Preview

Effect of Fishing

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
19247 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Effect of Fishing
Ecosystem effects of fishing in the Mediterranean:
An analysis of the major threats of fishing gear and practices to biodiversity and marine habitats by Sergi Tudela, Ph. D.

for FAO Fisheries Department (EP/INT/759/GEF) Vialle delle Terme di Caracalla 00100 - Rome, Italy

November 2000

CONTENTS

Contents Foreword 1. The impact of fishing on vulnerable groups and habitats 1.1. The impact of fishing on chondrichthyans 1.2. The impact of fishing on seabirds 1.3. The impact of fishing on turtles 1.4. The impact of fishing on Mediterranean monk seal populations 1.5. The impact of fishing on cetacean populations 1.6. The impact of fishing on seagrass beds 1.7. The impact of fishing on the seabed (soft and hard bottoms) and its associated benthic communities 2. Gears and fleets of special interest with respect to fishing impacts in Mediterranean waters 2.1. The ecosystem impact of bottom trawling 2.2. The impact of longlining on large pelagic populations 2.3. The ecosystem impact of artisanal gears 2.4. The case of Mediterranean driftnet fisheries 3. General discussion and conclusions: the ecosystem effects of fishing in the Mediterranean and their remedy from a systemic perspective References

i ii 1 1 5 8 12 15 21 23 26 26 29 31 34 35 38

i

Foreword

Foreword
About this document This document is intended as a contribution to the strategic action plans to limit the impact of fishing activities on biological diversity in the Mediterranean under the Strategic Action Plan for Biodiversity (SAP Biodiversity), which is expected to provide a logical basis for the implementation of the 1995 Specially Protected Areas Protocol (Barcelona Convention). The work has been structured around a set of self-contained sections dealing with the main threats to marine biodiversity (including both vulnerable species and habitats) arising from fishing gears or practices in use in Mediterranean waters. The issues have been dealt with in two sections, one on fishing


References: The impact of fishing on vulnerable groups and habitats reproduction of white sharks within the entire NE Atlantic/Mediterranean region (Fergusson, 1996) The impact of fishing on vulnerable groups and habitats trawlers and purse seiners have also been reported for the Spanish Mediterranean coast (Camiñas, 1997c)
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Brief Summary: The Importance Of Atlantic White Sharks
    • 1502 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Brief Summary: The Importance Of Atlantic White Sharks

    Since the 1970’s when the movie Jaws first showed up on big screens around the country, people have been afraid of beaches, in fear of shark attacks. Not only have they been apprehensive about swimming in the ocean, but some have such malicious feelings towards sharks (especially Atlantic White Sharks due to their role in the movie) that they have taken to hunting and killing this already dwindling species. (Earth Island Institute) It is no secret that pollution and overfishing, as well as numerous other factors have caused the biodiversity of marine life to drastically decrease. It is also known that the ocean ecosystem relies much on all members of the food chain- particularly top predators like sharks. Larger sharks,…

    • 1502 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    For One Named Resource Evaluate The Success Of Attempts To Develop It To Ensure Sustainability
    • 1397 Words
    • 4 Pages

    For One Named Resource Evaluate The Success Of Attempts To Develop It To Ensure Sustainability

    The Common Fisheries Policy is a set of rules for ultimately conserving fish stocks. They aim to try and ensure that fishing and aquaculture are environmentally, economically and socially sustainable and hat they provide a source of healthy food for EU citizens. The first measures, setting regulations for access to fishing grounds, markets and structures were established in 1970. The Common Fisheries Policy was subsequently introduced in 1983 and has since seen reforms to try and ensure complete future sustainability of the exploitation of this resource.…

    • 1397 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Does The Ocean Affect Northern Italy
    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages

