Ryan Jordan
Over Fishing
90% of large fish such as tuna,
swordfish, cod, marlin, flounder, and halibut have been removed from the
oceans. 70% of global fisheries are overexploited or have crashed. 25% of U.S.
fisheries are known as stable. 3 billion rely on fish as a source of food. 72,000
fishing jobs have been lost in the Pacific Northwest due to the decline of
salmon stocks. Bluefin tuna populations in the Atlantic Ocean have declined
over 70% in the last 30 years, yet because seafood is a global commodity being
flown into markets around the world.
Long-lining
is the main method of fishing bluefin tuna. This method is dangerously
efficient. This method also gets unwanted by-catch like sharks and sea turtles.
The Atlantic and Indian is becoming a more overfished ocean because the Asiatic
oceans have already been fully exploited. Most of the catch are sent to Japan
and European nations. Long-lining deploys 60 miles of baited hooks to catch the
bluefin tuna which is a migratory species.
There
two different stocks of bluefin tuna in the Atlantic, the western Atlantic and
the Mediterranean. Both of these stocks have been rapidly declining since the
1970’s. The estimated level of the current population of the bluefin in the
Atlantic is at 29% of what it was in the 1970’s.
Possible Solution- Catch Shares
Fishers get an economic incentive to help fish populations
recover. The fishers get a share of the allowed catch, which would increase
with a recovering fish population. There has been a 400% increase in fish
populations under catch shares over 17 year period. For example, in 2007 the
catch share program for Red Snappers in the Gulf of Mexico went into effect.
Since then, the Red Snapper population in the Gulf has increased by 60%, and
the value of Red Snapper has increased by 86%.
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