Overfishing: Man Driven Extinction For Profit

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the world’s seven wonders. The Great Barrier Reef is home to the most diverse range of sea creatures in the world. Everything from fish, to dolphins, to whales, to sharks call the Great Barrier Reef home. Unfortunately, this beautiful spectacle of oceanography will not be around that much longer. This is because the Great Barrier Reef is dying. There are many reasons as to why this is occurring, but one of the most prominent and disconcerting reasons is overfishing. That is right, one of the major reasons that the Great Barrier Reef is in such a precarious position today is manmade and completely controllable by both individuals and the Australian Government. Unfortunately, it will be very difficult to enact any real change to counteract this problem because fishing is such a lucrative industry in Australia.

According to The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, there are currently 1,625 species of fish living in the Great Barrier Reef. This same source confirms that there are more than 3,000 species of shells (clams, muscles, etc.), 630 species of echinoderm (urchin and starfish), and six of the world’s seven species of marine turtles all living in the Great Barrier Reef. This source also verifies that there are 133 species of sharks and rays that call the Great Barrier Reef home. Due to the problem of overfishing the Great Barrier Reef, every single one of these species of animals is put at risk. That is insane right, according to this government data base, approximately 5,394 species of aquatic animals is susceptible to overfishing.

Many people may say that the rapid fishing of these animals on the Great Barrier Reef is not that big of a deal. I would completely understand if you held this belief. In today’s society, most people see fishing as a luxury sport that one does in their free time. And while this is true, it is not always the case in countries like Australia. Because of Australia’s geography (The uncontrollable fact that the country of Australia is entirely surrounded by water. It is the only country that is an island.) fishing is one of the most lucrative industries in the nation. According to The Australian Department of Agriculture, Water, and the Environment and The Fishery Status Report of 2021 (Yes. That is a thing.), fisheries assessed by the status report in 2018 – 2019 generated an estimated gross value of production of $438 million. And this insanely large amount of money is only 28% of Australia’s total wild-catch gross value of production, which clock in at $1.6 billion. To put it in laymen’s terms, the total value of domestic fish sales is $438 million, while the total value of wild-catch fishing (including exporting fish) in Australia overall is $1.6 billion.

Clearly, the Australian government does not want to take any action that would put their billion dollar source of income in jeopardy (Who would?). Despite this, many fisherman have begun to take a vocal stand against over-fishing because they have begun to realize that their unsustainable fishing is having untold negative consequences on the Great Barrier Reef. These fishermen are also beginning to notice that certain marine species becoming endangered due to their non-stop fishing. Thanks to the protests and outrage of these fishermen, quiet steps have been take to restrict unsustainable fishing in and around the Great Barrier Reef. According to The Guardian, the first real steps were finally taken toward counteracting the problem of overfishing in 2020, when The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority quietly released its first broad position statement on fishing in late August of that year. Unfortunately, a position statement is all that The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is at liberty to publish due to the fact that actual laws and regulations must be laid out by the Queensland government.

According to the same article, attempts to counteract overfishing in the Great Barrier reef have been made by the Queensland government as well. The most notable attempt being the Queensland State Government’s 10 year sustainable fisheries strategy that theoretically would have effectively eliminated overfishing by the year 2027. Sadly, The Marine Conservation Society reported that this sustainable fisheries strategy has recently grounded to a halt.

Overfishing is one of The Great Barrier Reef’s most immanent dangers. This crusade of unsustainable fishing in and around The Great Barrier Reef is driving many species of fish, shark, and crustaceans to extinction. This would be detrimental to The Great Barrier Reef’s ecosystem, leaving the reef vulnerable to further damage and decay. And sadly, this very controllable issue has not been counteracted due to the billions of dollars that fishing brings to Australia’s economy. It boils down to this: Overfishing is a major reason as to why the Great Barrier Reef’s ecosystem is dying, but no one will do anything about it because of money.