    How Does The Ocean Affect Northern Italy

    Many of these jobs include the catching of fish and other seafood at sea, exporting them to other countries, transporting and selling seafood in areas all around Italy, and the raising and spawning of fresh water fish. Fishing helps the economy because of the easy access to fish right off the coast, and the prices for the seafood. Prices for fish are beginning to increase as it becomes more toilsome to catch fish out at sea (Iborra Martin). The abundance of fish is beginning to decline as climate and other factors begin to change, making seafood more desirable and expensive. However, Italians are still paying higher prices for fish because it is a large factor in several meals today. Not only the selling and exporting of fish help the economy, but also fishing tourism. Fishing tourism is a major part of the fishing industry in the south. Iborra Martin, author of “Fisheries in Italy”, states that, “the AGCI estimates that fishing tourism can increase fishermen’s incomes by between 10 and 30%” (Iborra Martin). Progressively, people in the south are taking tours of fishing grounds to learn how to fish the most effectively and where the best places to fish are. This occurs on both the East and West coast of…

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    THE Shores
    • 7432 Words
    • 30 Pages

    THE Shores

    Approx 34% of uk coast. Exposed Atlantic headlands, sheltered sealochs and bays- varied micro-habitats tapestry of habitats…

    • 7432 Words
    • 30 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    horace mann
    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages

    horace mann

    This article was a factual article filled with facts of the beginning of fishing and negative impacts it has made. It is also informative of the fact that this issue of over fishing is hurting our world more than helping it and that we need to do things to end it.…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Argumentative Essay About Fishing
    • 810 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Argumentative Essay About Fishing

    Also destabilized food chains, which cause over populations of some species and the decline in several others. Another problem is harming the economy, if jobs are lost due to fishing companies shutting down due to the lack of fish, then many people will lose their jobs. This results in less tax money that the government receives and growing the amount of unemployed people worldwide. Trawling vessels have progressed to now contain a large capacity of fish and have several plants to package fish into tins, reducing the time the vessels have to return to shore and maximise the time spent in the ocean collecting more fish. Fishing industries are reducing fish reproduction by capturing and killing fish who have not yet matured or reproduced, are not the proper weight, have no market value or are illegal to catch. This quickens the amount of fish unable to continue to reproduce, which then drives the specific fish specie to become endangered. They use severe methods and equipment that is non-selective to fish, that unintentionally harm habitats or catch and kill other inhabitants that are of no value to fishing companies, meaning fishing industries are injuring or killing fish with…

    • 810 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Jaws Protecting The Environment
    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Jaws Protecting The Environment

    Due to the movie Jaws, shark attacks have become sensationalized , and the common misconceptions of the creature, most people do not know how vital they are to the environment. Sharks are being brutalized by fishing boats. Fishermen have been known to catch the shark, cut off its’ fins, and toss the species back in the ocean. The fins are used for consumption such as shark fin soup which is considered a delicacy in many countries. Without their fins, the sharks are unable to maintain their buoyancy and therefore, die because they have lost the ability of locomotion. Due to this brutality, the Union for the Conservation of Nature has declared 64 shark species endangered and since the 1970’s sharks in the Atlantic Ocean have declined by 50%.…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Overfishing Environmental Issues
    • 1429 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Overfishing Environmental Issues

    (Miffin, 2015) In a document published by the United Nations, it states that “80 per cent of the world’s fish stocks for which assessment information is available are reported as fully exploited or overexploited and, thus, requiring effective and precautionary management.” (Overview - Convention & Related Agreements, 2010) Although varying slightly, this research is conclusive with that of The Water Brothers and supports their findings that such a large number of global fish stocks are depleted. Overfishing, when fish are caught faster than they can reproduce (Lee & Safina n.d.) has decimated marine ecosystems around the world. One of the leading contributors to overfishing is bottom trawling. This fishing technique uses weighted nets, which drag across the ocean floor, catching anything in its path. This is the most destructive method of fishing and is described by The Water Brothers, saying, “bottom trawling kills indiscriminately, ruining the bottom habitat and catching a high number of species unintentionally, known as bycatch.” Trawl fisheries for shrimp and demersal finfish account for over 50 percent of total estimated discards. (Kelleher, 2015) In addition to the bycatch from trawling, the weighted nets that drag across the sea floor destroy corals, sponges, seagrasses, and rock garden habitats. (Morgan & Chuenpagdee, 2003) By removing habitat-building organisms (source nature.com) and senselessly killing so many aquatic animals, this method of fishing has a domino affect on other species and environments. The brothers note that in addition to catching too many fish, “it also damages the entire seafloor ecosystem.” (Miffin, 2015) Like the show…

