Overfishing the World Big Fish Population
Over Fishing the World Big Fish Population
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SCI275
Axia College of University of Phoenix
The overfishing of our world’s oceans is causing a depletion of some prize fish, such as tuna and swordfish, to the point that some scientists believe that 90% of these big fish populations have been fished out. Jeremy Jackson of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography published a study in 2001 in which he asserts that overfishing is more destructive than toxic pollution or degrading water quality (University of Phoenix, 2007). Dr. Daniel Pauly, Professor and Director of the University of British Columbia's Fisheries Centre, describes it as follow on The Overfishing.org (2007) website: “The big fish, the bill fish, the groupers, the big things will be gone. It is happening now. If things go unchecked, we’ll have a sea full of little horrible things that nobody wants to eat. We might end up with a marine junkyard dominated by plankton” (Fishing down the food web, para. 1).
Among the scientific community there is little argument on how to resolve this issue. Research has found that the situation is reversible if addressed now, but states that it will require a change in attitude in how we are using the oceans (University of Phoenix, 2007). To address this issue now, so that we may sustain the world’s big fish population for future generations, we must create a plan of action that includes the following steps (Young Peoples Trust for the Environment, n..d.).
• Begin with quotas on fish. We can base this quota on scientific estimates of which fish are the most severely depleted, and adjustments can be made to the quotas according to reassessments done every few years as we monitor the repletion of the fish populations.
• Larger nets must also be used. As the big fish population has declined, mesh size has gotten smaller. We must increase this back to the original mesh size used perhaps 40 years ago, to allow the
Insert your Name Here
SCI275
Axia College of University of Phoenix
The overfishing of our world’s oceans is causing a depletion of some prize fish, such as tuna and swordfish, to the point that some scientists believe that 90% of these big fish populations have been fished out. Jeremy Jackson of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography published a study in 2001 in which he asserts that overfishing is more destructive than toxic pollution or degrading water quality (University of Phoenix, 2007). Dr. Daniel Pauly, Professor and Director of the University of British Columbia's Fisheries Centre, describes it as follow on The Overfishing.org (2007) website: “The big fish, the bill fish, the groupers, the big things will be gone. It is happening now. If things go unchecked, we’ll have a sea full of little horrible things that nobody wants to eat. We might end up with a marine junkyard dominated by plankton” (Fishing down the food web, para. 1).
Among the scientific community there is little argument on how to resolve this issue. Research has found that the situation is reversible if addressed now, but states that it will require a change in attitude in how we are using the oceans (University of Phoenix, 2007). To address this issue now, so that we may sustain the world’s big fish population for future generations, we must create a plan of action that includes the following steps (Young Peoples Trust for the Environment, n..d.).
• Begin with quotas on fish. We can base this quota on scientific estimates of which fish are the most severely depleted, and adjustments can be made to the quotas according to reassessments done every few years as we monitor the repletion of the fish populations.
• Larger nets must also be used. As the big fish population has declined, mesh size has gotten smaller. We must increase this back to the original mesh size used perhaps 40 years ago, to allow the