The Calamities of Commercial Fishing

Written By: Sandy Saleh


What is Commercial Fishing?

For centuries, the paradigm of aquaculture has created a pigeonhole altered by economic and social facets. For one, fish was one of the earliest incorporations into the human's daily diet. The methods of acquiring fish have become diverse, ranging from hunting mollusks in the shallows of water to capturing fish in lakes and rivers with nets and traps. From this, it is evident that the implementation of artificial innovations forever altered the vanity of fishing. The idyll of inebriated uncouth sailors hauling thousands of sea creatures on top of a schooner sluiced with the indulgence of water has become a mere jaded tantalization of the reality. 

            Specifically, the inception of commercial fishing and harvesting delectable seafood from bodies of water through commercial profit and monetary gain is a derivative of the necessary technological innovations during the Industrial Revolution during the 19th century. However, the creation of fisheries presents the false vision of an endless supply of fish in beautiful oceans and seas. Furthermore, with the demand for fish going into proliferation, it has become revered as a rare delicacy and a show of wealth, so much so that the overfishing of marine life became a problem. The main types of fish in demand are demersal fish, including halibut, pollack, flounder. Similarly, Pelagic fish are also in high order, like herrings, sharks, and whales classify as pelagic fish. Moreover, crustaceans like lobster, shrimp, crabs, and shrimp are highly demanded by seafood lovers. However, fish authenticity differs as fisheries now produce more aquaculture than wild fish catch and have changed insufficiently since 1990.

The Presence of Bycatch 

As previously stated the claws of plastic don't discriminate when it comes to the bycatch of keystone species such as sharks and whales who maintain the populations and ecosystems within waters around the world. Despite implementing conservation initiatives and sustainable "measures, an estimated 40 percent of the international catch is bycatch, despite implementing conservation initiatives and sustainable measures." This undocumented practice is indicative of the inadequacy within the current policy as a fifth of the Fishery Management Plans include inducements that thrive to minimize the byproduct of keystone species, according to Oceana. Not only is one-third of global fish stocks overexploited, but the magnitude of wild fish caught surpasses the rate that fish propagate, which sends the population into a trough. 

Impact of Fishing Gear 

Furthermore, its abrasive nature of fishing with fishing hooks, nets, ghost traps, monofilament, and lines mutilate coral reefs vital for the prosperity of aquatic life. They also economically stabilize beach commerce, protecting coastlines from storms and erosions, indirectly providing monetary value to small communities, vocation, and providing about half a billion people food and income. At the base of marine food chains, their presence legitimizes the most extensive constitutions of productive biomass, the oceans. The equational links bind these predations together single-handedly sustain life by nourishing organisms to carry out life-sustaining processes. The elimination of platitudes within these relations develops a selection pressure and a loss in the magnitude of recoverable organic matter and subsistence. Moreover, this inevitably leads to a trophic cascade triggered by alterations of top predators that come with maintaining reciprocal changes in the composition relationships tethered to the animals. 

Proposition + Solution 

Now recognized as a counterproductive endeavor, it is no question that fishing can damage the environment when exploiting certain species sustaining aquatic equilibrium. The repercussion of commercially devised fisheries has been highlighted throughout the centuries as 80 species have gone extinct, including the Chinese paddlefish, the Silver Trout, and the Harelip Sucker, with about 3,000 teetering the margin of extinction. To counter the impact of depleted stocks, regulations restricting the catch of certain species are vital. However, it won't rebound the struggling populations as much as the damage fishing could do to habitats compared to the ways fish can be harvested. The method of the indiscriminate fishery needs to be eradicated with the replacement of diver harvesting because it is more selective. There also needs to be a rigid surveillance system that ensures evidence-informed limitations with the magnitude of permitted fishing. In other words, we can achieve success through adequate bycatch eschewal programs, sustainable fishing gear, and chronometer navigation of fishing territories. There must also be improvements to accurately report bycatch and reduce the amount of fish repudiated at sea. Establishing management measures to avoid and contract bycatch over time will improve the flexibility of fisheries for decades to come.

Moreover, it is vital to recognize the facade of non-negotiable nutrients in a highly incorporated fish diet. A human diet doesn't necessarily need the contribution of various forms of fish to supplement the body with the necessary nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin B2. As veganism or vegetarianism, there are alternative ways to acquire different nutrients from foods without fish. It speaks to the lucrative effort towards preserving marine life without the tendentious presence of a middleman garnered with trusting companies who claim to be "sustainable." These eclectic solutions to a prevalent issue can assuage the detrimental effects of fishing while languishing in nautical terms and steering society to a more sustainable way of life.


Bibliography


Amundson, Clyde H., Brandt, Andres R.F.T. von, Sainsbury, John C., 


Purrington, Philip F., Pike, Dag and Borgstrom, Georg A.. "Commercial fishing." Encyclopedia Britannica, March 25. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/technology/commercial-fishing. Accessed July 23, 2021. 


Hill, Jacob. "Environmental Consequences of Fishing Practices." Environmental Science, 2015, https://www.environmentalscience.org/environmental-consequences-fishing-practices. Accessed July 23, 2021.


Keledjian, Amanda, et al. "Wasted Catch." Oceana, 2014, https://oceana.org/sites/default/files/Bycatch_Report_FINAL.pdf. Accessed July 23, 2021.


Ritchie, Hannah, and Max Roser. "Biodiversity." Our World in Data, 2021, https://ourworldindata.org/fish. Accessed July 23, 2021.


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