Overfishing

A fishermen’s job is to catch fish so that they can give them to local markets and restaurants for customers to eat. Many fishermen don’t realise that the tools and gear they use to catch their fish can sometimes catch and kill too many fish. They often catch fish that they don’t need or can't use, these fish and sea creatures are often just left to rot in the deep waters. Reef damage is also caused by the tools fishermen use.

Commerical fisherman use a number of different methods to catch their fish, these include:

Fishing nets - Fishing nets catch a lot of fish but meanwhile destroy even more marine wildlife. They don't differentiate between the types of fish the fisherman are trying to catch and the many other creatures living in the ocean. Fishing nets are often placed between two boats and more through the water once the fish swim into them there is no escape because fish can't swim backwards.

Bottom Trawling - This uses very large fishing nets that are dragged across the ocean floor. This method of fishing can catch up to tens of hundreds of fish but once again it catches sea creatures that aren't needed. This form of fishing also greatly damages the sea floor.

Blast Fishing - In deep waters fishermen use dynamite to kill fish, after they set off the dynamite the fishermen wait for the fish to rise up to the surface. This type of fishing is the method of fishing which causes major damage to coral reefs and the ocean floor. It is very handy for catching fish but just like bottom trawls it kills too many fish.

Drop Lines- These are a safer form of fishing because it limits the number of fish caught.

Another problem in recent years is that technology has advanced the fishing industry. Boats no longer need to report to port regularly because there has been the creation of factory boats. These boats have the ability to stay out at sea for months at a time. They can catch, tin or freeze fish and only need to return to port when they can no longer hold any more fish.

 The facts show there is only about 50 years of fish left in the sea. If we keep fishing at our current rate  there will  be a massive drop in the sea population in about only 10 years time. Overfishing has effects on the current fish population but it also upsets the whole sea ecosystem. When we overfish or nearly remove one species the other species in that fishes food chain are affected.

Most current commerical techniques of fishing are quite harsh on the environment. To ensure the survival of all sea species we need to be careful because soem to the most affective commerical fishing methods cause too much damage. Imagine if  blast fishing was the cause of the Great Barrier Reef ’s extinction. Quotas also need to be introduced to limit how many fish can be caught.  More research needs to be conducted on how fisherman can be sure they are catching fish of the required size and species so that we aren't killing unusuable sea creatures.

Sources: 

Encarta Kids, Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overfishing), 

'Overfishing - Fact sheet' http://www.ypte.org.uk/docs/factsheets/env_facts/overfishing.html.

'Overfishing - A Global Disaster' http://overfishing.org/pages/what_is_overfishing.php