative impacts humans have had on oceans.
Another issue surrounding marine reserves is the general challenge faced by all sustainability efforts which is how can we balance people, the planet, and profit all at the same time.
Fish farming is another active approach often considered to decrease overfishing. These farms allow consumers to receive the types of fish they most desire without taking them directly out of the ocean. This may seem like a win-win situation but in reality, fish farms do little to stop overfishing, sometimes even contributing more to the issue. The reason for this unlikely scenario is the fact that farmed species—like salmon and tuna are large organisms that require small fish for feeding. These smaller fish come directly from the ocean, so while it may seem that salmon populations are being protected, the smaller fish are being overexploited at a faster rate than they would have been predated on by salmon in the wild.
How can we address the problem of overfishing if industry regulations are not effective, especially when dealing with the issue of non-compliance? As mentioned earlier, a large percentage of overfishing and other negative impacts on marine ecosystems are due to methods such as nets, deep trawling, bycatch, and ghost fishing. Sustainable fisheries seek to decrease the excess loss of fish and habitat destruction from their methods thus being able to maintain fish populations at a sustainable level. Incentive programs offered by external industries associated with fishing may help to promote sustainability efforts, such as was noted with the recent purchasing change made by Australia’s largest supplier of canned tuna. They will now only source tuna from certified sustainable fisheries. This company holds 43% of the tuna market, and if fisheries want any part in that profit they must comply.
Overfishing will continue simply for the reason that there is too much demand, despite best efforts to reduce excess loss by fishing industries. By 2025, demand is expected to grow an additional 100 billion pounds, which is equal to the amount of fish consumed by Americans each year. The USDA says we should eat two servings of fish per week to gain the benefits of their high omega-3 content, and that is just one-factor driving demand. Fish is also used in medicines, vitamins and supplements, and other commercial products such as fertilizer. In other words, the demand for fish is just too high and our oceans cannot keep up with it. The most significant way to reduce overfishing resides in behavioral change. If demand moves towards species that are not overexploited and/or shifts only to industries that sell sustainable fish, fisheries would be motivated to reduce fishing of species that are threatened and/or to switch to sustainable methods in order to assure sales and profits.
Overfishing is a global issue with about 90% of current fishing zones being overexploited, and the situation is projected to worsen as conditions of global warming reduce fish reproduction rates making the time needed for populations to stabilize longer. Current policies attempting to limit overfishing are often ineffective and sometimes inadvertently cause more overfishing. The best strategy to protect against overfishing may be behavioral changes for both the industry and the consumer. We need to get involved and educate those who may not be familiar with the issues facing overfishing in order to decrease demand for overexploited species and encourage fisheries to switch to sustainable methods. The next time you plan to say, 'go fish consider what impact you will have on the game and what move might be a better play.
Overfishing is an issue that affects everyone, not only fish; it is in everybody's best interest to keep the fish populations healthy.
References
- Boisvert, K. (2016). Climate Change and Multimedia. Overfishing: A Game of Cards, 144.
- Boonstra, W. J. (2014). Maritime Studies. A chain of fools: Or, why it is so hard to stop overfishing., vol. 13, 1.
- Brown, C. J. (2015). Conservation Letters. “Minimizing the Short-Term Impacts of Marine Reserves on Fisheries, 205.
- Finkbeiner, E. M. (2017). Wiley Online Library. Reconstructing overfishing: Moving beyond Malthus for effective and equitable solutions, 25-30.
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