Testing the Limits of a Seemingly Boundless Ocean
As our Earth’s population continues to grow, the oceans are continuously overfished. Overfishing occurs when the capture of a certain species of fish by humans is greater than and occurs more quickly than these species are capable of repopulating themselves; it often leads to species endangerment and extinction. Despite what seems to be a popular belief, our ocean is not endlessly bountiful and therefore fishing practices, such as commercial fishing and aquaculture, need to be more closely regulated and monitored. If this does not occur in the near future, it is very likely that entire species of fish will be depleted. On the contrary, if measures are taken to protect our fish populations, we will be able to create healthier, copious oceans for everyone.
As our Earth continues to change, many do not realize the crucial role the ocean plays in maintaining life, as we know it. The oceans provide many human populations with their main source of food as well as regulate the climate of our entire planet, currently an increasingly important issue. Despite these two major contributions, and the many others not mentioned, human interaction has affected just about every area of our ocean and a majority of these impacts have been negative.
One step being taken to prevent these issues is the creation of “marine protected areas” (MPAs). There are many different types of MPAs varying by level of protection and by conservation focus. As more MPAs are established, fish populations have more areas in which they are able to thrive with limited to no human interaction at all. According to a recent article, 400,000 square kilometers in the Pacific Ocean off the costs of the small island, Kiribati, will soon become entirely closed off to commercial fishing. This area was already an MPA, but with less restriction, allowing tuna farmers to remain active just offshore. As the number of Bluefin tuna continues to fall, this closure will majorly contribute to the rejuvenation of their populations.
In addition to supporting the creation and regulation of MPAs, there are smaller things we can do as individuals to help the problems our oceans face in terms of overfishing. One of these is downloading the Seafood Watch app, sponsored by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This app allows an individual to type in any type of seafood they see on a menu and find out facts about its populations and whether or not it is nearing any trouble of depletion. The app also provides lists of species that are being exceedingly overfished and should be avoided when consuming seafood. You can also visit their website, www.seafoodwatch.org, to find out more about the dangers of overfishing and what we can do to stop the problem.