Uses and “abuses” of the Ocean -- Overfishing -- Overharvesting --Living to close to Water -- Pollution -- Mistakes -- Loss -- Fishing techniques

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Table 18.01

The Tragedy of the Commons –Fishing is too often considered a right without attendant responsibilities. –Oceanic species exist outside the jurisdictional limits of all nations and therefore are open to access by any nation.

The Tragedy of the Commons –Unrestricted fishing activities remove a valuable commodity from a common resource pool. All people share the cost of losing the fishes, the great whales, and the other marine animals that have nearly disappeared because of overfishing. –Yet the short-term profits derived from overfishing are not similarly shared. –This is Hardin’s concept of the “tragedy of the commons.”

International Regulation of Fisheries –Concerned nations have created a variety of multinational and international regulatory commissions to govern the management and harvest of regional fish populations.

International Regulation of Fisheries Common strategies for management include: –setting quotas on the amount of fishes harvested –establishing seasons and minimum size limits –defining acceptable gear, such as net mesh sizes –limiting the number of boats that are allowed to participate in a fishery

International Regulation of Fisheries –In 1976, the United States passed the Fisheries Conservation and Management Act. It claimed exclusive jurisdiction over natural resources (including fishing), scientific research, and environmental preservation in an EEZ extending from shore to 200 miles out to sea. –Other nations followed suit with the UN Law of the Sea Treaty. –This has dramatically changed the concept of open access for most of the world’s continental shelves, coastal upwelling areas, and major fisheries.

International Regulation of Fisheries Worldwide extent of the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zones sanctioned by the United Nations LOS Treaty.

So…if you run out…what do you do? You make more!

Oysters

Loss of entire habitats cannot be “made” though…

Loss of Marshes

Reef destruction

Oil spills

bioaccumulation

Paralytic shellfish poisoning

Commercial sales

Blue (Prionace glauca) and Mako shark fins at a shark finning camp, Magdalena Bay, Baja California, Mexico. Credit: © Richard Herrmann/Visuals Unlimited

FISHING METHODS

Alaskan king crab

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Plankton Net

Now get out there and see what you can find!

GLOBAL WARMING – Please be sure you take a close look at the “Special Report” on pages (text). WHAT CAN YOU DO DIFFERENTLY????