A study from World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) 2015 shows that climate change is one of the main factor for the decrease of marine species about 49 per cent between 1970 and 2012 (World Wide Fund for Nature, 2015). Climate change is caused by the increasing of the greenhouse gas and it will cause the average temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere increase. As the temperature increase, oceans will absorb the heat and becomes warmer. Climate change can increased the carbon dioxide in the ocean and impact marine species like crab, lobster and shellfish, they will become more difficult to build their shells. This will destroyed the habitat of the species and they might die because they do not have a place to live.
While the use of aquaculture to meet our consumer needs increases, there are still problems with more traditional commercial fishing that endanger fish populations. Overfishing of certain fish species lead to their population collapse which also affects the aquatic food webs. In 1992, the Atlantic Cod reaches a low in population and has never been able
The most common example of overharvesting is fishing. Many fishing companies over fish so that their income is larger. Over fishing has played an important role in the extinction of many species. The unsustainable extraction of species had three main problems – too many people want the resource, the short term profit goals and life histories of populations being harvested. (Grobeman, 2013) Pollution from humans has also greatly impacted the environment.
We don’t live in the sea yet we are still affected by marine pollution, why? Because 70% of oxygen we breath is produced by marine plants thus if marine plant are affected by the pollution and there is shortage in oxygen or animals eat those affected plants in the end we will be affected. Japan being one of the biggest consumer of seafood can be affected, their people can be affected as humans seeing as we are on the far end of the food chain thus if a fish living in the contaminated waters of Japan falls ill, is then caught and served as food to the people ultimately they will fall sick too. When this takes places the consumer can face a great deal of problems from hormonal problem, kidney damage, reproductive problems and nervous system
Provided that sharks have not been fished out of certain areas it is reasonable to assume that their disappearance would be a result of the destruction of a suitable habitat. The fact that shark species are so diverse and inhabit every ocean on the planet makes them key players essential to the ocean environment. Yet despite their importance in the marine food-chain they remain a low conservation priority. For all their evolutionary success and apparent menace, sharks are incredibly fragile, unable to withstand the increased pressures forced on them by the voracious world fishing industries. This is partly due to the fact that sharks are slow growing animals that mature late, live long, and have a low reproduction
Although it was initially assumed that the ocean has an abundant and limitless supply of food resources, the destructive impacts of fisheries have now come to light. It is becoming clear from decades of fishery activities that these practices are highly detrimental to the aquatic environment, be it freshwater or marine. Furthermore, fisheries are noticing declines in the abundance and variety of the fish and invertebrates that are harvested. This is not only due to overexploitation but also physical and ecological damage to the fishery environment (NOAA, 1998). In fact, fisheries or the commercial harvesting of fish and shellfish is by far the most destructive force in the oceans today.
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,
1. 90-100 million tons are killed and wiped off the planet each year. Consisting of some of the most beautiful creatures on the planet. Fish are a primary food source to 3.5 billion people worldwide and the depletion of the species is leaving millions of people hungry. Over fishing is a huge problem that needs to be stopped.
Firstly, if species are excessively harvested, which only juvenile fish below reproductive age are left in the ocean, it would take a long time for them to reproduce, thus reducing their population sustainability. Not only would it affect human, but also other species and larger marine animals that share the same habitat. A representative example would be The U.S. Pacific sardines, which population has declined an estimated 90 percent since 2007 (Grossman 2015), and evidence showed that overfishing worsens the magnitude and frequency of the cyclical declines of sardines and other forage fish. (Essington 2015). Sardines are at the bottom of food web, therefore, decline in sardine quantities would affect other species along the food web, for example, whales, dolphins and other species that feed on sardines.
When an animal becomes endangered, than people have no idea how long these animals have till they will be lost forever (Endangered Species: Facts). The reason why species become endangered is because their habitat is lost, animals have competition when it comes to eating, and pollution in our economy (Endangered Species: Facts). If people tried to reduce the pollution and did not take land that did not belong to them, than some animals would not be endangered to this day (Endangered Species: Facts). “As of May 2017, the U.S. FIsh and Wildlife Service lists 2,392 animals as endangered worldwide” (Endangered Species: Facts).