Samuel Lipot

ENGL 301
Dr. Leslie Bruce
November 11, 2015
Risks of Overfishing
Overfishing has become a problem that has been accruing over decades of mismanaged
fisheries and needs to stop now. To start it affects ecosystems in more ways than we can imagine,
proving not only that we have a problem to solve but how far our own ignorance truly takes us.
Especially the damage that it has done both directly and indirectly to other species in the
ecosystems. Even with the help and knowledge of scientists and legislators, even with legislation
in place we still have a difficult time listening to what they have to say and acting sensibly. It
achieved such devastation right under our noses, even when the information lay but a click away
on computer. A minute to learn what damage weve caused. But I also understand that some
people are fishermen for a living and they take care of their family by doing so and I can respect
that while others fish for fun and enjoy their time out in the water, but illegal fishing has played a
huge role in the damage that has been done. I respect everyones personal choices, but these
choices cant cause irreparable damage for everyone else the way overfishing does.
The definition of overfishing is when more fish are caught than the population can
replace through natural production (Overfishing, 2015). This means we must be conscious
regarding ecosystems of marine life because they are drastically affected through the rise and/or
drop of predators and prey. In most cases the predators become depleted, such as the case of the
Bluefin tuna, which leads to an abundance of their prey, in this case sardines (Overfishing,
2015). One severe case occurred in Canada in 1992 when decades of overfishing and fishery

mismanagement caused the disappearance of the cod when the fishing season started and
resulted in almost 40,000 people losing their jobs (Why is overfishing a problem, 2015). Now
people there can only make a living off of fishing crab, an animal once considered a problem
(Why is overfishing a problem, 2015). While on the other side if the predators food supply is
fished it will cause them die from starvation depleting their population, making both fishing the
predator and prey both unideal situations. As well, when one species gets close to depletion
fishers often start fishing other species, only causing more harm by removing a majority of that
species population (Why is overfishing a problem, 2015). Another problem we need to realize is
that if we continue at these rates well run out of fish to catch losing a prized food source giving
us a selfish reason to quit overfishing. What would happen if the same thing that occurred in
Canada in 1992 happened everywhere again and again until not even crabs nor smaller fish nor
anything else was left to catch? We would begin to slowly run out of our first choices of fish.
Then the second. Then the third, and on and on until ecosystems start dying and whole species
become extinct.
Other species besides smaller fish and crabs have also been heavily affected by
overfishing, both directly and indirectly. Animals such as sea turtles, whales, crocodiles, codfish,
rays, other large marine vertebrates, oysters, pearls, and other marine invertebrates have rapidly
been decreasing (Jackson, 2001, p. 629). There have been three periods of human impact on
marine life: aboriginal, colonial, and global (Jackson, 2001, p. 630). Aboriginal was when
humans had relatively simple watercrafts and fishing technologies and was extensively nearshore fishing (Jackson, 2001, p. 630). Colonial use includes systematic exploitation and
depletion of coastal and shelf seas (Jackson, 2001, p. 630). Global use involves more advanced
techniques that allows for greater exploitation and exhaustion of fisheries (Jackson, 2001, p.

630). By acknowledging these three periods of fishing where humans slowly developed near the
ocean we are able to look at the historical features and changes as fishing grew and humans
made stronger impacts on ecosystems (Jackson, 2001, p. 630). Concurringly, there are three main
aspects to overfishing. The first being any human interference or introduction including
pollution, physically destroying habitats, spread of disease, introducing new species to an
ecosystem, etc. (Jackson, 2001, p. 635). Secondly, that overfishing is often a part of a new
species being introduced into an environment (Jackson, 2001, p. 635). Meaning that in order to
survive humans who traveled from Europe to the Americas had to create structures to live in and
had to catch food to eat which meant they removed creatures to make space for themselves and
then took food that other creatures would usually eat. Lastly, changes in climate are an after
effect of changes in a rapid expansion of a species into a new ecosystem along with removal of
predators and better transportation allows for more exploitation (Jackson, 2001, p. 635). All of
these historical and continuous effects create difficulties and risks on ecosystems.
With all these risks in fish populations, and with such an enormous negative outcome,
researchers began looking at fisheries. Overfished fisheries account for about 80% of all fisheries
in the world (Why is overfishing a problem, 2015). Some better understood fisheries in the
United States, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries have looked into or adopted
regulations that set the default fishing rates at 75% of the maximum sustainable yield (MSY)
which would be reasonable standard considering that 100% MSY would be an absolute perfect
and ideal situation where every eggs becomes a fish and the perfect amount of fish is caught
every time (Pikitch, 2012, p. 474). This approach also helps to look at the whole ecosystem
opposed to just one type of fish because the outcome of one fish affects the entire ecosystem.
However, in fisheries with low information the Lenfest Forage Fish Task Force advises that

