Essay Sample on Overfishing: A Threat to Marine Ecosystems

Introduction

Overfishing is the act of removing species of fish in a water body at a rate that they cannot replenish at a given time, leading to underpopulation or depletion of this species in a particular area. Overfishing can take place in water bodies of various sizes, including oceans or lakes, rivers, and ponds, and can result in low biomass levels minimal biological growth rates and depletion of resources. The capacity of a fishery to replenish from overfishing depends on whether the ecosystem's settings favor the recovery (Allan Abell Hogan Revenga Taylor Welcomme & Winemiller, 2005). Rampant changes in the composition of fish species can lead in shifting of the ecosystem, where other equilibrium energy flows comprise the forms of species different from those had been previously present before the depletion of the initial fish stock. The reduction in fish population will affect the livelihood and health of many people around the world. This is because a substantial number of people depend on fish as their source of food; thus, overfishing poses threats to those food sources (Allan et al., 2005). The main aim of this essay is discussing overfishing from an ecological, cultural, and policy standpoints and derive recommendations from the same.

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Ecological Standpoint

Overfishing can have a severe impact on marine biodiversity. Each aquatic animal and a plant have a task to play when it comes to moderating the ecology. For marine creatures to survive, they need a certain kind of nutrients and environment, for which they may be reliant on other organisms. Overfishing can bring about the destruction of marine ecology and the environment and interfere with the food chain ultimately (Scheffer Carpenter & Young, 2005). For instance, herring is a critical prey for the cod, hence when herring are overexploited, the cod population is also affected, and this has a direct influence on other species as well (Schmidt, 2005). For example, sea birds like puffins relied on the sandeel as their source of food within the Shetland Islands. With the over-extraction of sandeels, the seabird's population in Shetlands automatically declined. Overfishing also impacts ecological processes at a notable scale. It transforms an efficient, mature, and stable ecosystem into a stressed and immature one (Allan et al., 2005). This occurs in various ways, including reducing and targeting the abundance of significant predators for the fisheries to modify the trophic chain and flow of energy within the ecosystem. Besides, overfishing affects the environment by altering the habitat through destroying and interfering with bottom topography and the related habitats such as coral reefs, agar beds, and seagrass (Schmidt, 2005).

Cultural Standpoint

Many people rely on fishing for their nutritional requirements and livelihood. For many years, oceans and lakes have provided us with plenty of seafood for these requirements. However, there is a limit to everything due to unsustainable fishing activities and overfishing over the last previous years. This has stressed oceans to the limit, and they may be experiencing a deteriorating condition, thus affecting the source of income and the way of life of those individuals who rely on them (Claro Mitcheson Lindeman & Garcia, 2009). With less or no mature fish left in the fish for fishing activities, fisheries and fishers are forced to shift to other businesses. Evolution of new technologies like sonar and radar have contributed to overfishing. As a result, fish species are extracted more rapidly, leading to their depletion and collapse of fishery industries. This is evident in Canada, where a fishery industry was shut down in the 1990s due to the reduction of fish species on the coastal areas (Claro et al., 2009). Numerous people lost their source of livelihood, and environmental cases became rampant. Coastal communities diminished as people moved to other regions to look for employment. Overfishing has caused uncertainty in the society, since people are finding it hard to adapt and cope with the diminishing state of fish, contributing to conflicts over the remaining few fish species (Schmidt, 2005).Policy Standpoint

The common fisheries policy (CFP) are rules that have been set for preserving fish stocks and managing European fishing fleets. These rules are designed for managing a shared resource and offers equal opportunities to all European fishing fleets, particularly in accessing European waters and fishing grounds, and also provides a conducive environment for fair fishing among fishers (Finkbeiner Bennett Frawley Mason Briscoe Brooks & Urteaga, 2017). The fish stocks might be renewable, but some fish species are being over-extracted. In controlling the same, European states have taken affirmative action for ensuring that European fishing corporation is sustainable and does not jeopardize fish population and productivity for a more extended period. The purpose of the policy is ensuring that aquaculture and fishing are socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable and that they offer a good source of food to EU citizens. It is concerned with promoting an active fishing industry and fostering a healthy living standard for fishing communities (Finkbeiner et al., 2017).

