Shrimping
Eating shrimp contributes to the destruction of the marine environment. By eating shrimp you are supporting the shrimping business, which is an abusive, wasteful process. The resources in the ocean are very scarce and they maintain a fragile ecosystem. As the shrimping business grows the damage to the ecosystem becomes irreversible. I am against shrimping because of the number of sea turtle deaths, the amount of bycatch caused by shrimping, and how the nets tear up the ocean floor.
Shrimping has done much damage to sea turtles and their species. There is an average of 124,000 sea turtle deaths per year due to shrimping. This is the largest threat of an endangered species. The sea turtles get caught in the nets and have no way of getting out so they die. This is a very bad system because the fishermen don’t know what they are catching in their nets. If this continues, it could drastically change the sea turtle population.
In addition to the turtles, most of what is caught in the shrimp nets is just bycatch. 5 of every 6 pounds caught is bycatch. If a fisherman catches 100 pounds of shrimp, he would have caught around 500 pounds of life that he just throws back into the ocean. Once the bycatch is thrown back, it sinks down to the benthic zone and the decomposition takes up what little oxygen the organisms have down there. This system could very well play a part in the destruction of the ocean.
The shrimping nets that drag across the sea floor completely destroy anything in their way. The shrimp trawls used are usually 30 feet wide and 4 feet tall. This does a lot of damage to the ocean. It destroys many animals’ homes and habitats. There is no way for this net to simply catch only shrimp, so it catches everything.
There is already so much damage done to the ocean such as illegal dumping, oil spills, and over fishing. To contribute to this with the shrimping business, the marine life won’t last much longer.
Shrimping has done much damage to sea turtles and their species. There is an average of 124,000 sea turtle deaths per year due to shrimping. This is the largest threat of an endangered species. The sea turtles get caught in the nets and have no way of getting out so they die. This is a very bad system because the fishermen don’t know what they are catching in their nets. If this continues, it could drastically change the sea turtle population.
In addition to the turtles, most of what is caught in the shrimp nets is just bycatch. 5 of every 6 pounds caught is bycatch. If a fisherman catches 100 pounds of shrimp, he would have caught around 500 pounds of life that he just throws back into the ocean. Once the bycatch is thrown back, it sinks down to the benthic zone and the decomposition takes up what little oxygen the organisms have down there. This system could very well play a part in the destruction of the ocean.
The shrimping nets that drag across the sea floor completely destroy anything in their way. The shrimp trawls used are usually 30 feet wide and 4 feet tall. This does a lot of damage to the ocean. It destroys many animals’ homes and habitats. There is no way for this net to simply catch only shrimp, so it catches everything.
There is already so much damage done to the ocean such as illegal dumping, oil spills, and over fishing. To contribute to this with the shrimping business, the marine life won’t last much longer.