Overfishing and it Effects to the Environment Essay

For the last 10 years, the world had been aware of the various changes which had been occurring within our environment. It is known to us that the actions which our ancestors had done in the past have now caused us many problems such as global disasters that could truly ruin the future of the next generation. In the event of the problem of climate change (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005), various things had come up such as pollution of the air and various water resources. Due to this, different aspect of the environment is deeply affected and sometimes devastated because of the scenarios present. For many people who live in a place where in fishing is their main industry, it is immediately declared that their primary source of income is directly affected by the harsh conditions of the changing weather brought by climate change. Although it is true the climate change is affecting the waters which is one of the main source of our resources, it could not be hidden that the individuals who are directly involved in the industry are also to be blamed to the catastrophe in the water industry. In the waters, one of the main problems which are faced by the industries is the lessening of the fishes in the see. One of the main culprits of this issue is the over fishing of various fishermen who are connected to the huge companies. Over fishing had been a main concern for various non-governmental organizations such that of the Green Peace. It was said by the respectful environmental group that â€Å"over-exploitation and mismanagement of fisheries has already led to some spectacular fisheries collapses. The cod fishery off Newfoundland, Canada collapsed in 1992, leading to the loss of some 40,000 jobs in the industry. The cod stocks in the North Sea and Baltic Sea are now heading the same way and are close to complete collapse† (Green Peace, 2008). Even before human beings have discovered new technologies, it is known that fishes are the main source of food for many. Based on various historical books such as the Bible, fish was the main commodity for the people in order for them to eat. As years gone by, more and more people are inclined to get more fish in order for them to gain income to provide their families. Various innovations and technological advancements were also used to increase the number of catch due to the increasing number of demand for fish. Based on the studies made by the Green Peace and their team of scientists it was stated that overfishing truly is causing a grave danger for the marine life and diversity of our oceans. Most of the fishermen who have the capacity to catch enough fish are those that utilize nets which are not suited to legally catch fish. Many of the fishermen use nets which has smaller holes which do not allow the smaller fishes to escape. This type of scenario happens most of the time, therefore the young fishes were not given a chance to grow and be mature enough to be caught. Through the Young People’s Trust for the Environment, types of events happen due to commercial fishing. There are various techniques that are done by fishermen in order for them to capture various kinds of fishes. There are fishes which are called â€Å"pelagic† meaning they live within the upper parts of the water making them the most accessible fishes to be caught by fishing nets which are connected to the gigantic ships that fishermen use. It is stated that, â€Å"net suspended from floats is stretched between two boats so that fish swim into it. Fish are unable to swim backwards, so once they are caught in the net, there is no escape unless they are small enough to fit through the net’s mesh† (Young People’s Trust for the Environment, 2008). Other fishes that are in the deeper level of the sea are caught differently. There is also a big net placed under the boat which then gets everything that it captures along the way. The marine resources that I catch were not only fish but also the coral reefs, the schools and other organisms which are not supposed to be captured during the act of fishing. Such action is not only disastrous for the young fishes but also the organisms within the environment because they are also being displaced and even killed when there are commercial ships around. (n. p. ) In order to mitigate the problem of over fishing different agencies have created ways in order for them to fully destabilize the problem which is being caused by over fishing. One of the main agencies are the United Nations in which launched various types of programs and amendments to protect the marine resources all over the world as well as protect the marine resources that our world currently have. In 1995, an article was written about the treaty in which was proposed under the United Nations which addresses the problem in over fishing. It states that the treaty should be approved by 185 countries which then be ratified by 30 countries in order for the treaty to be fully taken into place. In addition, another program which had been under the United Nations is the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement (Government of Canada, 2006). However, Green Peace and World Wildlife Fund had expressed that this treaty would not directly answer the problems of over fishing. In fact, Matthew Gianni had stated that there is a great possibility that yearly there will be new innovations of boats which will be able to detect fish which then result to much more damage to our marine resources (Crossette, 1995). With such article, it directly states that these international organizations does not trust that a plain agreement with various countries thus they suggests more than just an agreement but a full arrangement and limitation of the types of vessels which should be reasonable to be able to catch enough fish. In addition, fishes which will be caught will be enough in size and maturity which will then leave the small fishes to be fully grown and create another generation of fishes. The World Wildlife Fund have done their own actions in order for help create a sustainable fishing for the future generation. They have noted various types of steps in which they called: Fisheries Partnership Agreements which listed these various general actions to fully attain sustainable fishing: †¢ respect sustainable fishing levels account for environmental costs †¢ protect local fishers †¢ include compliance with flag state laws †¢ are based on best practice fisheries management †¢ include cooperation on research and monitoring †¢ ensure adequate monitoring and enforcement capacity †¢ ensure fairer sharing of economic benefits between producer and extractor nations (World Wildlife Fund, 2008) In conclusion, many of our world’s resources had now been gone and are still being abused by various types of industries due to the demand of resources the global economy has. But then, we should remember that we must learn how to conserve our natural resources so that there would not be scarce resources for the future. Like the World Wildlife Fund and the Green Peace have stated, it is not enough the there will be treaties and agreements under these types of issues. It is still important that the mitigation process should be continuously checked in order to incur changes for the environment, the amount of resources as well as to secure the lives of the future generation. The continuous efforts of the international community, through the help of various countries as well as the international organization will lead to a prosperous and much more peaceful fellowship with one another. On the other hand, the issue of climate change must also be resolved for the reason that it also affects the issue regarding overfishing and lessening of the resources available for various marine industries. Although there are issues like this, it should be taken into mind that the responsibility is not only through organizations but also through an individualistic perspective.