    • 1429 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Great Barrier Reef Environmental Issues
    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Great Barrier Reef Environmental Issues

    For example, many of the best edible fish such as the piracacu have had their populations greatly reduced by overfishing without any seasonal control to avoid the breeding season. The use of gill nets, dynamite and other environmentally unacceptable methods of fishing is having a drastic effect on the product that is the best source of protein in the region. Already river turtles have been over hunted to almost extinction through the use of their meat and eggs. The exploitation of natural resources has been great and has put the ecosystem at great…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Overfishing Research Paper
    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Overfishing Research Paper

    fishing industries use grill nets, purse seines and drift nets to catch their fish. However; this still leaves…

    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Habitat And Species Module Guide
    • 1677 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Habitat And Species Module Guide

    Hayward, P.J. & Ryland, J.S. 1995. Handbook of the marine fauna of North-West Europe. Oxford…

    • 1677 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Human Impact on the Coastal Landscape
    • 3592 Words
    • 15 Pages

    Human Impact on the Coastal Landscape

    Other aspects of the coastal landscape that engender discussion are those animate expressions of nature such as fossils and vegetations, birds and crustaceans, fishes and other wild life that depend on it for survival. Humans are the guardians of coastal landscapes, and they have affected them both positively and negatively. Some of the ways that they have impacted the landscape is by dredging, pollution, constructing buildings, land reclamation, creating beaches, planting exotic vegetations and trees, erecting sea walls, and by destroying natural habitats of wild life. Therefore, understanding what a coastal landscape is and how humans have influenced it is the subject of this paper.…

    • 3592 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Determinants of Willingness to Pay for Coastal Zone Quality Improvement
    • 9221 Words
    • 37 Pages

    Determinants of Willingness to Pay for Coastal Zone Quality Improvement

    University of Thessaly, Department of Economics, Korai 43, Volos 38333, Greece University of Thessaly, Department of Ichthyology and Aquatic Environment, School of Agricultural Sciences, Fytoko Str., Volos 38445, Creece…

    • 9221 Words
    • 37 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Marine Oil Spills Environment Impact
    • 3425 Words
    • 14 Pages

    Marine Oil Spills Environment Impact

    INTRODUCTION The short-term effects of oil spills on marine species and communities are well known and predictable. However, concerns are often raised about possible longer-term ("sub-lethal") population effects through, for example, low levels of residual oil affecting the ability of certain species to breed successfully. In fact, extensive research and detailed post-spill studies have shown that many components of the marine environment are highly resilient to short-term adverse changes in the environment in which they live and that, as a consequence, a major oil spill will rarely cause permanent effects. The marine ecosystem is a highly complex environment and natural fluctuations in species abundance and distribution are a feature of the normal way it functions. These fluctuations can be large and difficult to relate to particular causes, as well as difficult to measure adequately. Against this background it is inevitably difficult to establish the precise extent and likely duration of environmental damage caused by an oil spill and to distinguish such impacts from changes brought about by a variety of other factors, both natural (e.g. climatic or hydrographic changes) and man-made (e.g. commercial fishing or other industrial pollution). Despite the scientific evidence that is available to the contrary, there is frequently a basic presumption that damage must have been caused by an oil spill, and terms such as "injury", "harm", "loss" and "impairment" are used without reference to any defined meaning or reliable evidence of a causal link. There is also a…

    • 3425 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    nasoata animals and the human environmnent
    • 2800 Words
    • 12 Pages

    nasoata animals and the human environmnent

    Bibliography: Boaden, JS & Seed, R 1985, An Introduction to Coastal Ecology, Blackie & Son Ltd, London.…

    • 2800 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More

Related Topics