Overfishing

By Kurtova, KalinaIanatchkova, ElenaNetcheva, Nadya

10/8

What does “overfishing” mean?

When people catch fish faster than the fish can repopulate (7) http://ecogeneration.org/activities/news/view.html?boardno=47&cat1=0&cat2=0&thread=1108&no=1108&page=2&search=&keyword=

Is the current level of global fish catch sustainable?

No, it is not.

Even though our planet has enough fish to cover other four planets, MANY SPECIES HAVE BEEN REDUCED OR HAVE BECOME EXTINCT.

Marine scientists now think that overfishing is a bigger threat to the ocean environment than pollution (10)

Overfishing and the food web

http://amurdoch.tripod.com/yr4/AntFoodWeb.JPG

Fishing down the food chainThe fishermen catch large fish which they

can sell for much money, but as the time passes it becomes hard of even impossible to catch such species, so the have to catch smaller fish with less economic value. (13)

So the fishermen go from the upper part of the food chain downwards. (13)

Fishing down the food chain

http://naturalpatriot.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/fishing_down_the_food_web.jpg

Why do governments support money-losing and ecosystem-destroying fishing industries?!

http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/playlist/2009/04/-pastes-tax-refund-playlist-cash-money-mix.html

Why do governments support money-losing and ecosystem-destroying fishing industries?!

To support the livelihood of fishing communities and people living in these areas that depend on fishing as a way to earn money and make a living

To not support these industries would be an unpopular measure, as people around fishing communities have usually been doing the same thing (fishing) for generations

Even though the fishing industries are money-losing, if the governments stop the fishing they will have to spend much more money in order to train the fishermen to do some other job and to relocate them and their families to another area

Does anybody win from the overfishing?

http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/06-07/overfishing-article.htm

What is Bycatch?

http://www.safmc.net/Portals/0/shrimp%20bycatch.jpg

What is bycatch? Billions of unwanted animals, like

dolphins, sea-turtles, sharks and starfish, are caught by accident every year and then returned to the ocean dead or dying.

A major problem for the fishing industry since it wastes valuable resources and time.

However, it is even more harmful to the ecosystems since it poses a threat to many marine animals and decreases their populations. (5)

Particularly Harming Fishing

One of the most harming ones is trawling, which means to drag huge nets, sometimes as big as a football field, across the ocean floor. This results in big amounts of bycatch.

The other very harmful method is using dredges, which are metal frames with attached bags, and are used to catch species living in the sand. This not only results in bycatch, but it damages the surface of the ocean as well. (12)

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_gear.aspx

What is bottom – trawling? Bottom-trawling is towing a fishing net along the

sea floor and it is a very destructive fishing method as large heavy plates are dragged across the sea floor and entire marine life habitats are forced into a net.

Benthic trawling is when you tow a net at the bottom of the ocean floor

Demersal trawling is when you a tow a net just above the benthic zone

Whatever is caught in the net is then sorted at the surface with only the target/commercial species being kept

(bibliography: 1, 2, 3)

www.greenpeace.org/australia/

admin/image-library2/

before-and-after-view-of-botto?mode=send

http://www.duke.edu/web/nicholas/bio217/durkee-eyler-franken/trawling.html

http://ian.\umces.edu/imagelibrary/displayimage-5280.html

“No-take zones”

They protect populations of targeted marine species and can greatly help ecosystems (6)

Areas set aside permanently from human disturbance

They increase the diversity of the species, their abundance and biomass. (13) Moreover, bigger fish have more babies – so they increase the number of species too!!

They also conserve habitats and protect different organisms

What is the impact of aquaculture on wild fish populations ?

