Overfishing causes the depletion in the stock of fish in a body of water due to too much fishing. This real world has comes down to two serious problems. First, the ecosystem inbalance as the result of the overall ecological unity that put the oceans under stress and at risk of collapse. The second problem is ee are in risk of losing a valuable food source due to social, economical or dietary reasons.
See also:
- Endangered Species of the Ocean
- Conservation of Dolphins
- Endangered Dolphin Species
- List of Marine Invertebrates
- Major Threats to Marine Habitats
If you think overfishing is a problem that is hard to prevent, you need to make up your mind. Basically, you can do something to prevent overfishing starts from your plate. These are 15 Ways to Prevent the Overfishing that you won’t regret to know. Some of them are worth to try. Anyone can give a try anywhere anytime.
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1. Limit the catch
There must be certain limits for catching fish. The fishing vessels must follow national and local rules (bye-laws) when fishing. These rules are aimed at protecting fish stocks and making fisheries sustainable. There are some things about the local bye-laws for the area that the fishing companies need to know:
- areas in the region where they’re not allowed to fish.
- closed seasons (when they can’t fish) which apply to particular types of water and fish within the region.
- sort of tackle they can use for certain fish in their region.
- the size of fish they can keep.
This effort will succeed if any fisherman and fishing companies follow the rule. Anyway, this effort is done for everyone’s good. For area with low stock and high demands, the struggle will be
more difficult since the fishers are competing to catch as many as fish possible to get more
profit. Limiting the number will prevent the fishers to catch more than they should.
Hopefully, the fish stock number can always be under the control.
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2. Establish catch chares
Catch shares are an advanced way of managing fishing. This program gives a specific portion of the year’s overall catch limit to individual fishermen, or a group of fishermen, for their exclusive use. This way, there will be no competition among the fishermen like in the traditional fisheries management.
Catch shares commonly give more security to fishermen, allowing them to catch their portion when they want to, such as during better weather, or at more favorable times throughout the year when costs are lower or the value of fish is higher. Most of all, catch shares use a total allowable catch for a species depend on numbers that scientists believe allow the fishery to recover.
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3. Choose the right seafood
The overfishing has caused the depletion of fish stock. The number of seafood caught is very high and it’s hard to grow back the fish stock number in the water. The problem is that it’s a lot easier to catch than to reproduce. The society is barely aware that the seafood they eat is in the status of critically endangered. People seem to think that they have nothing to do to stop the fishing problem. However, they can be wise for choosing what seafood to eat
according to the fish status. Avoiding the endangered species of fish will help lower the demand and reduce the number of fish caught by the fishing companies.
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4. Ban the illegal practice
Illegal fishing practice done by the irresponsible group will only leave chaos to the ocean life. They only want to earn high profit without thinking about what will happen next. The unregistered fishing companies and the foreign fishing vessels are in charge for this illegal practice. They do not follow the rule and run their practice undercover. It’s such a shame that the abundant fish numbers underwater drop rapidly while it takes long for the species to reproduce. If the illegal practice keeps going, there will be a mess that is hard to control. Combating this crime will help the fishery to develop and keep the fish stock in allowable level.
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5. Create more marine protected areas
There are currently less than two percent of the world’s oceans protected in marine parks; and less than one percent of the oceans are protected from any kind of fishing. There should be more no-catch zones to allow fish populations and their ecosystems to recover and replenish themselves to ensure fishing for future generations.
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6. Conserve the endemic species
Every sea has its endemic species. These species are vulnerable for getting caught by the fishing companies since they are unique and can’t be found somewhere else. These species are worth the high price due to the high demands for the rarity. Conserving the endemic species of a certain area will help the species to survive and grow. The conservation groups take the role of monitoring the species growth and put the effort to maintain the species to live under the healthy level. This will help the fish stock number remains stable.
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7. Protect the endangered species
When the fish stock number decrease rapidly, some species can become endangered because
they can’t replenish their populations. Some species lose their preys and unable to survive. Before the whole populations underwater end up being histories in the encyclopedia, it’s very crucial to protect the endangered species to save them from the extinction. However, how does the protection can prevent the overfishing? The conservation status of a species depends on the number left in nature. If the fish species are under the control, their numbers are always being observed. So, if there is any change in their number, it will be easier to spot it. There will be no opportunity for the overfishing because the fish stock numbers are always under the observation.
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8. Cut the duration of fishing seasons
Along with the catch-limit, cutting the duration of fishing seasons is the conventional way to prevent the overfishing. Making the fishing seasons shorter will hopefully give no chance for the fish-catching to be out of control cutting the fishing seasons will let the fish have more time to reproduce. To avoid the injustice for the local fishermen who
depend on fishing for living, there should be a fair regulation to allow the local communities
to earn living appropriately.
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9. No more trawling
Trawling drags huge nets through the ocean that swipe every marine creatures in its pathway, resulting in massive wasteful bycatch. Dead fish get back to the sea because they weren’t the target fish. There should be no sea life to go to waste. The exist in the water for reasons. Banning the trawling will save more life than we think it will. When there is no more trawling in the ocean, the number of caught fish can always stay under control and there will be no wasted marine life.
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10. Eat small fish, avoid big fish
Big fish are the biggest victim of the overfishing. For years, big fish like marlin, tuna, salmon and shark has lost most of their populations in the wild. Big fish are at the top of the food chain and very important for the ecosystem since they are the prey for the sharks and the other marine predator. According to fishery scientist, it’s better to eat less of the big fish and more of their prey like anchovies, herring and sardines. Consuming more small fish can rebalance the marine ecosystem and reduce the demands for big fish.
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11. Eliminate the subsidies
Scientists recommend to eliminate global subsidies to relieve the tremendous pressure on overfishing and vulnerable deep-sea ecosystems. Subsidies need to be given to the small fishermen to help them improve their prosperities.
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12. Increase the tax for huge fishing companies
Tax for the huge fishing companies must be increased. The permission for sailing and catching fish should not be easily passed. Only the legal fishing companies that have passed the verification can get the permission to catch fish.
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13. Increase the jobs
Increasing the jobs may indirectly help improving the prosperity level of the local communities. When their prosperity increases, they will have more power to take over the authority that still belongs to the foreign companies. Local fishing communities must be the one to have the bigger portion than those foreign fishing companies can take.
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14. Install public surveillance cameras
Putting the cameras around the prospective water will help monitoring the fishing vessels. There must be an assertive action to justify the illegal fishing vessels that come insight.
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15. Raise the awareness everywhere we are
Spread the words through the advertisement, newspapers, TV, radio and any other mass media to inform the society that anyone can give a hand on the overfishing prevention. The preventive lifestyle should be in the school curriculum so there won’t be any reason not to understand it earlier. Joining the environmental campaign should not be something to wait for. It’s never too late to give it a try.
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Those are 15 Ways to Prevent Overfishing that you should’ve known earlier. You can start it from yourself. A small thing can become big if we do it together. Imagine how amazing it can be if every single person in this world do something positive.
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