Human Impact Assessment
“The world's finest wilderness lies beneath the waves” (Wyland). Bright, vibrant colors overlapping each other in an overall peaceful looking fight to the death for the dim rays of sunshine flowing through the shallow waves above. These places all thrive from the saying “help others to help yourself” because everyone works together to keep the coral reefs running. The fish eat the bacteria off the coral that could kill off all the coral if it builds up enough. This mutualistic relationship in the coral reefs have been going on for centuries, but what happens if one very important factor leaves the relationship: Total Collapse.
Overfishing is a constant problem that we are facing on almost every coast around the globe.
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One of these close to going missing areas in the marine habitats are the coral reefs that maintain a mutualistic relationship with the fish that are currently being over hunted and taken away from these coral reefs which leads to a huge unbalancement in the relationship causing the coral reefs to start to die out. Of those over hunted fish in coral reefs, at least 70% feed off of the bacteria that builds up on the coral, and eventually that bacteria suffocates the coral by spreading and covering the surface. Now, with the bacteria spreading way too much and without the fish to control the bacteria, hundreds of coral reefs are dying off each year. This all just keeps going around and affecting …show more content…
The Magnuson Act was put on to help reduce overfishing by scientifically monitoring the fishermen's count of fish brought in each day and enforcing the act under 10 strict national standards of sustainability. In 2011, we had decreased this problem by 28% and counting. The average costs for this project so far come to be around $560,000. “Healthy coral reefs have rough surfaces and complex structures that dissipate much of the force of incoming waves; this buffers shorelines from currents, waves, and storms, helping to prevent loss of life, property damage, and erosion. Up to 90 percent of the energy from wind-generated waves is absorbed by reefs, based on the physical and ecological characteristics of the reef and the abundance of the adjacent seagrass and mangrove ecosystems. In fact, coastlines protected by reefs are more stable, in terms of erosion, than those without. Reefs are also a source of sand in natural beach replenishment.” This quote come from the NOAA informational piece on the positive effects of coral reefs. It also proves a few great points on the great things coral reefs do for the human population and without these reefs more powerful waves will start to appear along with more powerful storms. These reefs help decrease losses of life in
Overfishing is a death sentence to the world’s oceans. As technology continues to improve a great deal of fish can be caught quicker; but at what cost? The effects of overfishing can lead to the extinction of not just the animals being fished, but also the predators that rely on fish to eat. Ninety percent of the ocean’s largest animals have been wiped out due to overfishing (“Overfishing- A Global Disaster”, 2011). National Geographic cites the academic journal Science (2006) that predicts by 2048, all fisheries will collapse due to lack of ocean wildlife. Fish are not the only animal caught in the nets used by fishing vessels. Often animals such as dolphins, sharks, turtles, and seabirds are
Consisting of less than 1% of the world oceans, the coral reefs are ancient animals comprising of thin calcium carbonate deposits within the photic layer. Aside from its biologically diverse ecosystems, coral reefs are major source of food for millions and provides habitats and nursery areas for many marine organisms. Coral reefs also act as a physical buffer to protect the coastlines from tropical storms and erosion. In addition, many local communities rely on coral reefs to generate an income through activities such as fishing and diving. However, 75% of the coral reefs are under threat from induced impacts of humans and climate change (Burke, et al., 2011). This essay looks at the human impacts constantly being inflicted on coral reefs.
As the population on earth increases ,overfishing has become a growing issue in all parts of the world. Fish is a vital food source for many, in the world and counts for many of the cultures and heritages in the world, which means there is a high demand for it . This high demand has caused overfishing to occur. This is a cause for concern since due to the development of better technology, there is a higher risk of overfishing if not managed properly. Canada in particular has been facing the problem overfishing for years now. Due to Canada’s issue of overfishing, the environment and wildlife as well as human settlements all have negative impacts ,therefore a sustainable solution must be implemented. If action isn’t taken, Canada’s issue of overfishing will continue to worsen.
