The pattern of overfishing

What is overfishing?
Overfishing can be defined in a number of ways. However, everything comes down to one
point that describes it best. „Catching to much fish for the system to support leads to an
overall degradation to the system. Overfishing is a non-sustainable use of the oceans.“ In
other words overfishing is the fishing of so many fish, that not enough remain to breed and
replenish the population. Overfishing exceeds the carrying capacity of a fishery.

What is causing overfishing?

The fish fleets of the world are two to three times as large as needed to take present day
catches of fish. The overcapacity of many fishing methods are unsustainable in their own
way. Our ecosystem can not cope up with its basic function with the fishing methods.

Why is overfishing a problem?

Over fishing means that the amount of fish that is in the oceans is threatened by extinction
by the humans. In the case of our time over fishing is an important and a to be concerned
topic, because 52% of all fish stocks are already now fully exploited. That means that
these fish stocks are close to die out. In the whole 25% of all fish stocks are either
overexploited or depleted. If the amount of fishing will not be regulated in the next time an
full dying of entire species can not be avoided. At the moment we can say that almost 80%
of worlds fishery is overexploited, depleted or in state of collapse. Worldwide 90% of large
predatory fish stocks are already gone. In later times we will have to fight two main
problems that the humans are going to be faced to.
- We are going to lose species as well as entire ecosystems. As a result of this our
oceans are at risk to collapse
- We are going to lose a valuable food source many depend upon for social,
economical or dietary reasons.
A step to stop overfishing came up in 1992 in Canada when the season for cod fishing
started, but no cod appeared. Suddenly a full stop for cod fishery came to the industry to
save the fish stocks of cod. This is also a evidence for how important the industry of
fishery is. The communities in Canada still haven‘t recovered from the sudden removal of
the most important economical driver after fifteen years. If the fishery would suddenly
forbidden to the entire world many people would lose their economical ground, their homes
and families.
Coming back to the main problem of over fishery we have to recognize that not only fish is
overexploited. Beside the fish also marine mammals, sharks sea birds and non
commercially viable fish species are caught by the web and killed as by-catch and
threatened by the industrialized fisheries. If no changes appear the most important fish
stocks will be extinct within the next 25 years.