Skip to main content

Overfishing- An Introduction

By Anonymous

When writing the article on the Yangtze Finless Porpoise, I briefly touched on the topic of overfishing. Many of you have probably heard about it, and know it is a massive problem threatening our seas and their inhabitants. Overfishing is so destructive, it can kill all life in the ocean, and many of you might be part of it every day. So I read through many articles from international organisations, and they all say pretty much the same things. It's a highly complex topic, with so many things to say and do, so this is just an introduction to the broadest points. It's very interesting (and sad) but when you look into it further you realize there is actually a lot you can do! This is very important, especially for ocean lovers and seafood people.


What is overfishing?

By definition, overfishing is so intense fishing, people catch fish quicker than the stocks can reproduce. Leading to a massive decrease in stocks that can peak in the extinction of a species. Overfishing is closely related to bycatch and Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU). The thing is, when an entire species of fish are wiped out, an ecosystem can collapse and that in return can collapse fisheries. However, billions of people rely on fish as their main source of protein, and if the seas can not provide our demand for fish and collapse, we'd face a food crisis. That is not the case just now though, as it looks like people catch way more than the demand for fish there actually is. That simply is an unnecessary waste of billions of fish lives.


Bycatch

Bycatch is the unwanted animals caught along with the fish that was initially targeted. Often bycatch is sea turtles, other fish species or seals that are caught along in the gigantic nets. Due to the sheer masses of bycatch, many of these species are now endangered. But for the big companies, that is no reason to stop. All they care about is having enough fish for the demand. Only that many provide way too much and so many lives are ended for nothing. Bycatch is a huge threat to marine species, especially as huge quantities are always caught and lots of animals die. If you do not consider how many fishing boats go out to sea every day, the amount of deaths is extremely sad!


IUU

IUU stands for illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing and is also a major factor in overfishing. The problem with IUU is that people just randomly catch fish, often high-value species of which the fishing is illegal, only partly legal etc. and sell it illegally. The problem is that those people are not tracked down in some places due to a lack of traceability and make lots of money with the fish they sell which harms them so much on the way! And because it's unreported and illegal it's unregulated fishing and those people can more or less do what they want.

Impacts

Now the impacts of overfishing are grave. It's not like a species just disappears and things go on as normal. Everything has a consequence and every time a species disappears or extremely declines in numbers a small hole is ripped into the food chain. The result can be that another species dies out which results in another one going extinct...It's a huge chain reaction that can lead to a collapse of an entire ecosystem! But if the marine ecosystems collapse it will definitely have an effect on us, especially on the billions of people relying on fish. Fisheries will obviously collapse because there is nothing to make money with and many, many people would go hungry. It could elapse into a full-size food crisis!

Your Turn!

Because you love the ocean, the animals and plants living there and eating seafood you really want to do something! And there is so much you can do! First of all, know what you eat and where it comes from. There is the MSC-labelled fish that is said to be sustainable. They're a pretty big organisation that checks fisheries and approve them if they're sustainable. The approved fish will have this blue tick on it with this fish of sorts and it says MSC. When you want to eat different kinds of fish, just check if they're endangered and how they were caught if you can. Make sure you don't eat endangered species. And as always, don't eat too much. Doing almost everything in reasonable amounts is the best for you and everything and everyone around you. So eat fish, just not tonnes of it, not super overfished species and sustainably fished seafood and you've done your part. See you on Sunday guys!

Your Greenworld Team💚


Sources:


Image:
This image, owned by Gareth Christopher (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Beavers and their dams: what effects do they have?

