8/3/2019 Fish Final

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/fish-final 1/2

SUSTAINABLE FISHING: local & stable

GROUP 39: Kira, Liliana, Nick, Clarissa, Sam, Mounir! BIOL1103

Group 39

BIOL 1103 MWF 1:25

30 November 2011

Stability in Sustainability.

Not all fisheries are created equal. In order for fisheries to be

considered sustainable, they must meet, or exceed, several

standards set by the Marine Stewardship Council. There are three

principles that a fishery must score at least an 80/100. The principles

include sustainability of exploited stock, maintenance of ecosystem,

and effective management system. When a fishery scores above a 90

in certain areas, those areas are said to be sustainability strengths.

Fisheries that score between 60-80 in certain areas must make a

commitment to improve performance in order to continue to be

considered a sustainable operation.

Sustainability Standards

• State of the fish stock 

• Impact on marine environment

• Fishery management systems

• Sustainability of exploited stock 

•Maintenance of ecosystem

• Effective management system

• Effectiveness of harvest strategies

• Effect of fishing on ecosystem

8/3/2019 Fish Final

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SUSTAINABLE FISHING: local & stable

GROUP 39: Kira, Liliana, Nick, Clarissa, Sam, Mounir! BIOL1103

The graph shows the yield of fish per

unit of fishing power obtained each year

since 1880 in the waters surrounding

the United Kingdom. The closed circles

indicate the productivity of trawler

vessels while the open circles indicate

the same for bottom-gear vessels. Their

close correlation reinforces the

conclusion that overfishing is depleting

fish populations, rather than any

confounding factors resulting from

differing capture methods. These results

may be surprising to some, as great

developments have been made in

fishing technologies that would

theoretically increase the yield of fish.

However, this study indicates that just

the opposite is true. The advances in

technology have enabled drastic

overfishing of bottom dwelling species

like halibut, turbot, haddock and plaice.

The trend shown by these data clearly

demonstrates the relationship between

overfishing and the depletion of fish

populations. Due to mismanagement by

governments, consumer awareness to

this issue is essential to reversing these

trends. Consumers should be aware of

the source from which the fish they are

consuming comes from and make a

conscious effort to purchase products

that are only from sustainable stocks.

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Fish & Fast Food

Fish sandwiches are a popular addition to

the menu at any fast food restaurant.

Popular fish used in these sandwiches are

pollock and hoki because they are the

cheapest white fish and come from the

largest fisheries. Hoki is a fish that

receives a poor rating from the BlueOcean Institute and Greenpeace. One of 

the main problems is the method used to

catch this fish. Bottom trawling can

damage sea floor habitats. These fisheries

are so large and dominate the source of 

fast food fish and currently, there are no

environmental standards regulating them.

 These fisheries are, however, looking

towards improving their aquaculture.

Overfishing

Overfishing in an area without biologica

risk causes a huge decrease in the

substantial yield of the fish in that area.

 Additionally, though, the biological

problems are great and if an area is left

with a population drop after overfishing,

the economy is left in even worse shape

and the biological area is left depleted.

With less fish available, it is more

expensive to catch them. Because of

overfishing, the size of the population is

reduced below the size which produces

the maximum surplus production. This

leads to the fish no longer being

sustainable. Since it is easier and

cheaper to fish when there are more fish

in the sea, harvesting costs will be large

when overfishing is a problem.

By looking at the total mortality and comparing the natural and fishing deaths in a fish population, one can find

out the effects of fishing on the stock. By comparing the spawning stock when fished, unfished, and when the

spawning rate is at 20%. The compared age structures clearly show the declining effect that overfishing has on a

local fishery.