Saving Marine Life Autonomously or Collaboratively

SAVING MARINE LIFE AUTONOMOUSLY OR

COLLABORATIVELY
Sabrina Rodriguez
Gavyn Wilson
AP Environmental Science
Block 3B

Commotion in The Ocean Council: Saving Earths Aquatic Animals One Species At A Time
CITOC seeks to spread awareness of the endangerment of aquatic species throughout
the entirety of the world as well as implement a cooperative movement advocating for the
protection of such animals, on an international level.

Saving Marine Life Autonomously or Collaboratively

The issues of overfishing should be dealt with autonomously by countries over a set
period of time then dealt with collaboratively by nations across the globe, considering the use of
marine life as fish should be shared among nations and the concept of preserving biodiversity
remains a standard. The issue of overfishing has grown exponentially in relevancy as of recently
due to the increase of fishing projects worldwide.
History of Overfishing
Approximately a billion people worldwide rely on fish as a staple food source of protein,
specifically the inhabitants of mostly less developed countries such as Bangladesh, Ghana, and
Indonesia, all three of which are provided about 50% of their total protein through fish.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 52 percent of fish stocks are fully
exploited, 20 percent are moderately exploited, 17 percent are overexploited, 7 percent are
depleted, and 1 percent is currently recovering from depletion. Overfishing is therefor resulting
in the loss of fish species as well as the loss of ecosystems, the latter of which is a result of the
former. The ocean, as a solid ecological unit, is losing its integrity due to the capitalist-driven
stress put on to it by nations everywhere. Ever since the 11th century, fisheries have exploited the
oceans for fish; starting with specific areas such as seas, fisheries eventually began to exploit
broader ecosystems in relevancy to entire continents, on a mass scale. The exponential growth of
overfishing as an issue has been mainly due to the increase of technology to aid fisheries in their
geographical reach and breadth of fishing projects in general. Countries everywhere have taken
to using things such as satellites and spotter planes in order to discover treasure troves of any
given fish supply. The result was the prioritization of economic prosperity over the concept of
retaining the worlds aquatic biodiversity and the general protection of aquatic ecosystems. Lowincome countries have always relied on fish as a staple food source not for commercial use but

Saving Marine Life Autonomously or Collaboratively

for subsistence use. The generally low cost of fishing offers an economic growth potential for
low-income countries so when the needs are met for any given country, in terms of food, then
said countries move on to the commercial use of fishing. The concept of overfishing came into
being in the early 1800s due to the excessive whaling that was done at the time in order to gain
blubber for the use of lamp oil. Between that and the decimation of some fish that we eat, such as
the Atlantic cod and Californias sardines around the mid-20th century, the aquatic food chain has
been disrupted. The latter of which was part of an international initiative at the time to increase
the availability and affordability of protein-rich foods. Ironically, this international initiative
has led to an international crisis by which we will should, and probably will, handle
internationally. It can therefor be said that high-income countries are the major contributors to
the problem of overfishing, if not the root. It can then also be said that high-income countries
should take the lead in a global effort to reduce overfishing. The United Nations organization has
set into place numerous acts in relevancy to the preservation of aquatic systems on a global scale,
namely the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, of which provides guidelines
involving the regulation of the space, use, and resources in the worlds oceans. Specifically,
countries are given legal boundaries, of which they have free reign of in terms of fishing. The
UNCLOS itself has been one of the most influential laws passed that helps to preserve aquatic
systems on a global scale, advocating for international cooperation. CITES, or the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, was passed by the IUCN, or
International Union for Conservation of Nature, on July 1st, 1975.
Cause of the Problem
The cause of the problem revolves around the concepts of both commercial and
subsistence harvesting of fish. Commercial harvesting underlies the idea of a profit and is done

