Oceanic Fish Crisis

The concern for the decreasing fish populations have been increasing over the past four plus years. From small pole-and-line boats to massive industrial movers, all (oceanic) fishing boats are contributing the the decline in fish populations. The overfishing of the oceans will leave parts of the world that depend on fishing for food and for economic stability standing on a presipist. But that’s not only the problem. There’s a common misconception that a pound of fish is just a pound if fish, but every fish is different and every fish occupies a different niche. Therefore, a pound of swordfish is not the same as a pound of tuna. The overfishing of different fish populations that is currently ongoing may make it so there will not be sustainable seafood harvesting by the year 2048.

All around the world fishing is going on, and it’s most certainly not a new thing. However, there is one “new” thing that is grabbing people’s attention: overfishing. The overfishing of our waters is pulling up over around 170 billion pounds (77.9 million metric tons) of fish in just one year. New technology, and new ways of capturing fish have made it easier for fisheries to make millions of dollars. Many believe that the reason why so many fish are being pulled in is because of big fishery managers wanting nothing but more money. If this problem is not sorted out quickly there could be serious downfalls.

Some fishery managers claim that the mass quantity fishing has been coming in steady for the past 10 years. But a continuing study conducted by Daniel Pauly in affiliation with Enric Sala states that the mass-hunted fishing, also called the world catch by fishery managers, game is not stable nor divided evenly among the world nations. But that’s not even the main problem. The problem is that the public assumes that the amount of fish captured is the only impact on the sea life. "The problem is, every fish is different," Pauly says. "A pound of tuna represents roughly a hundred times the footprint of a pound of sardines." Thus, the very broad quantity of fish reeled in not the only factor of declining fish populations, but also the types of fish being captured.

The worrying reality of this overfishing problem is that our seafood supplies may be gone by the year 2048. If seafood populations around coastlines are gone then we can assume these parts of the world will economically be at a standstill, plus the food which these places thrive and live off would be gone. Moreover, if fish populations decrease so much that there’s nothing left to fish then, by the domino effect, the world’s economy would go down the drain. If the sustainable seafood supplies are gone that does not only effect humans, but it effects the oceanic life as a whole. If all the predators are gone, then there would be more consumer fish and by default, too many consumer fish means not enough food to consume. By the domino effect again, all of our oceans will be effected greatly, and most certainly not in a good way.

The overall impact of overfishing could be devastating. Coastline economies would go down in flames, marine ecosystems would be destroyed, and people who survive off of fish, and other marine animals, may starve. If we can inform the public, and fishery managers for that matter, that it’s not simply the whole amount of fish that are being reeled in but the types of fish that are being reeled in maybe we could stop this whole mess. But if we cannot do so, the oceans will suffer greatly and so will towns and cities of the coastlines. Planet Earth will suffer if we do not clean up our fishing.