Overfishing - Affects on Global Welfare

Overfishing

More often than not people don't stop and realize what is happening to our seas and oceans, they think of it as just water, fish and the other sea life (including whales and such like) as just food. Something like overfishing is very dangerous to life on earth. Think of all the unused fish that are not sold or are fished and then not used and plummet to the bottom of the sea, dead. Overfishing is a massive problem because it can affect entire food chains and webs. For example, think of this as a basic scenario of a chain- A Great white shark > Tuna > Schooling Baitfish > Shrimps. In that case the Shark could no longer rely on Tuna to be its main source of food (because tuna is so overfished) which could ultimately lead to the extinction of the shark. Because there are no tuna the schooling baitfish would no longer be prey to tuna. Because there are then so many baitfish all of the shrimps would be eaten and again, ultimately extinct. Even if you were to fish the baitfish it would still have a direct impact on the tuna and shark. Although the seas and oceans are not just chains they are a webs of prey and predators so (hopefully) the sea life will adapt to the way of the modern world and hunt for different dishes! (Or we could quit the overfishing business.

Blast fishing- is a big problem and a major threat to marine life. Blast fishing is when fisherman use bombs to kill fish. It doesn't just kill the fish, it kills the Coral reef. Every time one is fired it will ruin habitats for all sorts of creatures/fish even if it doesn't kill any. Its blast can kill fish within a 15-25 meter radius an area of up to 500 meters squared. If this persists many fish and the corals, where they live in will be endangered because of the severe damage on such a large scale area. Many fish are also just left on the bottom of the ocean because they are dead and others are discarded because they are blown to pieces. Even though it is illegal in most countries, some countries have not begun to understand the importance of these amazing ecosystems.

'What's the problem with overfishing?' -Well since there are so many fish caught there are not enough people to eat them all. And not eating them all means a huge percentage are no longer edible. (A large proportion of that are thrown back into the sea dead). (my opinion) We should definitely not have to do this. If we were more sensible with limitations and increased fines for 'Ovefishing' we would no longer have such a pressing issue. Additionally, another solution is to prevent supermarkets from selling as much fish that is overfished/fished regularly. This would be very unpopular with customers but if you made people aware of this global problem they then might be happier to accept these changes.

How do you stop something as big and worldwide as overfishing?(Boffins and other peoples opinions)

It's a hard process, but a little effort goes along way. Watch what kind of fish you eat. When you buy fish look at how it's farmed and where it's caught. Things like Cod: Pacific (Alaska Longline) and Tuna: Skipjack (troll/pole) are good to eat. Some good alternatives are Lobster: American/Maine and Yellowtail (U.S. farmed) are other things you should eat if you ca get the ones that are even better. You should avoid Cod: Atlantic, Tuna: Bluefin, Monkfish and many others. If you stop buying the bad fish, the fisherman will stop fishing for them. You can also send a card or email. to your local restaurant asking them to serve ocean friendly food because it would probably bring in more customers and it would cut out one of the buyers of that fish. This practice could help fishermen

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