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The Impacts of the Fishing Industry and Its Sustainability. Alexa English, Luc Richard. Commercial Fishing. Traditional Fishing Industry. Recreational Fishing. Article in NY Times.
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The Impacts of the Fishing Industry and Its Sustainability Alexa English, Luc Richard
Article in NY Times Shrimp trawlers, and their mud trails, off the coast of the Jiangsu Province of China near the mouth of the Yangtze River in 2003
Over Fishing According to Nitin Desai, Secretary General of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, "Overfishing cannot continue, the depletion of fisheries poses a major threat to the food supply of millions of people."
Sustainability Sustainability: The ability for something to endure. Sustainable Development: “Development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability for future generations to meet their own needs”* Sustainable Yield: The ability for a resource to be produced in the amount required for its ecosystem. With fishing industries this combines the rate at which fish are caught, the time they take to reproduce, the health of their environment and their abundance of food. *Brundtland commission
What is sustainable fishing? Sustainable fishing is fishing at a rate which does not put the fish in danger. This means that the fish are given time to reproduce and grow before they are caught. This is to prevent overfishing and the chance of endangering species or just putting their population count down. Some of the ways that sustainable fishing is ensured is by putting a limit to how many fish each person is allowed to catch, creating fisheries to help raise enough fish to meet the fishing needs of the population, by setting up fish barriers to help prevent fish going in certain parts of rivers to prevent them from being caught. Also bringing endangered fish through the process of sustainable development so they can eventually be caught again.
Overfishing and its effects Overfishing is when fish are caught at an unsustainable rate and causes a decline in the population. Overfishing is the most common cause of a fish to go endangered. When a type of fish has a very low population it can cause a chain reaction that can drastically change ecosystems. There are 3 types of overfishing known as Growth overfishing, Recruit overfishing and ecosystem overfishing. Growth Overfishing- This type of overfishing is where fish are being caught before they can grow to their full adult size, this type of fishing causes lower amount of adults and less offspring. Recruit Overfishing- When adult fish are caught at a rate that causes their population to be so low that they don’t have the reproductive capability to fix their population. This means that there is not enough adults to produce offspring. Ecosystem Overfishing- This type of Overfishing is when a species of fish, are fished to the point that it causes a change in their ecosystem. If a larger type of fish is overfished in a certain spot, a smaller species of fish may start to overpopulate and they may be competing for a single food source.
Southern bluefin tuna Gray skate “At this point 29 percent of fish and seafood species have collapsed — that is, their catch has declined by 90 percent. It is a very clear trend, and it is accelerating. If the long-term trend continues, all fish and seafood species are projected to collapse within my lifetime — by 2048.” ~ Dr. Boris Worm of Dalhousie University
Fishing Violations Fishing violations are any fishing done that goes against the law, there are 3 main types of this fishing. Illegal fishing- Illegal fishing is fishing done by boats that go against the laws of the fishery they belong to, some examples of this may be fishing too much of a certain type of fish or poaching. Unreported fishing- Unreported fishing is fishing done that has not been reported or has been incorrectly reported. Unregulated fishing- Unregulated fishing is fishing done by boats without nationality or across boarders where they aren't allowed.
Other Causes of fish endangerment Pollution: One cause of fish endangerment is water pollution, this can come from multiple causes, such as people dumping their trash into the ocean, oil spills, cruise ships dropping their garbage etc. Competition: When many fish are preying on a single type of fish this causes a large loss of that type of fish and a lot of time will lead to endangerment of a species in an area. Disease: This is a natural occurrence in animals and all animals are expected to get diseases once in a while, but some times there are outbreaks of a certain disease that will wipe out large amounts of fish or human caused diseases. In 1972 a pesticide called DDT was used that travelled through the ground and into water and killed many fish, eventually we caught the fish or the fish were eaten by other animals and this was spread through almost the entire food chain, killing many, this is an example of a human caused disease.
How we can help at a local level Keep the quota: The government gives you a maximum amount of fish you are allowed to catch for a reason, when we overfish we help endanger animals. Fish legally: Only catch fish where you’re allowed to and make sure you are fishing at the time of the year you’re allowed, if you fish too early you are reducing the amount of adults and severely lowering their offspring. Get a license: Make sure to get a fishing license and report all your catches so there can be an accurate reading of the fish that are caught per year.
