Does "over fishing" really affect our environment?

Question

Does "over fishing" really affect our environment?

Answer 1

According to the April, 2007 edition of National Geographic, "industrial fishing...has wiped out perhaps 90% of large predatory fish, such as swordfish, marlin and the biggest types of tuna.......Nearly a third of the world's fish stocks are overfished, with the Atlantic (Ocean) the hardest hit.......The oceans are suffering from a lot of things, but the one that overshadowns everything else is fishing....[And] unless we get a handle on the extraction of fish and marine resources, we will lose much of the life that remains in the sea."  

Yes, overfishing affects our environment. Why is so difficult for people to understand that there is a fragile ecological balance between man, plants and animals that allows us all to survive on this planet. When we have squandered all of Earth's natural resources, OUR SPECIES WILL ALSO DIE.

So, everytime we lose a species of South American frogs, African elephants, Bengal tigers, Anarctic penguins, polar bears, Malaysian mangrove forests, rare Brazilian birds, endangered wild plants, dense rain forests, Mediterranean bluefin tuna, Maine lobsters, or even a rare leopard from Botswana's Okavango Delta - we are also contributing to the demise of human existence on this planet.

And when your great-grandchildren sit on your lap and look into your eyes and ask, "WHY, Grandpa? WHY did you squander all of the Earth's precious resources?"

WHAT WILL YOUR ANSWER BE??  -RKO-  05/17/07

Answer 2

Yes yes yes!!! Fish are one of the most important (if not the most important) likns in the greatest ecosystem on earth- the ocean. Over population is the root cause for so much evil in this world, including the ever increasing need for food resources. People flee for the oceans for an easy solution- killing it is what they are really doing!!

Answer 3

no, "over fishing",  much like "over eating" and "over drinking", is perfectly fine and has absolutely no effect.  just ask a doctor that treats the morbidly obese, or the children of an alcoholic.

duh.

Answer 4

Well humans won't be happy with their personal environment if they're hungry, so yes it affects it.

You could argue that it affects it positively, less fish to eat algae, and algae are the forests of the sea, they help clean our air. But this is not very likely, because algae blooms shouldn't change that fast, and they grow more based on light and food than the amount that they are culled.

It is however very very bad for the sea's environment. It's got it's own systems, and if we mess with those, it has repercussions for us.

For example, take jellyfish, those things that look pretty but sting. There's animals that can eat them. But if we removed those animals because we like to eat them, then there's more jellyfish, which means more stinging.

But this is an ecosystem going out of balance, not technically an environment.

But climate change will affect fish populations, which will make it harder to fish. The hotter it is, the less air in the water, the less air in the water, the less fish can breathe, and the more likely they are to die. Basically it can suffocate fish.

Oh and it causes the water to become more acidic. Fish can only tolerate a certain PH, if we warp it too much, they will die.

Answer 5

Yes, 100% it does. 90% of the worlds fisheries are in 10% of the worlds oceans. That means 90% of our oceans are untouched for now. But humans are like Locust, once we have used up what we have in the 10% of the ocean we are fishing from now we will just move to another location and destroy that next.

This can kill out an area and a species. For example in Bahia de Los Angeles, Mexico, there are no more sharks...they have all been fished out. That can do a lot to an eco system (although I felt much better snorkeling with no sarks). Every bit of life on this planet is part of a system. Maintaining this sytem without interferance can be hard enough.

We bread other animals in captivity for food...Cows, chickens, salmon. This should be continued. I am not saying that I agree with putting animals in captivity, however it has to be better option then destroying our delicate eco system.

Answer 6

yes because if there are no fish there is nothing for the bigger fish to feed on and they die and it causes a chain reaction ( like the disappearing bees ) if u have heard of that

Answer 7

Yes, any time you interrupt the "food chain" you are being destructive.

Answer 8

It messes with the balance of nature.  If man takes to may fish, other animals will go without, who count on that fish to survive.  Some of the ways that they are over fishing such as dragging the sea floor is also very damaging to the coral reefs.

Answer 9

Yeah....a lot of animals rely on fish for food.  And, in  turn, fish eat a lot of sea greens which could choke out water supplies if they grew too much.

Answer 10

Yes - - every time something is taken from the natural cycle of things, then that affects the whole other cycle.  When you look at the food pyramid for aquatic life, fish are usually somewhere in the middle.  With out them some species of bears don't have food, without them smaller things like algae and insects become more numerous in their numbers.  You need that natural balance in nature to ensure that everything works the way it should.  Fishing is no different.

Answer 11

only when you fry them

Answer 12

I think it could.  Generally when the fish become scarce enough, the fisherman move to other resources.  There are cases where certain species have been over fished.  This might affect the populations of sea lions that rely on certain fish species or killer whales.