There are plenty of threats to our oceans- from sea levels rising to coral bleaching, yet a huge threat is overfishing. Overfishing is when fisheries catch more fish than can be replenished, which leads to the degradation of ecosystems and economies. Three billion people depend on the biodiversity of the oceans to live, plus marine fisheries employ over 200 million people according to the United Nations. The collapse of fisheries can lead to a food crisis and the extinction of many fish species can disrupt food webs and biodiversity (Worldwildlife.org). There needs to be stricter limitations on the fishing industry in order to prevent overfishing since it can negatively affect biodiversity, ecosystems, and economics. In addition, Americans can personally prevent overfishing by shopping locally, making sure not to eat farmed fish, and limiting eating bigger fish.
A fishing trawler worldwildlife.org
Overfishing is a large issue since it can cause the collapse of ocean ecosystems and economies. Over the past few decades, overfishing has increased by tons. According to the guardian.com, total fish production in 2016 had reach 171 million tons, which is an all time high. Because of trawlers and illegal fishing, tons of fish is wasted. Trawlers are large nets that are dropped in the ocean, which pick up large amounts of marine animals, not just fish. Unwanted fish and marine life end up dying and returning to sea because of these large trawlers, leavings tons of waste. There is also a lack of proper equipment; for example, ice makers and refrigerators. Due to the lack of the equipment, many fish end up dying In addition, illegal fishing accounts for wasteful fishing as well. Illegal fishing allows for fishers to take as many fish without regulation. This leads to unaccountability of tracing fish to the consumer and extreme unsustainable fishing (worldwildlife.org). Additionally, there are far too many fisheries and fishing boats. The guardian.com discusses the FAO report, which states that there is over sixty million people employed in the fishing industry on a global scale with 4.6 million fishing vessels. Therefore, there are way too many boats fishing very few fish. Besides unregulated illegal fishing, there is also few rules for legal fisheries according to edf.org. Around the world, fisheries managed by rules or have no rules at all that make overfishing worse. Many places are running out of fish, which is worrying since many countries and cities rely on fishing for food and their economy.
This graph from the guardian demonstrates how much fish production has increased since 1950. Wild caught fish has increased; however, farmed fish production has sky rocketed since the 1990’s. The guardian quotes FAO director general José Graziano de Silva, “‘since 1961 the annual growth in fish consumption has been twice as high as population growth'”. If fish consumption if growing more than population growth, there is a bigger risk of the extinction of many fish species and depletion of ecosystems. Fish species can’t replenish fast enough to meet the demands of the fishing industry, leaving very few fish left.
In addition to the total fish production graph, the guardian also provides a graph depicting trends in the world’s marine fish stocks. In 2015, about 60% of the world’s fish stocks were fished to a maximum. Plus, about 35% of the fish stocks were overfished and less than 10% were under fished. Eventually, there will be very few fish stocks left, which could leads to the collapse of the fish industry, un-employing millions and destroying economies.
Due to the fact that overfishing has led to tons of waste and depletions of fisheries, there is a demand to emplace limitations on the global fishing industry and in the United States.
\[ \frac {9.5 \text{ billion lbs}}{1 \text{ year}}\times \frac{1 \text {person}}{14.9 \text {lbs}}\approx 640000000\]
The United States imports 9.5 billion pounds of fish and each person eats 14.9 pounds per year according to seafoodhealthfacts.org, which means that about 640,000,000 pounds of fish are wasted per year. This is an extremely high number; therefore, there needs to be more regulation of fish imports due to the fact that the U.S. is wasting hundreds of millions of pounds. If it is better regulated, than there will be less wasted and less of a threat of extinction of fish species. There are many ways to enforce limitations on the fishing industry, which includes limiting the distance off of countries’ coastlines that is legally available for fishing and to create stricter rules for fisheries. Edf.org explains that smarter fishing management, such as fishing rights, will incentivize fishers to keep healthy fisheries. They’re reliant on the long-term health of a fishery since their income relies on the growing population of fish. Therefore, if their fisheries abide to fishing rights, the fish population will grow, thus they will be able to make more income rather than running out of fish and money fast by overfishing. This is proven to work since the edf has helped reform fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico, where the red snapper population has tripled since 2007. In addition to stricter rules for fisheries, there needs to be a limit off of countries’ coastlines that is legally available for fishing. According to Lisa Song on insideclimatenews.org, countries apart of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea are allowed fishing and mining within 200 miles of their coastlines. This takes up almost half of the world’s ocean and most of the fish stocks. Song interviews Tony Pitcher, a professor of fisheries from the University of British Columbia. He explains that only about 1% of the world’s oceans are protected, whereas 10% of land is protected by national parks and reserves. Thus, in order to combat the amount of ocean available to fish in, is to protect 10% of the ocean. For example, some coastal zones can be protected like a national reserve.
