Mar 1, 20213 min read

There's plenty of fish in the sea.....for now

Give a man a fish and you'll feed him for a day, but teach a man to fish, and he'll cause widespread ecosystem collapse and send the ocean into disrepair.

At least I think that's how the saying goes...

That is quite a catch. Photo courtesy: www.blueocean.net

Overfishing is a very real problem today. What this means essentially is that we are catching fish at a faster rate than they can replenish themselves. An easy way to think about it is like a race, where the fish has had a massive head start; but we are catching up to them and fast. Unfortunately, this is not a race we want to win.

There was a time when man's fishing capacity could never be considered as a threat to sea populations. And for a lot of people, the thought is still inconceivable; but in recent times, our technology has been advancing at breakneck pace. Boats are getting bigger and faster, fishing nets are getting bigger, better, stronger and more efficient. Thousands of fish are being scooped up in one go, multiple times per day, by one single boat. There are approximately 4.6 million fishing vessels on the seas today.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, one-third of the world's assessed fisheries are currently pushed beyond their biological limits, meaning that at the current pace, a complete ecosystem collapse is inevitable. Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago, Dr Keith Rowley also recently noted that overfishing was affecting the size and volume of flying fish caught in Caribbean waters. Due to a lack of regulations, other species such as conch, lobster, cod, tuna and shark are also being affected.

So we know that we're simply taking too much fish from the oceans as it is, but that's just the fish we actually mean to take. There is a whole other conversation to be had about the fish and other sea creatures that we don't mean to catch. Let's talk about bycatch.

One of these things do not belong. photo courtesy: wwf.panda.org

Bycatch

Bycatch, according to worldwildlife.org, is the capture of unwanted sea life while fishing for a different species. When fishermen go out to sea, they go fishing for a certain species, maybe one or two; perhaps more depending on the fishery. Also, the days of using a fishing rod for commercial fishing is more or less a thing of the past. Their usual method of operation is to cast a gigantic net, while trawling the ocean, capturing any and everything in their path. As a result of this, turtles, dolphins, sharks, seabirds, seals and young fish with little commercial value are scooped up accidently as the vessel passes.

It may be hours before the crew on board attempt to sort through the vast catch, and of course, by that time, all those creatures are long dead or dying. There body will then be tossed back into the ocean like garbage. Imagine for every tuna fish caught, a turtle and a baby salmon are caught with it. So not only is the tuna population depleted and overfished but the salmon and turtle populations are also taking a hit simultaneously. According to some global estimates, bycatch may account for about 40% of the world's catch, totaling a whopping 63 billion pounds per year.

At this rate, this Washington Post article claiming that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish, doesn't sound so far-fetched. Not just because of the rate that plastic is going in, but the rate that fish are coming out. That's the often overlooked side of the equation.

yeah I wouldn't be so happy about this either

Some effects of overfishing may include but not limited to:

Removal of essential predators leading to imbalanced ecosystems
Poor Coral reef health
Growth of Algae
Threat to Local food sources
Financial Losses

See more about the effects of overfishing here.

Conclusion

There absolutely needs to be stricter regulations and guidelines when it comes to our oceans. Things like fishing seasons (similar to hunting seasons) could be implemented to allow the marine life to regenerate, while ensuring a steady supply for future generations. Our fishing practices also needs to change if we have are to have any hope of a prosperous future in the sea.

Bycatch cannot be overlooked anymore. Trawling the ocean with huge nets is not sustainable in the slightest, and to add insult to injury, those fishing nets account for up to 50% of ocean plastic. I always used to wonder how supermarket shelves had so much canned tuna; so its no surprise to see several tuna species on this list of the most threated fish species. Recently, a marine fish has even gone completely extinct. It is not at all far-fetched to reason that more may follow.

We have to educate ourselves and make smarter consumer choices, as we all can play a part in the conservation of the marine life and the overall health of our oceans.