Overfishing
This document was uploaded by user and they confirmed that they have the permission to share it. If you are author or own the copyright of this book, please report to us by using this DMCA report form. Report DMCA
Overview
Download & View Overfishing as PDF for free.
More details
- Words: 1,785
- Pages: 44
OVERFISHING
Definition • “catching too many fish; fishing so
much that the fish cannot sustain their population. The fish get fewer and fewer, until finally there are none to catch” -Reef Ed Online
• “Fishing with a sufficiently high
intensity to reduce the breeding stock levels to such an extent that they will no longer support a sufficient quantity of fish for sport or commercial harvest” -Fish Online
Simple definition •a
non-sustainable use of the oceans through catching too much fish for the system to support that leads to an overall degradation to the system
CAUSES OF OVERFISHING
•bycatch Bycatch describes living creatures that are caught unintentionally by fishing gear. Unlike target species, which are animals specifically targeted for capture, bycatch is unwanted and often unused.
•bycatch Bycatch may be kept or sold; for example, someone who catches a legal-sized bluefish while fishing for striped bass may keep the catch to eat at home or to sell, if he has a proper license. But in other times, bycatch cannot be used—for example, if it is undersized or a protected species—and must be thrown back. This returned bycatch is called discard.
•Bottom trawling destruction Bottom trawling is towing a trawl, which is a fishing net along the sea floor. When improperly used in the wrong environment, (despite of being generally prohibited in such areas) it may have very long lasting effects on habitat. Actually, the UN Secretary General reported that 95 percent of damage to seamount ecosystems worldwide is caused by deep sea bottom trawling.
•Poisons In many places, the use of poison is a traditional practice but the effects have been worsening by the use of pesticides to replace poisons of vegetable origin. As fish become scarcer, through overfishing, or sometimes in order to catch rare, small and precious aquarium fish, local fishers often resort to using poisons such as cyanide or pesticides.
•Poisons Fishers can easily obtain inexpensive cyanide used in the jewelry industry and gold mining. Pesticides are readily available to farmers, who may be also part-time fishers. Techniques used vary across regions/localities. They are effective at killing or stunning the fish, which are then collected by divers, or through netting and seining.
•Muroami The Muroami fishing technique uses an encircling net together with pounding devices. These devices usually comprise large stones fitted on ropes that are pounded onto the coral reefs. The pounding devices are repeatedly and violently lowered into the area encircled by the net, literally smashing the coral in that area into small fragments in order to scare the fish out of their place of safety, the coral.
*long term domino effect • “the marine ecosystem collapse is not
entirely due to recent factors, and that to really understand what is happening, we need to view the problem in its historical perspective.” • The depletion of certain species through overfishing and overharvesting sets off a domino effect that can have impacts even centuries later.
*long term domino effect • “The
depletion of sea turtle populations several years ago has a profound effect on the health of coral reefs in the Caribbean”
Karen Bjorndal
EFFECTS OF OVERFISHING
• 52% of fish stocks are fully exploited • 20% are moderately exploited • 17% are overexploited • 7% are depleted • 1% is recovering from depletion *overexploited-in looming threat of collapse
Problems • We are losing species as well as
entire ecosystems. As a result, the overall ecological stability of our oceans is under stress and at verge of collapse. • We are in risk of losing a valuable food source many depend upon for social, economical and nutritional reasons. • Loss of biodiversity
•Loss of biodiversity • According
to a major study, there will be nothing left to fish from the seas by the middle of the 21st century. This is due to the collapse of much of the stocks of sea fisheries. Also, the rate of their decline is accelerating.
Steve Palumbi
•Loss of biodiversity • Historical records from coastal zones
around the world, North America, Europe, and Australia in particular, show declining yields, not just of fish but of other kinds of seafood too; thus, showing a turn down in biodiversity. We can observe this with the presence of more potentially harmful algae, and closure of beaches.
•Loss of biodiversity • Experiments performed in small,
comparatively contained ecosystems show that decreases in diversity tend to bring reductions in the size of local fish stocks. The conclusion says that loss of biodiversity is driving the declines in fish stocks seen in the large-scale studies.
*Additional Statistics from the study • Experiments show that reducing the
diversity of an ecosystem lowers the abundance of fish. • Historical records show extensive loss of biodiversity along coasts since 1800, with the collapse of about 40% of species. About one-third of once viable coastal fisheries are now useless.