Simultaneously, overfishing can be prevented by catch shares. According to therevolutionmovie.com, catch shares is a system that manages fisheries to allow fish stocks to replenish. A total allowable catch is determined by scientific data from the health of fish stocks and the environment of the area. The catch shares are then licensed to fisheries, which tell them how many of each species they are allowed to catch. Thus, the fishermen will eventually have a higher profit since this would make the seafood more valuable and extends the fishing season so that the fisherman will not have to use trawlers in order to get their profit in a short amount of time. A study referenced in therevolutionmovie.com explained that fisherman made 68% more money and had at least one-third less accidents while on the job by using the catch share system.
In addition to implementing catch shares, trawlers need to be stopped. As I had written previously, trawlers are large nets dropped in the ocean that pick up large amounts of fish, but also other marine life. Plus, they leave tons of waste behind. In order to prevent this waste that the world can’t afford, trawlers need to be banned completely. According to therevolutionmovie.com, the Chinese government put a trawling ban in Hong Kong in 2012 due to the depletion of fish stocks and the looming of a collapse. They bought fishing vessels fitted for trawling and supported the deckhands who were affected by the reduced amount of fish caught. Environmental organizations are gifting for more of these bans in other depleted water since the trawlers are extremely damaging.
Furthermore, the average American can help in smaller ways. People can educate themselves on the issue of overfishing, in addition to informing others. People can join organizations that are dedicated to working to obtain sustainable oceans. More specifically, therevolutionmovie.com provides a list of how to be a smart consumer. The website explains that one should avoid larger fish like tuna, marlin, and shark since big fishes have been overfished for decades. Bigger fish are more important for ecosystems and almost all of them are gone. Plus, the bigger fishes tend to contain more toxins like mercury and lead. In addition, one should shop locally since fish caught locally are more likely to be better regulated than from places further away. A person should also make sure they are buying wild, not farmed, since farmed fish creates tons of waste on the sea floor and spreads diseases to other wildlife. Additionally, there are seafood guide apps that explain which fish are good to buy at the market. Plus, one can ask if the fish served at a restaurant is sustainable.
Ultimately, the threat of overfishing in our oceans is dire. It can negatively impact biodiversity, ecosystems, and economies. The United States is wasting hundreds of millions of pounds of fish per year, which is horrible for not only food waste, but for biodiversity and the economy. In order to prevent overfishing, there should be stricter rules for fisheries, a catch share system should be implemented, some coastal zones should be protected like national reserves, trawlers need to be banned, and one should shop locally and sustainably. If nothing is done to prevent overfishing, then entire fisheries will collapse, putting millions out of jobs, and destroying ecosystems.
Bibliography:
Overfishing; http://therevolutionmovie.com/index.php/open-your-eyes/overfishing/solutions/
Warming, Overfishing, Plastic Pollution, Destroying Ocean Life: Scientists; By Lisa Song; https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20110628/ipso-oceans-acidification-coral-reefs-pollution-fisheries
Overview of the U.S. Seafood Supply; https://www.seafoodhealthfacts.org/seafood-choices/overview-us-seafood-supply
Goal 14: Conserve and Sustainably Use the Oceans, Seas, and Marine Resources; https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/oceans/
Overfishing: the Most Serious Threat to our Oceans; https://www.edf.org/oceans/overfishing-most-serious-threat-our-oceans
Overfishing; https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/overfishing
One in Three Fish Caught Never Makes it to the Plate- UN Report; Damian Carrington; https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/09/one-in-three-fish-caught-never-makes-it-to-the-plate-un-report