"Theres enough on this plant for everyones needs but not for everyones greeds"- Mahtma Ghandi
Overfishing is the practice of harvesting unsustainable levels of fish (or shellfish, crustaceans, etc.). This first started to occur in the 1950's and '60's, due in large part to the advance in technologies allowing fishermen to locate large schools of fish, to range farther from shore, and stronger machines allowing fishermen to have larger and heavier catches.The consequences of overfishing are severe, and could be considered one of the biggest threats economically, socially, and environmentally.Overfishing makes it so there is not enough fish to sustain future generations, and most fish populations are beginning to collapse. Once a local stock of fish has been overharvested, fishers can either find an exploitable population top fishing. This can not occur because you cannot run a linear system of consumption, from harvesting to waste, on a finite planet. Overfishing also has many ripple effects which are just as severe. One example of this occurring is with sharks, rays, and scallops on the Atlantic coast of America. When overfishing of sharks occurs, it allows their prey species or rays to have a much bigger population. The rays then consume much more scallops, and then the scallop industry would collapse. Overfishing can change ecosystems dramatically – and this has direct impacts on our economy and diet. Over the last few centuries, global consumption of fish has been rapdily increasing as the population is rapdily gorwing and people in developing countires rely on meat for a source of protein. The issue is that We are surpassing the fishes sustainable yield which has caused 70% of the fisheries to be degraded or completely collapsed (Pepgin, 2007)
90% of large predatory fish stocks are gone forever (Pepgin, 2007)
In 1990, we had 6 times more fish in the ocean then 2009. The worlds industrial dfishing fkeets have tried to reach the increasing demand for seafood, and the ocean itslef cannot meet these demands.
Overfishing has many points and is tied to many aseocts of our life. Mainly, overfishing is exceeding how much fish can be caught while still leaving enough for the next generation to replenish themselves, and this is an unsutainable use of the oceans.
Overfishing - a global crisis