*Additional Statistics from the study • Catch records from the open ocean show
widespread decline of fisheries since 1950 with the rate of decline increasing. In 2003, 29% of fisheries were collapsed. Biodiverse regions' stocks fare better • Marine reserves and no-catch zones bring an average 23% improvement in biodiversity and an increase in fish stocks around the protected area.
Canada Tragedy: An Example The single best example of the ecological and economical dangers of overfishing is found in Newfoundland, Canada. In 1992, the once booming cod fishing industry came to an abrupt and full stop when at the start of the fishing season no cod appeared. This disaster that resulted in almost 40, 000 people losing their source of revenue and an ecosystem in complete state of decay. Now, fifteen years after the collapse, many anglers are still waiting for the cod to return and communities still have not recovered from the sudden event.
Drying cod at Pêcheries Rivièreau-Renard, on the northern coast of Quebec's Gaspesie. While Canada no longer harvests cod due to a ban, the Gaspesie remains the best location on earth for the curing of cod in open air.
Tracking down the food web/chain •Populations of
top predators, a key indicator of ecosystem health, are disappearing at an alarming rate. •90 percent of the large fish that many of us love to eat, such as tuna, swordfish, marlin, cod, have been fished out since large scale industrial fishing began in the 1950s.
Tracking down the food web/chain • The total amount of fish taken from
the system and consumed is rising every year. In 2005, we consumed 95 million tons of fish -86 million tons from marine fisheries -9 million from local fisheries • Fish farming: -today: 43% of production -1980s: less than 10%
Tracking down the food web/chain • At
current exploitation rates, many important fish stocks will be removed from the system within 25 years (that is by the year 2031).
Dr. Daniel Pauly
ACTIONS THAT COULD BE TAKEN
Laws for the Sea United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea
• Article 61
requires all coastal states to make sure that the preservation of living resources in their exclusive economic zones is not endangered by over-exploitation. The article also concentrates on the maintenance or restoration of populations of species above levels at which their reproduction may become seriously threatened.
• Article 62 • provides that coastal states: "shall
promote the objective of optimum utilization of the living resources in the exclusive economic zone without prejudice to Article 61“ • Article 65 • provides in general for the rights of coastal states to prohibit, limit, or regulate the exploitation of marine mammals.
What Fisheries Should Do • Save catch limits A constantly reassessed, scientifically determined, limit on the total number of fish caught and landed by a fishery. Politics and short time economical incentives should have no role in this.
What Fisheries Should Do • Controls on bycatch the use of techniques or management rules to prevent the unintentional killing and disposal of fish, crustaceans and other oceanic life not part of the target catch
What Fisheries Should Do • Protection of pristine and
important habitats The key parts in ecosystems need full protection from destructive fisheries; for example, the spawning and nursing grounds of fish, delicate sea floor, unique unexplored habitats, and corals.
What Fisheries Should Do • Monitoring and Enforcement There must be a monitoring system to make sure fishermen do not land more than they are allowed to. No one must fish in closed areas and cheat as less as possible. Strong monetary enforcement is needed to make it uneconomic to cheat.
What Fisheries Should Do • Underfishing In Australia, underfishing is proposed to fishermen. In underfishing, it turns out that profit-seeking fishermen should want to catch even fewer fish than the “sustainable” number calculated by biologists, because leaving more fish in the ocean leads to bigger populations that make for easier and more lucrative fishing in the long run.
What Ordinary People Can Do • Be aware Read up a bit on the issues of overfishing, have a look at some articles on the internet, magazines, journals. See if you can find some information regarding your local situation. Keep in mind that while this is a global problem but every local situation is different.
What Ordinary People Can Do • Spread the word
Let your voice be heard! – Friends - Mention to your friends the problems we are facing. – Elected officials - Write to your elected officials or political parties and tell them you are concerned about overfishing and destructive fishing methods. Ask them what they think of the fisheries problem and what they are doing to manage our oceans in a sustainable
What Ordinary People Can Do • Spread the word Let your voice be heard! -Media - Your local newspaper certainly has a section dedicated for letters by readers or articles. Writing a letter to the editor is a good way of getting a wide audience.
What Ordinary People Can Do • Supporting products with eco labels *Eco labels are based on the idea of consuming without detrimental effects on the environment.
Principles for ecolabelling of fish • Principle 1
the condition of the fish stocks- This examines if there are enough fish to ensure that the fishery is sustainable. • Principle 2 the impact of the fishery on the marine environment - This examines the effect that fishing has on the immediate marine environment including other non-target fish species, marine mammals and sea birds.