Saving Marine Life Autonomously or Collaboratively

mostly by China, Peru, Japan, and the United States. The fishing industry tends to be a low-cost,
high-profit industry considering the maintaining of fishing equipment tends to not even come
close to the profitability of any potential harvest. Subsistence harvesting involves the usage of
fish harvesting solely as a form of feeding the citizens of one particular country, or merely a
family, if done by someone to feed said family, instead of those employed by a country.
Considering the same low-cost, high-profit incentive aforementioned with commercial farming,
poorer countries tend to rely on fish as a staple food source. However, when fishing programs are
implemented, countries tend to turn to the commercial side of fishing once they have satisfied
their general food needs. In terms of whaling, whales are sought after for their blubber and oil,
exclusively Japan. In terms of shark hunting, sharks are sought after for their fins, of which can
be used for a delicacy known as shark-fin soup. Hence, the issue of large sea animal hunting
revolves more around leisure as opposed to the tendency of stock fish such as salmon to be used
as a staple food source. This leads to the issue of overfishing in terms of larger sea animals to be
an issue with more potential to be handled, considering the general understanding worldwide that
the endangerment of said larger sea animals has more potential of occurring as opposed to the
endangerment of stock fish. Countries such as Norway, Japan, and Iceland oppose the ban
imposed on whaling and in Japans case, disregard it and commit whaling annually, regardless.
However, international cooperation behind the banning of whaling has noticeably reduced the
killings of said whales and sharks.
Consequences of the Problem
Some cultures, such as those in Canada, rely on fishing to form a building block of said
culture. The Atlantic Canadian cod fishery collapsed in the 1990s, forcing many to seek jobs in
the non-fishing workforce. Overfishing affects developing island nations the most, such as Pulau,

Saving Marine Life Autonomously or Collaboratively

Fiji, and Guam depend on fishing as a important factor to their diets and in some extreme cases,
such as certain African and South Asian coastal countries, a typical diet relies on fish as 50% of
protein intake. Therefor, the immense fishing by larger countries negatively impacts developing
nations by denying them a staple food source and economic staple. The major problem in
question is the disruption of oceanic food chains. An example would be the concept of
overfishing sharks could lead to the influx of manta rays as a result of not being preyed upon so
much, in turn leading to the decimation of smaller fish populations from said manta rays. This
problem could escalate in scale and disrupt more than just the relationship between manta rays,
sharks, and smaller fishes.
Proposed Solution

3. Raise knowledge of overfishing through international movements in order to present

the idea of a proposed solution to said overfishing over the span of 3 years
4. Allow countries to implement their own guidelines in relevancy to the reduction of
overfishing for 20 years so as to let the results settle in over a prolonged set of time (settle
it autonomously) and set the overfishing of all aquatic creatures to be reduced by at least

10%)
5. After 20 years, turn to international cooperation to set global standards in relevancy to
fishing, regardless of the aquatic creatures in question

Oppositional Position/Rebuttal
The problem of overfishing is pretty apparent but those who are against it being an issue
claim that we as humans are not actually draining the ocean of its fish stock and that fish

Saving Marine Life Autonomously or Collaboratively

breeding is simple, leading to the potential for an increase of a fish population. However, the
breadth of overfishing is pretty immense, considering the breadth of countries that take part not
only in fishing, but also overfishing in general, in which nations everywhere are simultaneously
reducing their respective stocks. The figures aforementioned, in relevancy to the exploitation of
fisheries worldwide, proves the presence of overfishing as a irrefutable issue.

Saving Marine Life Autonomously or Collaboratively

Works Cited
https://www.change.org/p/marinebio-save-earth-s-endangered-and-threatenedaquatic-species?
recruiter=553402442&utm_source=share_for_starters&utm_medium=copyLink

http://overfishing.org/pages/why_is_overfishing_a_problem.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Island_Developing_States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_on_the_Law_of_the_
Sea
http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/international/isu-global-eng.htm
https://morningstar.netfirms.com/dolphtotem.html

Saving Marine Life Autonomously or Collaboratively

http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/explore/pristine-seas/criticalissues-overfishing/
http://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/overfishing