Monday, March 3, 2008

Overfishing

Fish are an amazing source of nutrition for people. Whether you love tuna fish sandwiches, filleted salmon, or fish sticks, most of us enjoy eating some type of fish. All over the world, people are being fed by the plentiful bounty found within our aquatic ecosystems. But how long can we sustain these practices? Like many of the world’s resources, the population of fish is in jeopardy. Watch this short, “humorous” video about the future of fishing:


BlogWork:

Read the article linked below. Answer the following questions in complete, well thought out sentences. You may either hand them in or e-mail them, but DO NOT post them in the comment section. I would like you to provide one quote from the article in the comment section.
Questions:
What does finite mean and how does it apply to fish populations?
What evidence is there that fish stock is in decline?
What does Dr. Worm say about why biodiversity is so important to marine life?
What is an example of a fishing practice that is extremely damaging to the ecosystem?
What is it going to take to solve this problem?

Article: BBC News: "Only 50 Years Left" for Sea Fish

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

"The way we use the oceans is that we hope and assume there will always be another species to exploit after we've completely gone through the last one."-Boris Worm

Anonymous said...

"Unless we fundamentally change the way we manage all the ocean species together, as working ecosystems, then this century is the last century of wild seafood." -Steve Palumbi

Anonymous said...

becuase of over fishing the onley comerchaly fished fish in america is the heg fish or slime eel

Anonymous said...

"What we're highlighting is there is a finite number of stocks; we have gone through one-third, and we are going to get through the rest," - Boris Worm

Anonymous said...

also, that video was truly hilarious. and so sad

Anonymous said...

This topic may get more people to stop eating fish

Anonymous said...

To Mike - I don't know if the answer is to stop eating fish. As I said earlier, eating fish is a great way for people to get the nutrients that they need to survive. However, there are some fishing practices that are extremely unhealthy for aquatic ecosystems. "Trawling" seems to be a terrible practice conducted by many large scale fisheries.