Fishing Regulations and Laws Stephen Panos Per.1

The Problems in the World Today The problem in the ocean today is that there is a major decrease in the population of fish due to mass illegal commercial fishing around the world. This Illegal fishing has caused major problems to the fragile ecosystems in the ocean around the world.

Reasons for these Problems In many fisheries there aren’t strong enough regulations around the world. Even if there are regulations in the country there isn’t a strong enforcement policy to implement punishment. A lot of retailers fail to check if the fish they are buying was caught illegally or not. As a result, customers are unknowingly supporting this illegal capturing of fish.

Reasons (cont.) Many fisheries management bodies for to listen to scientist about the quotas on new fish limits. Countries fail to limit FoC vessels (FoC vessels are ship that fly a countries flag to get around regulations) Finally, there aren’t enough no-take zones and protected areas in the world. Only 1.2% of the worlds oceans are declared protected as Marine Protected areas.

Illegal fishing off the coast of Africa A fleet of Illegal Chinese fishermen near the seas of South Korea

Fishing Regulations Fishing Regulations are laws and government restrictions on how and where fish can be caught. Usually the fishing regulation guide will address the year it applies to, where it applies to, and how many of certain fish may be caught. Throughout the world, one out of five people rely on fishing as their main source of income.

Fishing Regulations (Cont.) In the mid-1800 fishing regulations weren’t needed as much because people didn’t have to technology or needs for mass commercial fishing. There are lists and charts of the types and amount of fish that can be caught in each area. There are also laws and regulations on how you catch the fish.

Fishing Limits In order to help fix this problem the United Nations put forth no-take zones and fishing limits. A no-take zone is a place where absolutely no fishing of any kind is allowed. Unlike no-take zones, fishing limits do not completely ban fishing they just put a limit on how many fish can be caught in that area.

Areas that are MPA protected

Coral Reefs Coral reefs is also a major marine life affected by mass commercial fishing. Coral is collected illegally and sold around the world, mostly to tourists. When a mass number of certain fish are taken out of the coral reefs it puts a strain on the food web for that reef.

Coral Reef Poaching

improve-populations/ improve-populations/ This article is about how scientist have found a way to increase fish population as well as fish harvesting at the same time. As put by the writer “ we can really have our fish and eat them too.” The author proposes better fisheries management is needed in order to increase fish population rapidly. This rapid growth will theoretically feed 500 million more people and increase profits by 204%. “We now have a clear roadmap for how to recover fisheries: Give fishermen secure fishing rights so they can control and protect their future,” said co-author Amanda Leland from the Environmental Defense Fund.

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