Essay On Sustainable Fishing

Hilburn (2005) defines sustainable fishing in the book “Marine Conservation Biology” as “A fishery which rotates among multiple species can deplete individual stocks and still be sustainable so long as the ecosystem retains its intrinsic integrity. Such a definition might consider as sustainable fishing, practices that lead to the reduction and possible extinction of some species” (2005). However, his research shows that this definition is not always accurate, many fish species naturally decline and fluctuate depending on weather, natural predators and disease.

Rapid increases of population and human activity, for instance fishing, have put considerable pressure on our fish stocks, as a result, 32 percent of our marine fish stocks are depleted,

This is when fish species are fully exploited, overexploited, depleted, or recovering from overexploitation. If overfishing does not decrease, it is predicted that current stocks of all fish species, that are fished for will collapse by 2048 (Worm et al.,

For example, fishery rules, regulations and enforcement measures are not correctly being managed, limited or controlled effectively. Regulations are often in place, however they are not being reinforced, fish catch quotas are also not regulated sufficiently and many fishing management departments are not following scientific advice on quotas (World Wildlife Federation, n.d.). One such example was the North Atlantic Cod. For years the European Union (EU) was warned about the state of the fishery, but only when the stock had collapsed did the EU then take