Aquaculture – also known as aquafarming; Populating fish in controlled conditions (8)• Aquaculture reduces the world’s dependence on

wild stocks of fish, provides new jobs, and helps to feed the world’s growing population

• Some species can turn harmful organic wastes into edible fish meat

• Farming of shrimp and salmon has been found to have a negative impact

• If the growing of fish produces a net loss of protein, then aquaculture creates a negative ecological impact (18)

Example 1Newfoundland, CanadaHappened in 1992;No Cod at the beginning of the seasonNo fish was sold during that periodDue to the overfishing there was no Cod;

This resulted in :- About 40000 people changed their style of living;- Even nowadays, the situation have not improved to

reach usual number of Cod, - the slow recovering; (13)

http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/collapse-of-atlantic-cod-stocks-off-the-east-coast-of-newfoundland-in-1992

Example 2

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/pwe/lowres/pwen25l.jpg

Example 2Ovefishing of Mediterranean bluefin tuna in EuropeThe stocks of the fish arebecoming dangerously lowdue to over-fishing - It is highly valued in Japan and a kilo of it can sell

for up to hundreds of dollars- In a report published by the WWF, the fish caught

by the flee is more than 3 times the amount suggested by scientists (9)

- There have been talks of what actions to take in order to stabilize the bluefin population, but the estimates from 2009 are that this fast and large predator will be wiped out in 3 years (14)

http://www.wpp.com/corporateresponsibilityreports/2008/pro-bono/case-studies/ogilvy-uk-wwf.html

Bibliography 1. "Www.deepsearch.org » Glossary of Terms Related to

Boats, Submarines, Sub-sea Communications, Marine Science, and Deep Ocean Research." Www.deepsearch.org. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. <http://www.deepsearch.org/?page_id=26>.

2. "Glossary." Marine Conservation Biology Institute. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. <http://www.mcbi.org/shining_sea/glossary.htm>.

3. "Bottom Trawling." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottom_trawling>.

4. "Environmental Impact of Aquaculture." Providence College - Home. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. <http://www.providence.edu/polisci/students/aquaculture/environmentalimpact.html>.

5. "What is Bycatch?" Smart Gear. © WWF, n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2010.      <http://www.smartgear.org/smartgear_bycatch/>.

6. Pichegru, L. "Marine no-take zone rapidly benefits endangered penguin."      Biology Letters. © The Royal Society 2010, n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2010.      <http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2010/02/04/      rsbl.2009.0913>.

7. "What does 'over fishing' mean?" Cha Cha. © Copyright 2006-2010 ChaCha Search,      Inc, n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2010. <http://www.chacha.com/question/      what-does-'over-fishing'-mean>.

8. "Aquaculture." Wikipedia. Wikipedia®, 30 Nov. 2010. Web. 5 Dec. 2010.      <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaculture>.

9. "Europe Clamps Down on Overfishing of Bluefin Tuna." ENS Newswire. Copyright      Environment News Service, n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2010.      <http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2008/2008-03-20-01.html>.

10. "Overfishing." See the Sea. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2010.      <http://see-the-sea.org/topics/commerce/overfishing.htm>.

11. "Bycatch." See the Sea. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2010. <http://see-the-sea.org/      topics/commerce/bycatch.htm>.

12. "Fishing Methods." Monterey Bay Aquarium. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2010.      <http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_gear.aspx>.

13. Hughes, Terry. "What are the Benefits of No-Take Zones? How Do They Work? ."      Coralcoe. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2010.      <http://www.coralcoe.org.au/research-tools/qpwstalks/NO-TAKE%20ZONES.pdf>.

14. Harding, Ben. "Overfishing to wipe out bluefin tuna in 3 years: WWF."      Reuters. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2010. <http://www.reuters.com/ 

     article/idUSTRE53D00320090414>. 15. "Overfishing - A Global Environmental Problem, Threat and Disaster."

Overfishing - A Global Environmental Problem, Threat and Disaster. Web. 12 Dec. 2010. <http://overfishing.org/pages/why_is_overfishing_a_problem.php>.

16. "Overfishing." Clean Funny Cartoons / Environmental Issues ... on Grinning Planet. Web. 12 Dec. 2010. <http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/06-07/overfishing-article.htm>.

17. "Overfishing - A Global Environmental Problem, Threat and Disaster." Overfishing - A Global Environmental Problem, Threat and Disaster. Web. 12 Dec. 2010. <http://overfishing.org/pages/what_is_overfishing.php>.

18. "Environmental Impact of Aquaculture." Providence College - Home. Web. 12 Dec. 2010. <http://www.providence.edu/polisci/students/aquaculture/environmentalimpact.html>.