By
Hi everyone, Today we're talking about beavers and their effects on the surrounding ecosystems and environments. 'Beaver' referres to two species in the genus Castor . They are found in North America, Europe and Asia and are the largest rodents in those places and the second largest rodents in the world. Beavers grow up to 80 cm long with a flat, paddle-shaped tail up to 45 cm. They have a small head, large incisor teeth and fur lined lips to avoid inhaling water while cutting and transporting branches underwater. They weigh 16-30kg and are nocturnal. Beavers live in streams, rivers, marshes, ponds and lakes where they construct dams. These have earned them the title 'ecosystem engineers' but we'll talk about that later. The dams are constructed with branches, sticks and rocks. They create a calm pool with a higher water level on one side. Beavers make their homes (lodges) in these calm pools. Beaver dams are both have bot...
Post a Comment
Read more

April Top Tips: ten tips for environmentally friendly travel

By
Hi Everyone! We haven't been very present on the blog again recently but we are back today with ten top tips for environmentally friendly travel. Most forms of travel over long distances (unless you are willing to put in a lot of physical effort) use fossil fuels and are generally not good for our planet. So today we will be giving you a few tips which although won't mean that your travel is 100% planet friendly, will be a good start to doing as much as you can.  Your Green World Blog Team💚 1. Use trains and boats rather than planes where possible Planes are awful for the environment. They are, however, extremely practical and so easy to use, cheap...It's hard to avoid them! They are so quick too so you don't have to spend as much time travelling. However, they are really bad for the environment. For example, you could fly once to Edinburgh from Heathrow for the same carbon dioxide levels as driving to Edinburgh 336 times! 2. Fly...
Post a Comment
Read more

Deforestation and why it’s a problem

By
Hi everyone, Welcome back to another post. Today we’ll be talking about deforestation and its impacts on our earth. Deforestation, the widespread clearance of natural forests, has been happening for thousands of years. One example is Western Europe, where, two millennia ago, 80% of the land was cloaked in dense forest cover. However, over time, a significant portion of this green expanse was sacrificed to create room for crops, livestock grazing, and as a source of fuel and building materials. Presently, a mere 34% of Western Europe retains its woodland. Today, the tropics deal with the brunt of deforestation. Activities such as mining, agriculture, road construction, and the establishment of vast cattle ranches drive the mass clearance of tropical rainforests. This results in the release of huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, exacerbating the global climate crisis. The consequences come in two waves: first, the reduced number of...
Post a Comment
Read more

Evolution

By
Hi, So today, I am going to talk about evolution. We have mentioned this before in our Galapagos Ecosystem series but we’ve never gone over exactly what it is. So before Charles Darwin thought of his theory of evolution, the majority of people in Europe thought that all species were unrelated and that humans were not related to animals. This was mostly based on Christianity. Darwin studied hundreds of different species and on the Galápagos Islands , he first started to form his theory of evolution. Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, as it was later called, is best explained by the example of the giraffe. Let's assume that giraffes have short necks (as they did many centuries ago). Now a mother has two children. By chance, one has a slightly longer neck. This is a coincidence. As the giraffes feed on the lower leaves of the trees, these slower disappear. There aren't enough leaves for the giraffes. Thus the giraffe wi...
Post a Comment
Read more

The life of ... Atlantic salmon

By
Hello everyone, Today we're talking about Atlantic salmon. Atlantic salmon are found in the north Atlantic and the rivers that flow into it. They can grow up to a meter long and are classified as Least Concern by the IUCN . Atlantic salmon start their lives in rivers. The pea-sized eggs are laid in autumn and hatch in April or May. The tiny salmon are called alevins. They feed on aquatic invertabrates and eventually devolop into parr. Parr are easily recognised by destinictive patterns and markings on their flanks. After up to several years, the parr develop a silvery sheen. These replace those characteristic parr markings. Their bodies change in preparation for the salt water and they are now called smolts. They swim downstream with the current all the way to the ocean. In the deep sea waters, the smolts feed on crustaceans and small fish for 15-50 months. However they are hunted by a number of predators including, sharks, seals and of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