Finally, there are millions of species who live in the coral reef. It is used both for shelter and for a food supply. There is a vast amount of trawlers that come through each year to dredge the ocean. But think about what would happen if the coral reefs disappear. All the species that depend on the reef for shelter would die. And all the species who hunt for food there would also die. Dredging the ocean rips apart the coral reefs wether that was meant to happen or not. If the natural beauty of the reefs and the security it brings to animals dissapeared, it would be a major
Overfishing is an issue that not everyone is aware. People tend to think that the ocean is infinite, as well
Developing organizations, such as The Ocean Agency and the Coral Restoration Foundation, have been raising concern in efforts to conserve and furthermore sustain aquatic life and the ecosystem in which they inhabit. These unique fish, found living and populating among the coral reef, face a level of degradation and life threatening obstacles. The coral reef acts as a home to more than a quarter of the know fish species, where their population and species have been widely studied. This ecosystem is a beautiful representation of life which supports, and is supported by other neighboring ecosystems; embodying a significance as the leading consumer item for those who live along the reefs. Their importance to our planets collective ecosystem is not fully understood, due to the way these ecosystems are interconnected to one another, but nevertheless illustrates an example of a struggling life which may provide problems for both terrestrial and aquatic life-forms. Aside from the human dependency, being that “More than 450 million people live within 60 kilometers of coral reefs, with the majority directly or
Besides being a spectacle to look at, coral reefs are also one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. In addition to ⅓ of all fish (not just species) spend at least a portion of their lives on a reef, they are also home to mollusks, sponges, turtles, and a plethora of different species of coral (Basic Facts, 2014). Coral reefs also can protect coastlines from wave erosion and also help support fisherman that depend on the reef as their livelihood. Contrary to the
There are multiple ways of protecting our oceans and keeping a balanced, ecologically diverse population of fish. An effective way of preventing overfishing is instituting preventative legislature. Developed and developing countries may consider passing laws that protect certain fish or certain areas with endangered fish. Another way of preventing overfishing is to quarantine or create sanctuaries to protect aquatic animals like the National Marine Sanctuaries, http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/visit/fishing.html. Sanctuaries will provide a shelter for animals that are rare and have a low population
Oceana.org says, “The ocean feeds hundreds of millions of people and have the capacity to provide a healthy seafood meal to a billion people, every day.” As of now, the world’s population is seven billion, and by 2050, the population will be at nearly nine billion (Oceana). This means the oceans must produce at least twenty percent more fish for the upcoming population (Oceana). Overfishing will cause more of a problem in the future because it is an immense source of food for people across the world. If there is no action taken upon this, the world hunger rate will only continue to increase over time. Overfishing also has an economic impact because it does not guarantee protection in the fishing industry (ESchoolToday). Once the fish population is low, company's supply of fish will become low as well. Once the companies do not have enough food to supply their customers, it will put them out of business. This will lead to unemployment of many workers across the globe
According to a study done by Living Planet Report in 2015, 29% of the world’s fishing stocks are considered overfished and an additional 61% is fully exploited with no possibility to produce more fish. Our environment is currently afflicted by a number of different problems, one of which is overfishing. Overfishing is defined by FishOnline as, “Fishing with a sufficiently high intensity to reduce the breeding stock levels to such an extent that they will no longer support a sufficient quantity of fish for sport or commercial harvest.” The overfishing situation is being exacerbated by non-sustainable and destructive fishing practices and unfair fisheries partnership agreements; while there are currently attempts being made at fixing these problems and their effects on overfishing, nothing has been extremely effective.
There once was a whole nother world below the beautiful waves in the Asia Pacific, a year a go to be exact. A breathtaking array of life beneath the ocean. Only now the maldivian reef is dead, obliterated by the stress of the rising temperatures in the ocean. In the last 30 years, the world has failed to realize that we have lost half our coral reefs. Scientists are searching for ways to guarantee the lone ecosystems to recuperate beyond the next 30 years. The whole world depends on it since it supports a quarter of all marine life. Julia Baum Of Canada states, “We are losing them right now, really quickly, much more quickly than i think any of us ever could have imagined.” Can you believe that in about 2050, if we don’t find ways to help conserve
Coral reefs also provide protection from tides and other major weathering events. Without this protection, shorelines would be damaged along with peoples’ properties (Cesar).
The main causes of overfishing are poor fishery management with a lack of regulation, unrestricted access to the ocean and illegal fishing. During the last few decades the demand for edible seafood globally has skyrocketed and the high demand is causing us to overfish to keep up with the demand. Unfortunately, fisherman are catching more fish than can be naturally reproduced. There are only limited regulations in place, which means that fishing companies are basically fishing when and where they want to with out any oversite. Overfishing causes such serious effects such as the ocean life getting knocked out of balance. Coastal communities rely on the benefits of the fishing for social and economic health. When we overfish it
Overfishing is an enormous issue that needs to be corrected or there will be no more fish to catch in the future. The true definition of overfishing is as defined by the national fisheries act from 1996 overfishing is “a rate or level of fishing mortality that jeopardizes a fishery's capacity to produce maximum sustainable yield (MSY) on a continuing basis(kennedy, 2016)." Some of the facts of overfishing are so shocking they would blow you out of the water, as well as some of the effects overfishing can have on the fisheries. The solutions to overfishing are extremely simple and completely within our power to do.
However, many fisherman are unable to catch as many fish as they used to, so they are increasingly using cyanide and dynamite in fishing, which further degrades the coral reef ecosystem.[6] This perpetuation of bad habits simply leads to the further decline of coral reefs and therefore perpetuating the problem. One solution to stopping this cycle is to educate the local community about why conservation of marine spaces that include coral reefs is important.[7] Once the local communities understand the personal stakes at risk then they will actually fight to preserve the reefs. Conserving coral reefs has many economic, social, and ecological benefits, not only for the people who live on these islands, but for people throughout the world as well.