Overfishing

The catch to overfishing is that it is not only detrimental to our marine ecosystem, but also harmful to the very fishing industries that cause this myriad of issues. The problem is that this issue began with the overfishing of whales for blubber in the early 1800s, before the repercussions of such activity was readily foreseeable. The issue eventually escalated in a spiral of overfishing of multiple other species with the introduction and improvement of fishing methods in various forms; most predominantly targeted were herring, cod, and sardine. However, as there were certainly multiple incentives for overfishing at the time, there are even more incentives for overfishing today. These include the desire to earn money, the urge for more mass…

Though overfishing and lack of proper fisheries management has left much of the world in a critical situation, that’s not the case everywhere. Alaska’s fisheries are some of the most environmentally friendly and economically booming businesses in the world. Every year fishermen harvest hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of fish and shellfish from their waters. Fishery managers have created a system that successfully creates abundant annual fishing seasons that practically eliminates…

while. It is a problem for many people in the US and for people in other countries all over the world as well. In 1996 the legislature passed an act called the Fisheries Conservation Act. Unfortunately this act did not work and the marine species population continued to go down at a fast rate. One of the many causes of this marine life problem is the demand for fish and other types of seafood in the US. As I stated before, as the demand rises, so does the commercial fishing industry. This is…

There are many contributing factors that have lead up to a depletion our our ocean fish. As our underwater wildlife ecosystem decreases, we keep moving backwards with fisheries overfishing and diminishing the underwater wildlife. Overfishing occurs when there is a popular fishing area constantly being fished out to the point where the reproduction cycle can't keep up. Recent studies have shown that overfishing has exploited 52% of fish stock (subpopulations of a particular species of fish). More…

In addition to the argument that new laws are harmful, some believe that they are completely unnecessary. Since 1988, the amount of fish caught around the globe annually has been dropping (“The Threats”). Scientists believe the sustainable amount of fish able to be taken from the ocean each year is between 110 million and 150 million tons (“Overfishing 652-654”). The current annual global catch is 90 million. The number of boats in New England waters has decreased from 1,200 to 580 since the…

Sharks are being killed by the millions each year (Balaguer 18), and while there are regulations in place attempting to protect sharks from the massive overfishing, regulations alone are not enough. There is a deep-seated stigma surrounding sharks, which will be explained later on, that is negatively affecting attempts at conservation. This paper intends to explain the effect of stigma and cultural views on the overfishing of sharks, as well as the negative effects overfishing and endangerment…

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…

The official definition of overfishing is “the depletion of the stock of fish in a body of water through too much fishing” (Koster, 2007). That definition helps captures the idea of overfishing but it doesn’t help identify the underlying problems within overfishing. Overfishing is when people catch too many fish in a body of water where the ecosystem is disrupted leading to a decrease in the number of fish. In other words, overfishing is caused by non-sustainable uses of fishing that leads to…

Overfishing is, very simply, catching a large amount of fish so rapidly that the population cannot reproduce fast enough to replace those being caught. Signs of overfishing can go back as early as the 1600’s. In Medieval times a pair of fishing boats would drag a net between the two of them catching everything in its path. During the 1800’s, when humans needed blubber for oil lamps, they killed off a huge population of whales. In California, the herring, cod, and sardine population began to go…

By 2048, the fish population in the Atlantic Ocean will be completely depleted. Overfishing or in other words known as unsustainable fishing has become the main factor for this. The Atlantic Ocean is home to many marine species and while their numbers are diminishing, with limits on overfishing, increasing public awareness, and creating groups/programs for helping to restore the ocean, people can tackle this problem. Unsustainable fishing is a very tricky problem to solve because of many…