catches be cut in half of the guided fishing recommendations, to be safe instead of sorry (Pikitch,
2012, p. 474). Some even argued for a shift in the proof of burden for fisheries which would
require a demonstration that there would be no significant impact before anyone could fish there
(Pikitch, 2012, p. 474). Though this step seems unnecessary and wasteful, it helps to gather a
census about whether fisheries are able to provide the amount of fish that wont harm whichever
ecosystem is being fished in, this is especially important because overfishing can take centuries
to fully appear.
Though overfishing seems as if it snuck up on us, it has accrued over many decades and
many legislative changes have been made since 1976 to protect fisheries (Methot, R., Tromble,
G., Lambert, D., & Greene, K., 2013, p. 183). Implementation of these legislations was
necessary even to the point where it was necessary to determine and define the difference
between overfishing and overfished. Overfishing, as previously defined, is when fish are being
fished too quickly for them to reproduce, while overfished is stating the fish population is
already too low for more fishing to occur before extinction (Methot, R., 2013, p. 184). As of now
7% of fish are overfished (including Bluefin tuna, the yellowfin tuna, and the albacore tuna)
while only 1% of that is recovering from being overfished (Why is overfishing a problem, 2015).
This explains that the enormous amount of fish humans are used to eating is almost gone, and if
we move to catching smaller fish well need to catch more of them to fit the same amount the
bigger fishes filled until the smaller fish become overfished. But even after that overfishing can
occur time and time again until we are finally left with no fish.
Fishing is considered a popular hobby as well a classic and industrial occupation making
more and more legislations seem detrimental to both. While this seems like one of the worst
thing fishermen and fishing enthusiasts could hear, the worst thing to discover would be that they

have to change jobs and their lives because fishing is impossible. Even scientists agree that if the
fishing rate is kept, in 25 years many important subpopulations of fish will be gone (Why is
overfishing a problem, 2015). However, many fishers understand the need to regulate fishing and
decrease the amount of overfishing and illegal fishing in order to sustain their occupation and
enable them to continue to support their families (Overfishing, 2015). Illegal fishing is the
fishing activities by foreign vessels without permission in waters belonging to another state or
that disregard its fisheries laws and regulations. This occurs in national and international waters
from small scale to large corporations acting illegally and catching approximately 20% of the
worlds catch and can account for up to 50% of catches in some fisheries (Overfishing, 2015). In
total the products of pirate fishing is roughly estimated to be between $10-23.5 billion each year
(Overfishing, 2015). By even reducing the amount of illegal fishing that occurs we can better
assess and correct the damage that has been done helping ecosystems to flourish again and
allowing better fishing for those who fish as their occupation or for hobbyists who fish properly.
Though overfishing has been and remains a massive problem, we can still fix a majority
of the damage weve done and by following regulations in place. We must realize how much
damage we can do by overfishing a species such as the Bluefin tuna or even how much it affects
the ecosystem when a predator is overfished and new species take place in the food chain or if
smaller species begin to overbreed. Also, how much of an affect humans have had on ecosystems
through our development of fishing we have slowly been able to fish more and more abusing our
development of technology at the cost of marine ecosystems. Concurringly, how fishermen need
to follow regulations put in place to better control how ecosystems thrive and populate which
will enable future fishing. By following these we should be able to bring overfished species back
from near extinction and with enough time even allow for much greater fishing possibilities in

the future. But the biggest uncontrollable factor is the illegal fishing that occurs, and though it is
difficult to control illegal fishing better regulations and more severe regulations may become to
solution to this problem. Hopefully, with enough time, overfishing will only be a problem of the
past and a fear we wont have to feel again.

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