Naked Science Forum

Life Sciences => Marine Science => Topic started by: steph_c on 05/04/2013 02:05:15

Title: How is overfishing affecting the world?
Post by: steph_c on 05/04/2013 02:05:15

I am a year 12 student studying the SACE subject Research Project. I currently attend Saint Ignatius College in Australia. The research project allows students to undertake research in their area of interest and then present a research outcome, the topic I have chosen to research is over fishing.
The survey is only 9 questions (multiple choice) all repsonses are greatly appreciated.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Y3NJBMG

If you have any personal knowledge on the topic, it will be a great help if you shared it with me.

Thanks everyone

Title: Re: Overfishing affecting the world
Post by: evan_au on 05/04/2013 08:42:45

Politicians bow to the wishes of the fishermen for a short-term gain in popularity. But if you ignore the science, you end up with a total collapse of the fishery, such as happened with Cod in Canada. This causes far more damage to the fishermen than a slight restriction of fishing at an earlier date.

At present in Europe, the politicians are listening more to the fishermen than the scientists - which may produce the same fate.

In some parts of the world, the fish which kept jellyfish under control have been overfished, allowing jellyfish to dominate the marine ecosystem. In this environment, it is hard to see how fish can easily come back, since young fish will be eaten by the jellyfish before they can breed. This is a "tipping point" in the ecosystem.

Maybe we should learn to enjoy eating jellyfish? (I have eaten jellyfish as a component of some Korean dishes...)

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse_of_the_Atlantic_northwest_cod_fishery

All the best with your assignment!

Title: Re: Overfishing affecting the world
Post by: imatfaal on 05/04/2013 10:40:06

Good luck with your project. 

Title: Re: Overfishing affecting the world
Post by: steph_c on 15/04/2013 14:59:24

Thank you for your time and opinions

Title: Re: Overfishing affecting the world
Post by: CliffordK on 16/04/2013 20:50:25

Keep in mind that it is not just the fishermen, but also the market pressures on the seafood.
If nobody bought the fish, then there wouldn't be any fishing.

After closing the fishing in parts of the Gulf of Mexico for about 2 years, the many fishermen had a greater than normal catch. 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-19/gulf-fisheries-rebounding-from-bp-spill-government-says.html

Although, apparently the fishing varied significantly by the area. 

There are, of course, different levels of fish farming.  One level would be raising fish up to a certain size in hatcheries, then releasing them for further growth.  Another option is growing them to adult size in aquariums, or sea pens. 

Apparently removing the competition, or "survival of the fittest" from the equation causes the hatchery stock to become much weaker than the native wild fish.

And, there is always the risk of breeding diseases in captivity, and allowing the diseases to escape into the wild population.

Title: Re: How is overfishing affecting the world?
Post by: yor_on on 23/04/2013 20:50:49

You may consider how you set the questions, leaving some room for individual approaches to what may change the prognosis. It's really a complicated subject, differing from country to country, and none of the exact same political and commercial interest :) although all want their own territorial waters to contain food fish. It's easier if you just consider in commercially, but then you have illegal fishing to consider, and those fishing outside countries unable to protect their rights the way a modern well-weaponed state can, and sometimes will.