Principles for ecolabelling of fish • Principle 3 the fishery management systems - This principle evaluates the rules and procedures that are in place, as well as how they are implemented, to maintain a sustainable fishery and to ensure that the impact on the marine environment is minimized.
Definition • “catching too many fish; fishing so
much that the fish cannot sustain their population. The fish get fewer and fewer, until finally there are none to catch” -Reef Ed Online
• “Fishing with a sufficiently high
intensity to reduce the breeding stock levels to such an extent that they will no longer support a sufficient quantity of fish for sport or commercial harvest” -Fish Online
Simple definition •a
non-sustainable use of the oceans through catching too much fish for the system to support that leads to an overall degradation to the system
CAUSES OF OVERFISHING
•bycatch Bycatch describes living creatures that are caught unintentionally by fishing gear. Unlike target species, which are animals specifically targeted for capture, bycatch is unwanted and often unused.
•bycatch Bycatch may be kept or sold; for example, someone who catches a legal-sized bluefish while fishing for striped bass may keep the catch to eat at home or to sell, if he has a proper license. But in other times, bycatch cannot be used—for example, if it is undersized or a protected species—and must be thrown back. This returned bycatch is called discard.
•Bottom trawling destruction Bottom trawling is towing a trawl, which is a fishing net along the sea floor. When improperly used in the wrong environment, (despite of being generally prohibited in such areas) it may have very long lasting effects on habitat. Actually, the UN Secretary General reported that 95 percent of damage to seamount ecosystems worldwide is caused by deep sea bottom trawling.
•Poisons In many places, the use of poison is a traditional practice but the effects have been worsening by the use of pesticides to replace poisons of vegetable origin. As fish become scarcer, through overfishing, or sometimes in order to catch rare, small and precious aquarium fish, local fishers often resort to using poisons such as cyanide or pesticides.
•Poisons Fishers can easily obtain inexpensive cyanide used in the jewelry industry and gold mining. Pesticides are readily available to farmers, who may be also part-time fishers. Techniques used vary across regions/localities. They are effective at killing or stunning the fish, which are then collected by divers, or through netting and seining.
•Muroami The Muroami fishing technique uses an encircling net together with pounding devices. These devices usually comprise large stones fitted on ropes that are pounded onto the coral reefs. The pounding devices are repeatedly and violently lowered into the area encircled by the net, literally smashing the coral in that area into small fragments in order to scare the fish out of their place of safety, the coral.
*long term domino effect • “the marine ecosystem collapse is not
entirely due to recent factors, and that to really understand what is happening, we need to view the problem in its historical perspective.” • The depletion of certain species through overfishing and overharvesting sets off a domino effect that can have impacts even centuries later.
*long term domino effect • “The
depletion of sea turtle populations several years ago has a profound effect on the health of coral reefs in the Caribbean”
Karen Bjorndal
EFFECTS OF OVERFISHING
• 52% of fish stocks are fully exploited • 20% are moderately exploited • 17% are overexploited • 7% are depleted • 1% is recovering from depletion *overexploited-in looming threat of collapse
Problems • We are losing species as well as
entire ecosystems. As a result, the overall ecological stability of our oceans is under stress and at verge of collapse. • We are in risk of losing a valuable food source many depend upon for social, economical and nutritional reasons. • Loss of biodiversity
•Loss of biodiversity • According
to a major study, there will be nothing left to fish from the seas by the middle of the 21st century. This is due to the collapse of much of the stocks of sea fisheries. Also, the rate of their decline is accelerating.
Steve Palumbi
•Loss of biodiversity • Historical records from coastal zones
around the world, North America, Europe, and Australia in particular, show declining yields, not just of fish but of other kinds of seafood too; thus, showing a turn down in biodiversity. We can observe this with the presence of more potentially harmful algae, and closure of beaches.
•Loss of biodiversity • Experiments performed in small,
comparatively contained ecosystems show that decreases in diversity tend to bring reductions in the size of local fish stocks. The conclusion says that loss of biodiversity is driving the declines in fish stocks seen in the large-scale studies.
*Additional Statistics from the study • Experiments show that reducing the
diversity of an ecosystem lowers the abundance of fish. • Historical records show extensive loss of biodiversity along coasts since 1800, with the collapse of about 40% of species. About one-third of once viable coastal fisheries are now useless.
*Additional Statistics from the study • Catch records from the open ocean show
widespread decline of fisheries since 1950 with the rate of decline increasing. In 2003, 29% of fisheries were collapsed. Biodiverse regions' stocks fare better • Marine reserves and no-catch zones bring an average 23% improvement in biodiversity and an increase in fish stocks around the protected area.
