Overfishing JUNE 2014 | Page 4

Humans have reserved 98.4% of the world’s oceans and left 1.6% protected from forms of habitat destruction and 90% of that “protected” land can be fished[1] while 5% of the world’s land is protected from clear cutting and poaching[2]. Some of the greatest issues the ocean faces are caused by unsustainable fishing practices. This results in the overfishing and habitat degradation of the oceans. The species of fish desired by humans like salmon, tuna, and cod along with the bycatch (Sharks, sea turtles, dolphins, etc.) are undergoing rapid decline as a consequence of overfishing. A lack of regulation by countries around the world has allowed for big fishing corporations to take over local and global markets for fish, nearly destroying smaller scale fisheries. The environmental issues are astonishing and it’s a problem that is dealt with along borders instead of globally which has impeded efforts to solve the problem. The main issues with overfishing are unsustainable practices, lack of regulation, and economic inequality. The economic inequality allows bigger corporations to take advantage of smaller scale fisheries by lowering prices. Also giant fishing corporations rule worldwide fishing production and are extremely competitive and aggressive towards smaller scale fisheries. This is because these industrial titans of the fishing industry have greater influence in governments and have favorable subsidies. Those two things give the bigger fisheries significant advantages over smaller fisheries. Now there have been some regulations but few have made a lasting impact on overfishing. The U.N. in 1992 did make a ban on drift nets longer than 1.6 miles in international waters which has reduced the use of this tactic. But the following of this ban is voluntary not mandatory meaning countries with great fishing industries such as Iceland and Japan might not follow it[3].