Despite their action towards ensuring sustainability, the policies face various problems in ensuring the same is achieved. Some regulations in neighboring countries are not efficient enough in restricting the fishing capacity to a maintainable level. They end up applying unlawful fishing methods which rapidly catch fish, resulting in over-extraction. The policies also experience inadequacy in the implementation (Schmidt, 2005). Despite the existence of CPF regulations, some European Union countries do not enforce the rules correctly. This is due to the lack of political will, which contributes to failures in adopting bycatch reduction tools. The issues of transparency among custom agencies and retailers in ensuring the fish entering the European Union countries are caught lawfully and sustainably (Schmidt, 2005). As a result, customers are innocently promoting poor management by buying various fish species from unsustainable fisheries. Some European states are not following the scientific advice and end up setting their catch limits above the suggested figure. This is the case in coasts of Irelands and Scotland (Allan et al., 2005).

Recommendations

Fisheries can stop using trawling method of fishing which drags big nets in the ocean scooping almost every animal and ecosystem across its pathway leading to huge wasteful bycatch. Instead, they can consider, using fishing vessels and deckhands which targets some species of fish. This will minimize the number of fish caught at a go, giving them more time to mature. This process will encourage the sustainability of fishing grounds. Governments can also create more marine protected areas and restrict fishing time to give time for reproduction and maturity of fish. They can also initiate a ban on destructive fishing approaches like trawling, which interferes with the marine environment, especially breeding grounds like seagrass meadows and coral reefs.

Communities around the fishing grounds should set a safe catching limit. They can accomplish this by setting limits that conform to scientific recommendations within their region. These limits should be kept away from any political influence or economic incentives for them to be practical. Fishers should also place controls over the secondary catches to avoid killing of the untargeted species. They can achieve this by using fishing baskets with an opening for allowing the escape of immature species and retaining only the intended sizes-those that can be considered mature. Communities which depend on fish for their livelihood should form an effective monitoring system, for example setting specific kilograms that fishers should reach to avoid overfishing and imposing heavy fines to non-compliant. This will minimize the cases of overfishing and encourage sustainability. Marine protection agencies should educate the fishing communities on the importance of sustainable fishing to help in reducing over-extraction and in implementation of conservation initiatives.

European Union should encourage a local, regional, or national policy which will create more flexibility allowing authorities and fishers from EU states to better respond to the dynamic conditions. This will ensure implementation and policy enforcement within the respective countries, allowing the ruling classes to favor their fleets. The European Union should consider working with governments outside its jurisdiction to help them in forming effective fishing regulations. They can also assist them in learning how prepare effective and adequate management protocols that will address overfishing. They can also create awareness among fish retailers on approaches to buy their seafood from sustainable fisheries. This will exert more pressure to fisheries on complying with the set standards.

Introduction

In conclusion, overfishing is over-abstraction of fish species in a water body in a manner that they cannot reproduce. It can bring about the demolition of marine ecology and the environment and interfere with the ecosystem. Evolution of new fishing techniques like trawling, sonar, and radar have contributed to overfishing. As a result, fish species are extracted more rapidly, leading to their depletion and collapse of fishery industries and related economic activities forcing fisheries and fishers to shift to other businesses. European Union has established common fisheries policy which are rules designed for managing a common resource and offers equal opportunities to all European fishing fleets, particularly in accessing European waters and fishing grounds, and also provides a conducive environment for fair fishing among fishers.

References

Allan, J. D., Abell, R., Hogan, Z. E. B., Revenga, C., Taylor, B. W., Welcomme, R. L., & Winemiller, K. (2005). Overfishing of inland waters. BioScience, 55(12), 1041-1051. Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-abstract/55/12/1041/407055

Claro, R., de Mitcheson, Y. S., Lindeman, K. C., & Garcia-Cagide, A. R. (2009). Historical analysis of Cuban commercial fishing effort and the effects of management interventions on important reef fishes from 1960-2005. Fisheries Research, 99(1), 7-16. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165783609000952

Scheffer, M., Carpenter, S., & de Young, B. (2005). Cascading effects of overfishing marine systems. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 20(11), 579-581. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169534705002752

Schmidt, C. C. (2005). Economic drivers of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law, 20(3), 479-507. Retrieved from https://brill.com/view/journals/estu/20/3/article-p479_6.xml

Finkbeiner, E. M., Bennett, N. J., Frawley, T. H., Mason, J. G., Briscoe, D. K., Brooks, C. M., ... & Urteaga, J. (2017). Reconstructing overfishing: moving beyond Malthus for effective and equitable solutions. Fish and fisheries, 18(6), 1180-1191. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/faf.12245