Commercial fishing is the catching oF fish and other seafood for commercial profit on in the marketplace. It is the source of a large amount of food to many countries, but those who practise it as an industry are now being forced to fish farther out into the ocean under adverse conditions.
Once a profitable business, the major fishing industries are owned by major corporations that make it difficult for smaller, family-run companies to compete with. Therefore, the fishing industry has had to adapt over the years in order for everyone to maintain a reasonable living but not necessarily make a large profit. The adaptability of fishermen and their methods has caused some concern amongst fishery managers and researchers, who believe that the sustainability of the marine ecosystems could be in danger of being ruined.
Carl Safina, the author of Article 1 believed that management techniques should change from having a focus on ‘how much can we take?’ to ‘how much must we leave?’ This would encourage more fish to be left in the sea and help prevent the overfishing of popular species such as tuna, cod and salmon.
Also, Safina mentions that a lack of communication between scientists and the fisheries has meant that safe practises to sustain current fish populations have not been completed. A focus on better statistics and scientific research would encourage commercial fishing to leave more fish in the sea to reproduce, and would help to enforce the policing of illegal fishing.
On the other hand, Daniel Pauly believes that humans have already destroyed our fish stocks in an unsustainable manner. Due to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, countries became able to fish up to 200 metres out to sea which decreased fighting over the traditional fishing ground. This led to an increased interest in the fish market and consequently over-fishing.
As the fishing industry still continues to over-fish their stock,