Wk 6 Assignment - Paper on Declining Fish Stock
One of the water source problems is the big fishing fleets have wiped out the ocean of 90% of big fish. There was a 10 year study that showed that there are plenty of the fish in the sea. However, the biggest fish have been pulled from the ocean; leaving around 10% of big fish still in the ocean. This is a challenge that is bringing competition amongst fishermen like never before.
A scientist by the name of Jackson states the ocean is not equipped to have continued hunting and gathering at the level we have been fishing. The level we have been fishing is creating a decline amongst species across the ocean. This is not the only problem that is becoming a reality. He and a team of scientist have been apart of a two year study that identified over fishing adds more destructive to the ocean than toxic pollution or degrading water quality. The damage to the ocean is almost close to being complete; however, Jackson believes that the damage that has been done is reversible. The only way to make this reversible is to drastically cut over fishing. I believe like we have protected some land to remain untouched, there needs to be areas in the ocean that there is no fishing in anyway allowed. This is indeed a huge task and I am not exactly sure how the ocean could be policed, but this is something that should occur.
The management and sustainment plan that I think would benefit both sides is to fist cut down on some of the over fishing. I know this is a far fetched idea, but it could be of great benefit if some of the fishermen were taking on by some of the scientist as consultants of the ocean and marine life to help with their studies and reports. This would cut down on some of the over fishing as well as help the fishermen continue to provide for themselves and their family. I do not believe merely kicking fishermen out of parts of the ocean is the remedy, but something most certainly needs to be done and taken care of in an urgent way. Also, there should be some type
A scientist by the name of Jackson states the ocean is not equipped to have continued hunting and gathering at the level we have been fishing. The level we have been fishing is creating a decline amongst species across the ocean. This is not the only problem that is becoming a reality. He and a team of scientist have been apart of a two year study that identified over fishing adds more destructive to the ocean than toxic pollution or degrading water quality. The damage to the ocean is almost close to being complete; however, Jackson believes that the damage that has been done is reversible. The only way to make this reversible is to drastically cut over fishing. I believe like we have protected some land to remain untouched, there needs to be areas in the ocean that there is no fishing in anyway allowed. This is indeed a huge task and I am not exactly sure how the ocean could be policed, but this is something that should occur.
The management and sustainment plan that I think would benefit both sides is to fist cut down on some of the over fishing. I know this is a far fetched idea, but it could be of great benefit if some of the fishermen were taking on by some of the scientist as consultants of the ocean and marine life to help with their studies and reports. This would cut down on some of the over fishing as well as help the fishermen continue to provide for themselves and their family. I do not believe merely kicking fishermen out of parts of the ocean is the remedy, but something most certainly needs to be done and taken care of in an urgent way. Also, there should be some type
References: Zeller, F. (2008). Overfishing spells disaster. Retrieved from http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_2304032,00.html National Coalition for Marine Conservation. (n.d.). THE THREATS TO OUR OCEAN FISHERIES: Overfishing, Bycatch and Marine Habitat Loss. Retrieved from http://www.savethefish.org/about_ocean_fisheries_overfishing.htm