Canada Tragedy: An Example The single best example of the ecological and economical dangers of overfishing is found in Newfoundland, Canada. In 1992, the once booming cod fishing industry came to an abrupt and full stop when at the start of the fishing season no cod appeared. This disaster that resulted in almost 40, 000 people losing their source of revenue and an ecosystem in complete state of decay. Now, fifteen years after the collapse, many anglers are still waiting for the cod to return and communities still have not recovered from the sudden event.
Drying cod at Pêcheries Rivièreau-Renard, on the northern coast of Quebec's Gaspesie. While Canada no longer harvests cod due to a ban, the Gaspesie remains the best location on earth for the curing of cod in open air.
Tracking down the food web/chain •Populations of
top predators, a key indicator of ecosystem health, are disappearing at an alarming rate. •90 percent of the large fish that many of us love to eat, such as tuna, swordfish, marlin, cod, have been fished out since large scale industrial fishing began in the 1950s.
Tracking down the food web/chain • The total amount of fish taken from
the system and consumed is rising every year. In 2005, we consumed 95 million tons of fish -86 million tons from marine fisheries -9 million from local fisheries • Fish farming: -today: 43% of production -1980s: less than 10%
Tracking down the food web/chain • At
current exploitation rates, many important fish stocks will be removed from the system within 25 years (that is by the year 2031).
Dr. Daniel Pauly
ACTIONS THAT COULD BE TAKEN
Laws for the Sea United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea
• Article 61
requires all coastal states to make sure that the preservation of living resources in their exclusive economic zones is not endangered by over-exploitation. The article also concentrates on the maintenance or restoration of populations of species above levels at which their reproduction may become seriously threatened.
• Article 62 • provides that coastal states: "shall
promote the objective of optimum utilization of the living resources in the exclusive economic zone without prejudice to Article 61“ • Article 65 • provides in general for the rights of coastal states to prohibit, limit, or regulate the exploitation of marine mammals.
What Fisheries Should Do • Save catch limits A constantly reassessed, scientifically determined, limit on the total number of fish caught and landed by a fishery. Politics and short time economical incentives should have no role in this.
What Fisheries Should Do • Controls on bycatch the use of techniques or management rules to prevent the unintentional killing and disposal of fish, crustaceans and other oceanic life not part of the target catch
What Fisheries Should Do • Protection of pristine and
important habitats The key parts in ecosystems need full protection from destructive fisheries; for example, the spawning and nursing grounds of fish, delicate sea floor, unique unexplored habitats, and corals.
What Fisheries Should Do • Monitoring and Enforcement There must be a monitoring system to make sure fishermen do not land more than they are allowed to. No one must fish in closed areas and cheat as less as possible. Strong monetary enforcement is needed to make it uneconomic to cheat.
What Fisheries Should Do • Underfishing In Australia, underfishing is proposed to fishermen. In underfishing, it turns out that profit-seeking fishermen should want to catch even fewer fish than the “sustainable” number calculated by biologists, because leaving more fish in the ocean leads to bigger populations that make for easier and more lucrative fishing in the long run.
What Ordinary People Can Do • Be aware Read up a bit on the issues of overfishing, have a look at some articles on the internet, magazines, journals. See if you can find some information regarding your local situation. Keep in mind that while this is a global problem but every local situation is different.
What Ordinary People Can Do • Spread the word
Let your voice be heard! – Friends - Mention to your friends the problems we are facing. – Elected officials - Write to your elected officials or political parties and tell them you are concerned about overfishing and destructive fishing methods. Ask them what they think of the fisheries problem and what they are doing to manage our oceans in a sustainable
What Ordinary People Can Do • Spread the word Let your voice be heard! -Media - Your local newspaper certainly has a section dedicated for letters by readers or articles. Writing a letter to the editor is a good way of getting a wide audience.
What Ordinary People Can Do • Supporting products with eco labels *Eco labels are based on the idea of consuming without detrimental effects on the environment.
Principles for ecolabelling of fish • Principle 1
the condition of the fish stocks- This examines if there are enough fish to ensure that the fishery is sustainable. • Principle 2 the impact of the fishery on the marine environment - This examines the effect that fishing has on the immediate marine environment including other non-target fish species, marine mammals and sea birds.
Principles for ecolabelling of fish • Principle 3 the fishery management systems - This principle evaluates the rules and procedures that are in place, as well as how they are implemented, to maintain a sustainable fishery and to ensure that the impact on the marine environment is minimized.
Related Documents
Overfishing
November 2019 8