Plenty
of Fish in the Sea? Think Again.
When you think about
environmental issues such as the depletion of our natural resources, what comes
to mind? Oil, minerals, and our planet’s forests probably come to mind first,
but what about are other natural resources that are being depleted? Have you
ever heard the phrase “there’s plenty of fish in the sea”? Well due to
extensive overfishing of our earths, that is not necessarily the case anymore.
Overfishing
is simply the taking of wildlife from the sea at rates too high for fished
species to replace themselves and it is rapidly causing aquatic species to
become depleted, endangered or even extinct. At the moment, the fisheries for
the most sought after species like orange roughy, Chilean sea bass, and bluefin
tuna have collapsed to that point that the species are now on the endangered
species list. Did you know that more than 70 percent of the worlds fisheries
are “fully exploited”, “over exploited” or “significantly depleted”? In
addition, the techniques to get these and other highly fished species across
the globe are destructive due to their being unselective practices and using
gear that often captures and/or kills non-target species while in the process
destroying marine habitats on the sea floor. For example, bycatch and discards
are unwanted marine species caught while fishing for another species and are
often thrown back dead after capture. These practices are highly disruptive to
the food chain which also affects species that are not directly affected by fishermens
nets or dredge nets by removing their source of food or their habitat which
causes them to compete with other species for food and protection.
But
what is causing this obscene amount of overfishing in the past few years? Two
words people: supply and demand. Fish and shellfish make up one of the most
diverse and delicious sources of food for the human population and now that it
is readily available in grocery stores and at relatively low costs compared to
past generations, there is an even greater demand for fish and shellfish than
ever before. However, seeing as the majority of the population is not willing
to sacrifice their fish-fry Fridays for the sake of replenishing our oceans,
what else can be done to stop the depletion of our oceans natural fisheries and
the destruction of our marine ecosystems? According to National Geographic, “Many
scientists say most fish populations could be restored with aggressive fishery management,
better enforcement of laws governing catches, and increased use of aquaculture
(the farming of aquatic organisms in order to cultivate new populations of
species under controlled condition where they are most likely to thrive).” In
other words, fisheries need now more than ever to abide by safe catch limits by
placing controls on bycatch and to avoid fishing in parts of habitats that are important
to the creation of new species such as spawning and nursing grounds. But there
are still doubts whether even these measures will be successful as illegal
fishing and unsustainable harvesting are still major issues in the fishing
industry. Now while the majority of the population are not commercial
fishermen, as a n individual you can try to prevent overfishing from continuing
to occur by being informed on the subject and passing along the word, and
knowing what you eat and how it is being fished from the sea. Well thats all
for now folks, but we hope to see you and all the fish in Greener Days!
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