The End of Abundance: The Impact of Overfishing on Oceans

In recent years, overfishing the world’s oceans has significantly faced numerous issues such as socially, environmentally and economically. highlights that the amount of marine animals has decreased by half since 1970. For the purpose of this essay, overfishing may be referred to as an excessive catch of fish in the ocean. The overfishing is the aim for this essay where some explanation of several substantial problems of overfishing the world’s oceans are shared. The various reasons for the major problems of overfishing the world’s oceans include; depletion of fish stocks, the socio-economic effect, and destruction of the ecosystem.

Firstly, the depletion of fish stocks is one reason why overfishing has become a major problem globally. Overfishing has caused several marine species to be nearly or fully at risk of becoming extinct. It is estimated that 37 marine species are threatened to extinction and 14 are nearly threatened in the South of Angola to the North of Mauritania. For example, the West African waters are most beneficial for fishing due to being one of the most reproductive areas in the world. On the West and Central Coast of Africa, there are a variety of endangered species found such as Osteichthyes, Madeiran Sardine and Cassava Croaker. Osteichthyes are also known as ‘bony fish’ which has a total of 1,288 fish that are generally located on the West Coast of Africa. In addition, in the last decade, there has been a reduction of 30%- 60% of Cassava Croakers because of overfishing. This result indicates that unsustainable fishing has caused a substantial reduction in the number of fish over the past few years and therefore, has led a few species to be endangered. Besides, mentions that 30% of fish are depleted. To further illustrate this, data collected by, more than 70% of fish are already exploited or depleted. Moreover, due to technology advancement, commercial fishermen have used a ‘purse seining’ as a method to catch a large number of bluefin tuna along with a ship. As the net catches a large amount of fish at once, there are several other species that are included. For this reason, unwanted species are killed and hence disregarded in the ocean. emphasizes that seine fishing strongly affects the process of reproducing tuna and leads to depletion. Therefore, continuous unregulated and illegal fishing methods significantly further impacts the excessive depletion of fish stocks in the future.

Secondly, the effect on socio-economic is another reason why overfishing has critically become a major problem worldwide. The impact on socio-economic refers to the daily consumption for survival and the source of income earned through fishing. However, as overfishing gradually continues, there will be no fish available to supply for daily consumption and income. According to the, fish is an important part of a regular diet particularly in South East Asia and Africa as it contains 50% of the proteins needed by an adult. Research by points out that fish helps to provide energy, proteins, and prevention of nutrient deficiencies. As a result, the consumption of fish is a vital part of a daily consistent healthy diet. Besides, overfishing will cause less supply of fish to be consumed which could potentially cause suffer from malnutrition, in particular with children . For example, the consumption of fish was 9.0kg per capita in 1961 and has risen to 20.2kg as of 2015. The amount of fish consumption per capita increases by 1.5% yearly. This is further supported by, in 2016, 151 out of 171 million tonnes of fish are directly consumed. As a result, fish are highly dependant as part of a day to day consumption. Additionally, highlights that termination of overfishing would help to reduce unemployment by providing 300,000 jobs in the West of Africa. Hence, it seems to suggest that an unending conduct of overfishing can crucially affect society and the economy.

Lastly, the destruction of the ecosystem is another important reason why overfishing has become a major problem over the past few years. The marine mammals are dependant upon each other in order to flourish. However, the marine biodiversity and ecosystem is remarkably affected as a result of overfishing. According to researchers conducted from , preyed mammals such as coral trout, snapper and emperor fish play an important role in preserving an equitable ecosystem. This is further supported by emphasize that overfishing has impacted the coral reefs and ecosystem as well as destroy the food web. For example, research conducted shows one type of fish known as ‘Parrotfish’ which contributes a part to the ecosystem. It is a coral predator and bioeroder found in the Indo-Pacific reefs and acknowledged to as one of the first species to suffer from depletion as a result of overfishing. As a result of overfishing, the species are significantly affected and cause destruction to the ecosystem. Furthermore, mentions that the decreased amount of tuna could affect the food web as they are both predator and prey. Tuna consumes smaller and boneless type of fish. Also, tuna are a source of food for larger marine species including sharks and whales. However, as tuna suffers from depletion and overexploitation, the food web is crucially affected and the marine species that is dependant for consumption. Hence, from the research conducted and observed, it seems to suggest that overfishing can destroy the ecosystem and coral reefs and disrupt the food web.

In conclusion, this essay has explained the three main reasons why overfishing the world’s oceans have several significant problems to be highly considered. The first reason is unsustainable fishing could cause loss of fish in the ocean. Secondly, loss of fish species crucially impacts the society that is highly dependant on living and monthly earnings. Lastly, overall, the reduction of fish species affects the ecosystem and the food chain. Hence, out of all the reasons stated, the depletion of fish stocks is the most important of all because it severely impacts the society, economy and the environment. Also, the depletion of fish stocks should be further taken into consideration as the continuous of overfishing could lead to potential destruction to the world as an overall.