Fishing Causes Trouble: The Ecological Impact of Overfishing

Fishing can be a sport, a way of finding food, or a hobby. An average person fishing may not harm multiple ecosystems, but corporates and industries catch too many fish for us to eat, which causes the phenomenon known as overfishing. Stated by World Wildlife Fund, "Catching fish is not inherently bad for the ocean, except for when vessels catch fish faster than stocks can replenish, something called overfishing". Even though fisheries try to catch specific fish in the wild, they may end up catching other marine creatures by accident. One way this could happen is by using large fishing nets, which can capture many fishes at a time, even ones that may want to be kept in the ocean.

Fishing Nets Can Become Out of Control (Credit to 4ocean) . NOAA Overfishing Infographic (Credit to NOAA)

What Causes Overfishing?

There are many things that cause overfishing but one of them, which was mentioned earlier, was the use of large fishing nets which are effective at catching a lot of fish at once, but can sometimes catch too much or non-consumed marine life. Overfishing is also caused by the high demand that us humans put on fisheries. The industrial fisheries have to keep up with their supply in order to make enough money and in order to feed us humans with enough fish. Also, as time goes on, better equipment which is suited for mass fishing is optimized, which can cause more overfishing. Modern fishing technology allows fisheries to catch more fish more efficiently and in some cases, with fewer costs. 

How Does It Effect Ecosystems?

Overfishing has large effects on ecosystems and biodiversity. Overfishing can remove different species off food chains and webs and wipe them out of their ecosystem. Overfishing destroys fish populations and if these fish populations are keystone species in an ecosystem, then overfishing can link to the demise of said ecosystem. As more populations of fishes get turned into food, in their habitats, there will be less diversity because a whole species which may lead to different species are wiped out and gone. Other fishing methods can also damage or rupture habitats. A main example is when coral reefs or other underwater structures get hit by modern fishing methods. This leads to shelter destruction for other populations or species which can cause less biodiversity since they are at risk of going extinct from their habitat. Overfishing also is an example of genetic drift which causes random fish of random ages to be caught and served in these fishing nets. Some of the fish caught could be young fish which are needed to replenish the population. When overfishing occurs too much, juvenile fish will get caught more and since they get caught, they cannot sustain and breed in order to save their population.

Can We Make A Difference?

Even though we may be the reason why overfishing is needed on our planet, we can still make small changes that can help relieve the negative effects it has. A way that citizens can help with the solution is to eat fish that is less important or abundant in ecosystems such as sardines. The government can also make a change by forcing fisheries to follow strict guidelines and rules to protect different species of fish and different ecosystems. Marine Protected Areas are implemented to relieve the damage from overfishing in specific areas. 

In the end, fishing is still fine to do for recreational purposes or for sports, but mass fishing is not good but it can be prevented as time goes on as long as the government, fisheries, and us make changes in order to protect our ocean friends.