Fishing and Geographical Issues

Hasan Mohammad, Saeed Baig & Musbah Fayed

The End of the Line……The Geography of Fishing

40 tons of coral destroyed in Pacific Ocean300,000 porpoises and dolphins die annually100 millions sharks caught every yearOver 80% of shark species disappeared from the Atlantic OceanAs many as 90% of all the ocean’s large fish have been fished out

FAST FACTS AND FIGURES

Catching fish at a faster rate than they can reproduce.

A non-sustainable use of the oceans leading to extinction of marine life.

On a global scale we have enough fishing capacity to cover at least four Earth like planets.

Many fishing methods are so harmful that they are unsustainable in their own way.

FISHING CYCLE

Technological advances

Fish stocks are going down

Humans catch more fish

Solutions

If overfishing continues, fish populations will be reduced even more, no matter what measures are taken.

Overfishing not only depletes the fish but seriously harms marine ecosystems.

Because the fish population has decreased so much, many other species have been placed at risk because they now lack their major food source.

Fish Stocks (1): o 52% of fish stocks are fully exploitedo 20% are moderately exploitedo 17% are overexploitedo 7% are depletedo 1% is recovering from depletion Between 1950 and 1994, the ocean fishing industry

increased the total catch by 400%. (3) Global Fish Stocks are expected to Collapse by 2050 at

Current Exploitation Rates. (3) THE CURRENT LEVEL OF GLOBAL FISH CATCH IS IN NO

WAY SUSTAINABLE!!!

The graph points out that current levels of fishing are obviously unsustainable.

These 10 ecosystems were studied for their MMSY, or multi-species maximum sustainable yield. Fishing below MMSY provides ecosystems with a chance to recover.

Huge negative effects on the global economy and spawns malnutrition.

Global fisheries provide about $225 - $240 billion each year.

If more sustainable practices were used, there would be a $36 billion addition to that yearly profit – 16% increase in global income.

Between 1950 and 2004, the planet's lost out on about 10 million tons of fish catch. 

20 million people a year suffer from malnutrition. Global governments spend about $27 billion a year on

subsidies to the fishing industry, 60% of which goes towards unsustainable fishing operations.

Cause: Commercially valuable, bigger, slower growing species have been overfished. (e.g., tuna, cod, snapper) 

Effect: The oceans are overpopulated with large quantities of smaller species of fish with less commercial value (squid, sardines, oysters, mussels and shrimp).

Less predatory pressure

Less competition for food

Predators deprived of food source needed in order to re-establish the population

These are living creatures caught unintentionally by fishing gear.

Unlike target species, bycatch is unwanted and often unused.

Bycatch may be kept or sold Bycatch might be thrown back as

discard if not usable, possibly still with injuries from the equipment.

Additionally, handling and exposure sometimes injure the bycatch, which may die after being discarded.

This affects the current population and influences the species’ opportunity to reproduce.

Gillnetting – A invisible to fish fine-filament net used for capturing mainly salmon, cod and sardine. Damages other species.

Cyanide fishing – Cyanide is used to stun and capture live coral reef fish. Cheap and effective but illegal.

Explosive fishing – the use of dynamite or other explosives to kill fish. Causes major destruction of reefs.

Long-line fishing – long baited hooks used to catch swordfish, tuna, sharks, birds, and turtles. They are estimated to kill 180,000 birds worldwide every year.

Bottom Trawling-Dragging huge, heavy nets along the sea floor. 

Large metal plates and rubber wheels attached to these nets move along the bottom and crush nearly everything in their path.

Marine life’s very slow to recover from such damage.

Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ)Fish farmingFishing suspension

Marine Stewardship Council

Protected areas

Awareness

LONG TERMSHORT TERM

Government sets allowable catchFisherman given sellable “property rights”Fishermen have incentive to fish less.A large-scale study in 2008 found IFQs significantly lowered the risk of economic collapses in fisheries and fisheries closing down. Or: both processors and fishermen have quota.

The farming of aquatic organisms – keeping them under controlled conditions

Reduces the worlds dependence on wild stocks of fish

Helps to feed the worlds growing population.

Negative impact on wild species

Examples: – salmon: carnivores which need protein -> comes from forage fish -> salmon wants more forage fish -> impacts survivability of wild salmon

The population of breeding tunas has declined and will be wiped out in 3 years if nothing is done.

The size of mature tunas has more than halved since the 1990s.

The average size of tuna caught off the coast of Libya has gone from 124kg in 2001 to only 65kg in 2013.

Industrial fishing is the main reason for the problem.

WWF is calling for the immediate closure of the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery to give the species a chance to recover and is trying to create a marine reserve for bluefin tuna in the Balearic Islands.

Fishing is a competitive market as it is in high demand. So when large businesses overfish, smaller businesses are forced to overfish or lose out.

Governments realise the current trend of unsustainable overfishing leads to long-term profit loss, which they need to avoid.

Marine biologists acknowledge the capability of overfishing to drive species to extinction and say stricter regulations need to be applied.

$50billion is lost/year due to overfishing creating a lack of future fish supplies. This’ bad for countries’ economies, so governments have tried to put in policies to reduce this loss.

Friend of The Sea and the MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) are organisations that judge whether fisheries are sustainable or not.

Individuals can promote awareness and sustainable fishing by only eating fish MSC or Friend of The Sea approved.

Thank You!

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