APES Unit 5.8 Impacts of Overfishing

Practice FRQ (2 sentences minimum)

★ Propose a solution to address the issue of fishery depletion.

One method that can prevent fishery depletion are farms that increase the biodiversity of fisheries along the coast. Fishers can migrate seasonally to farm fish for a period of time before fully depleting it, and then they can move to another replenished location. This can increase fishery recovery and population growth.

Fish Consumption

• 3 million

• 20% of animal protein

  • esp. Africa + Asia

• Global production doubled after 40 yrs

Increase in Global Fish Production Causes…

1. Decrease in wild fish caught in world’s oceans

2. Rapid increase in aquaculture

   1. Farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, shellfish, and seaweeds

Fishery

Populations of fish used for commercial fishing

Fishery Collapse

Overfishing causes 90% of pop decline in fishery

• Impacts producers, transporters, merchants

Current Fishing Methods

1. Easier to catch large volumes

2. Factory ships: Processing + Freezing fish while at sea for months

3. 4/5 Methods: Nets

   • Can catch 3k adult tuna

   • 5: Very long fishing lines

Cons of Net Fishing

1. Damage ocean bottom: Scours them of coral, sea sponges, plants

   1. Keystone Species = Target Fishes: Cascading effect on marine species

Bycatch Fishing

Unintentional catch of nontarget species while fishing

1. Reduces pops: sharks, endangered animals (turtles)

   1. Small Fish Pop: Limits fishery recovery

   2. → Decreases food supply of marine animals / seabirds