What is Overfishing?
Overfishing is the harvesting of wildlife from the sea at rates too high for species to replace themselves.
Usually, overfishing is done through the use of massive fishing fleets dragging large nets that scoop up large quantities of fish and whatever else is unlucky enough to get caught in the nets. This is called trawling.
Overfishing is the most effective way to get as much fish as possible for the least amount of effort and cost but it can easily be overdone.
The earliest overfishing occurred in the 1800s when humans decimated the whale population off the coast of Cape Cod. Some fish consumed in the United States, including Atlantic cod, herring, and sardines, were also harvested to near extinction by the mid-1900s.
Why Does it Matter?
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Fish is an extremely important food source for us humans. 1 to 3 billion people rely on fish as their primary source of protein.
Should the ocean be emptied of fish, many of these billions would starve. - Overfshing ruins the environment and its food chains. In 2003 a scientific report said the industrial fishing industry had reduced the number of large ocean fish to 10% of their pre industrial populations. Trawling catches anything in the net’s path. This includes turtles, dolphins, sharks, and many other species not intended to be caught.
- It is also horrible for the economy as companies that rely on it will likely collapse or have to rely on another source of income.
- According to studies done on overfishing, The oceans could be completely emptied of fish by 2048.
Who Overfishes the Most?
Virtually all overfishing is done by corporations as the methods and equipment necessary to overfish cannot reasonably be obtained and used by small fishers and fishing companies.
Large scale fishing operations are extremely lucrative which is why many corporations do not simply stop.
According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, the Mediterranean is the world’s most overfished sea.
The countries that contribute to overfishing the most are China, Indonesia, and Peru.
What Can We Do?
Much of the change needed to stop overfishing will have to come from the large corporations that are responsible for it in the first place. With all of that being said, there are still things we can do to put an end to overfishing.
Overfishing can be stopped by regulations and policies that allow the wildlife that is caught to replenish. A good solution would also to declare whole areas off limits to unstable fishing practices.
The average person can help somewhat by consuming less fish or consuming fish of stable populations rather than ones that are unstable at the time. Purchasing fish from sustainable fisheries instead of sources that are irresponsible with their fishing is also a good way to help.