10 Animals on the edge of extinction, You did not know about no.1 - Yangtze Finless Porpoise

By Anonymous
The first animal of this series is the Yangtze finless porpoise, a dolphin living in fresh water in southern China in the Yangtze river. It is one of the very few dolphins living in fresh water and the only species left in the Yangtze river. Unfortunately, the porpoise is facing extinction. What is it? The Yangtze finless porpoise is a dolphin species living in the Yangtze River in southern China. It is one of the very few dolphin species that live in freshwater, and the only one that survived in the Yangtze river after the Baiji Dolphin was declared functionally extinct in 2006. It characteristically is about 2 meters long, has no fins -as the name suggests- and no beak. Its mouth however is curved upwards like a smile, giving the Porpoise and cute and friendly face. It feeds on small fish, crustaceans and molluscs. Sadly, the Yangtze finless Porpoise is considered "critically endangered" as there are only about 1000 of them left.  Why i...
Post a Comment
Read more

13.12.2020 Animal Of The Week: Lark

By
Hello, Today's post is all about a rather interesting bird I don't know much about and so I can't wait to discover more! Habitat There are many different species of Lark so they are quite widespread. Different websites say different figures but most agree that there are between 90 and 100 different species of Lark. They live in open countryside from deserts to mountains. Their colour is adapted to their environment and so they can vary in appearance. Diet Larks are omnivorous animals and eat many species of insects as well as seeds, leaves, grasses and fruits, especially in Winter as insects are scarce. Some species will also eat snails which they break open on rocks. Lark Song The lark is reputed for its song, especially when it is in flight. This is the reason that they are sometimes represented in poetry. I love poetry and I haven't read any Lark themed poetry yet but writing this has made me want to. However, the wi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Animals 11-15 in our '50 incredible animals' series

By
Hello, We have another five amazing animals for you today. Enjoy! 11. Dhole This is a dog species which looks rather like a red fox . They are difficult to put into any of the dog subfamilies. They aren't foxes, nor wolves, nor domestic dogs. Dholes are fast runners and live in packs of 5-12 individuals. Although sometimes, different packs will join forces to become a pack of 30 or more individuals! However, these super packs are broken up after a successful hunt. The different packs rarely attack each other as neighbouring packs are often closely related. Dhole packs live in burrows with multiple entrances. They can be found in eastern and southern Asia. They eat wild berries, insects and lizards and as a pack hunt deer, rodents and other wild mammals. Interestingly, unlike other dogs, they rarely kill by biting at the throat. They are also good swimmers! 12. Irrawaddy dolphin The Irrawaddy dolphin can be found in coastal areas of south a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Metamorphosis

By
Hello! Today we thought it would be good to explain exactly how metamorphosis works. It's a term that we often use when talking about frogs, butterflies or other animals, but we've never actually explained what it is or how it works. What is metamorphosis? Metamorphosis is the term used to describe the changes that some animals undergo when turning into adults. It is a physical change that happens after birth/hatching. There is a brilliant quote from the website a-z animals that I just couldn't put any better:  unlike the typical subtle developments in animals, metamorphosis is dramatic. It’s controlled by a release of hormones in the cells. Mammals usually move from adolescence to adulthood and old age gradually, maintaining their form and shape. However, in metamorphosis, an animal moves through those stages and changes from one form or shape to another. How does metamorphosis work? Let's take the classic butterfly example./d...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rachel Carson 1907-1964

By
Hi everybody, Today I am going to tell you about a really inspirational environmentalist. Her name is Rachel Carson. I hope her story inspires you to be more careful about pesticides. As a girl, Rachel adored writing stories about animals. She got a degree in zoology but had to go home to care for her ageing mother. She wrote a series of radio shows about fish for a living. Rachel's program, called 'Romance Under Waters', was a big hit. Her ways of writing were different to anyone else and no one had made that sound so interesting before. It proved that she was talented in not only science but also writing. She wrote two books called 'The Sea Around Us' and 'The Edge Of The Sea'. When Rachel moved to the countryside, she realized the impact of pesticides. At that time farmers sprayed chemicals on their fields a lot to protect them from animals that may want to eat them. Rachel worked out that they were killing pla...
Post a Comment
Read more