Worldwide, overfishing has had profound effects on coastal ecosystems. Additionally, the approach that humans have taken to commercial fishing such as targeting of apex predators first and then fishing down the food chain has a negative effect on predators in most regional seas of the world. However, while researchers may know the effect that overfishing has had on specific species, how this may influence the rest of the ecosystem is relatively unpredictable. It is hypothesized that the loss of apex predators can allow mesopredator populations to bloom, which can have negative effects on lower level prey species.
Our attitude toward Sharks has changed over the decades, but not as much as it needs to. Shark attacks still rattle people to the …show more content…
This is good for Sharks and for the rest of us, because, without them, the oceans could be in trouble In recent decades, the expanding global market for Shark fins and for protein, in general, has resulted in a growing demand for Sharks, in both the U.S. and abroad. The number of Shark fisheries has exploded, and there are signs that some Shark populations have declined dramatically. According to one estimate, by researchers at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, 100 million Sharks are now killed annually, on average, but that number likely includes skates and rays. (“A Closer Look at Shark Conservation”) “If we kill off the Sharks, the thinking goes, these larger fish thrive and consume the algae-eating species at a rate much higher than normal. The coral reef then becomes smothered by algae and dies.” ("Shark Conservation in the United States and Abroad") The repercussions, if this is the actual cycle, would be not only aesthetic but economic because coral reefs provide both food and tourist-generated dollars. “We don’t yet have empirical data to prove this hypothesis.”("A Closer Look at Shark Conservation") Though it makes perfect sense that the loss of large numbers of Sharks would be detrimental to the ecosystem, the complexity of the data sets needed to run the models is
Our attitude toward Sharks has changed over the decades, but not as much as it needs to. Shark attacks still rattle people to the …show more content…
This is good for Sharks and for the rest of us, because, without them, the oceans could be in trouble In recent decades, the expanding global market for Shark fins and for protein, in general, has resulted in a growing demand for Sharks, in both the U.S. and abroad. The number of Shark fisheries has exploded, and there are signs that some Shark populations have declined dramatically. According to one estimate, by researchers at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, 100 million Sharks are now killed annually, on average, but that number likely includes skates and rays. (“A Closer Look at Shark Conservation”) “If we kill off the Sharks, the thinking goes, these larger fish thrive and consume the algae-eating species at a rate much higher than normal. The coral reef then becomes smothered by algae and dies.” ("Shark Conservation in the United States and Abroad") The repercussions, if this is the actual cycle, would be not only aesthetic but economic because coral reefs provide both food and tourist-generated dollars. “We don’t yet have empirical data to prove this hypothesis.”("A Closer Look at Shark Conservation") Though it makes perfect sense that the loss of large numbers of Sharks would be detrimental to the ecosystem, the complexity of the data sets needed to run the models is