5.8 Impacts of Overfishing

Fisheries & fishery collapse with economic consequences

Fisheries: pop. of fish for commercial fishing

Fishery collapse: overfishing causes 90% pop. decline in a fishery

-may never recover due to decreased biodiversity & inbreeding depression

-decreases genetic diversity, species diversity

Economic consequences: lost of income for fishermen, lost tourism dollars for communities

Bottom Trawling & Bycatch

Harmful fishing methods that drags a large net along the ocean floor

Bycatch: unintended species (dolphins whales, turtles) are caught in nets

-leads to turbidity, loss of coral reef structure, decreases biodiversity

Fishing down the food web & trophic cascade

-as we deplete fisheries, we move down to smaller fish species

-limits fishery recovery & decreases food supply of animals

N/A