Overfishing: A Look Beneath the Ocean's Surface

It’s estimated that most of the world’s marine ecosystem is fished far beyond the capacity to sustain a fish population, with many species finding themselves on the threshold of extinction. This in itself is a troubling condition that could have calamitous repercussions and long-term effects on humanity’s consumption and dietary needs. Still, on a global scale, this consequence is only one of many problems. One of the greatest dangers of overfishing is the chaos that it creates in a perfectly balanced ecosystem. Overfishing can have an adverse effect on marine biodiversity (Jetson, K., 2014). For example (Mobox, 2017; Raffaelli, 2004; Shakouri. B. etal. 2010): 1. Predators, like sharks and dolphins are susceptible to nets. In many cases they are innocent bystanders, caught in a trawler’s nets. This is known is in the industry as bycatch. These animals help maintain balance in the ecosystem by keeping down potentially harmful species. Overfishing can also negatively impact fish th...

A school of fish Overfishing occurs when fishing activities reduce fish stocks below an acceptable level. This can occur in any body of water from a pond to the oceans. Economists claim that the fundamental cause of the depletion of fish stocks is the virtual "open-access” to all ocean fisheries, that is, fishermen small operations or large corporations can fish all they want. (Shakouri. B. etal. 2010) But the question remains; what else causes overfishing?  The World Wildlife Fund states that with the rapid increased in the world’s population there is an increased demand for fish, which further perpetuates the problem of overfishing and lends to the depletion of oceanic ecosystems. (WWF, n.d.) Commercial fishing is one of the many industries used by humans, and is the fundamental factor to overfishing. The fish which live in the ocean are caught by drift netting and trawling; both of these techniques were designed to trap every creature in net that gets into its path. (Je...

Recently, in my communication class we were given an assignment to create a newspaper article on a topic of our choice. The topic I chose was the same one I chose for this blog; overfishing. In writing my newspaper article, I realized that though a person can easily write an essay for a specific topic it’s not as easy when writing a newspaper article.  Newspapers are printed to target audiences of varying ages and they cover the basics of current events. But as I was writing my article I realized that a news article is formatted differently from other articles or informative pieces since they are expected to present information in a specific way; they need to provide relevant facts to the audience in a concise way. In writing a newspaper article, facts are especially important since these are the details from which the article will be devised. therefore, extensive research on the topic is necessary since creating a well-structured and credible article, considerable kno...

The fish population in the ocean is dwindling Our world is one of water, for up to 70% of the world’s surface is covered with oceans, seas and other bodies of water. Though these water bodies may look like a calm empty void, below the surface they hold life and mysteries one can barely imagine. However, the lives of these fishes and other marine animals are being rapidly depleted by the earth’s top predator; man. Mankind has evolved over the years and developed many survival skills but it seems as if the very skillsets that we have learned could lead to our destruction. This can be seen in the way that we overfish our oceans. For centuries, millions have turned to the ocean as a source of income and livelihood through fishing, while billions use the ocean as a source of food. Think about it, isn’t the ocean’s ability to provide food for the billions of people alive today simply amazing? However, in consequence to providing food for the world’s growing population, extensi...

Throughout the years, the number of scientific studies and conservation blogs being posted has skyrocketed. Everyone has something to add to the pie or everyone is trying to do their part in raising awareness for issues they deem important and this s me trying to do my part. Don't worry, I don't intend for it to be just 'another' blog; I want to bring you facts on one of the major environmental crisis occurring in the world today, overfishing. I am a first year student with a penchant for the environment and one of the many issues that caught my interest is overfishing and its effects on ecosystems. the reason why I find it so interesting is because no one really stops to think what goes on below the ocean's surface, or to think about what lives there. As the saying goes, "out of sight, out of mind" and that is indeed what happens. This blog aims to take a deep look into this environmental issue and analyse it in a multifaceted approach. T...