Presentation revolved around the causes, effects and solutions to overfishing.
Causes:
Overcapacity
Small mesh nets
Drift nets
Technological advances
Poor government regulation
LEDCs are less equipped to impose fishing laws
Wasteful practices e.g. shark finning and manta ray lung extraction.
Rapid population growth results in increased demand for fish, especially in countries where fish is a major part of the diet e.g Japan
Increased demand and dwindling fish stocks results in higher prices which provides a greater profit motive for fishermen to maximize their catch
Cultural practices such as Japanese dolphin killing festival and Danish whaling.
Effects:
Dwindling fish stocks can result in shortages of food
Turtles, dolphins and seals can get caught in nets
Coral is damaged from nets and anchors
Certain species are at the brink of extinction such as the blue fin tuna
Many organisms are discarded
Sharks and mantas are only caught for a small piece of their body, the rest is thrown back into the ocean, and is not economically efficient
Small bait fish that are caught in nets are also discarded
Leads to imbalance in ecosystem as large pelagic species are targeted and organismal populations at lower trophic levels increase
Solutions:
Govt intervention such as marine reserves
Limit the amount of catch through fishing quotas
Make fishing seasonal and prohibit it during the breeding season to allow populations to recover
Ban illegal fishing practices such as the use of mesh and drift nets
Increase awareness on sustainable fishing and provide fishermen with incentives for sustainable fishing
Alternative fishing practices for subsistence level such as spearfishing
Increase recreational fishing in terms of tag and release and use the revenue to fund conservation
Have organizations to enforce fishing laws such as marine park rangers or the coast guard
