Overfishing and destructive fishing
ByWhat is Overfishing?
Overfishing and destructive fishing is the act of catching too many fish at once. Because of this the targeted fish can not breed fast enough and the population becomes too depleted to recover.
Overfishing affects a large amount of different animals including the fish that are being caught. The fish that are being caught do not have enough time to repopulate therefore the predators of these fish (larger fish, seabirds, and marine mammals) do not have anything food to eat which decreases the population of the predators.
Indigenous views
The concept of overfishing does not follow Indigenous views and as a matter of fact it contradicts it. The indigenous view of fishing and hunting is to take what is needed and nothing more in respect of our plant. This Indigenous view also keeps food chains even in our surrounding wildlife. Overfishing is caused by poor fishing management in result of multiple fish (over the limit) being caught that is not needed.
Long term effects of Overfishing
Overfishing affects the whole aquatic food chain. When the fish are caught and the little- to- no fish that are left can’t repopulate, the predators have nothing to eat which drastically decreases predator numbers. On the other hand the prey of these fish (prawn and shrimp) do not have any predators to decreases and equal out the prey population, leaving them with a very high population and little food left to eat for example sea grasses.
Short term effects “bycatch“
Short term effects of overfishing include the animal such as octopus, crabs, lobsters, whales, and un-targeted fish that often end up in the fisherman’s nets by accident but get tossed back into the ocean dead or dying (this is called “bycatch”.
Sharks
Not only are just cross bred small fish are being overfished, but sharks can also be a target. Sharks are a main target but only for one part or their body: there fins. After fins are cut off of these sharks their fin-less body is tossed back into the ocean still alive.
https://www.edf.org/oceans/overfishing-most-serious-threat-our-oceans