Introduction
The current world population is roughly 8 billion people and growing. As the population keeps on increasing, the demand for food is too. Fish is one of the most eaten foods in the world and Canada’s fisheries and fishing industries are one of the biggest contributors in the world providing 156 million tons of fish a year (Gabrielle Wilson, 2022). High demand of fish and financial gains have led to overfishing globally, including Canada. Overfishing is a dangerous threat to Canada and has been an ongoing problem for a while now. Overfishing affects Canada’s economy, climate change, the oceans biodiversity loss and ocean health.
How are unsustainable fishing practices damaging ocean health? When we overfish, we are damaging and hurting our oceans’ health. Rising carbon emissions are making the ocean more acidic, weakening its ability to sustain life underwater. The ocean absorbs and stores more than 25 percent of all CO2 emissions, and over 90 per cent of the excess heat generated by humans. Marine species have a big role in mitigating climate change; by storing the carbon in their bodies and excreting carbon rich waste that sink to fertilize the marine plants at the deeper layers of the ocean which plays a huge part in storing the carbon (carbon sink). Scientists are estimating that fish alone contribute 16 percent of the total ocean carbon flux (which is the amount of carbon exchanged of CO2 by the ocean with the atmosphere) (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2022). When fisheries overfish, it can cause an effect called eutrophication (Emily Hawton, 2020). Eutrophication is the process of nutrient enrichment of bodies of water. When overfishing occurs, large amounts of marine species are removed from the oceans which causes changes in the food webs. With so many species gone, there will be a decline in grazers that feed on marine plants such as algae, resulting in excessive growth of algae. The abundance in algae can also lead to a depletion of oxygen by reducing the amount of light that reaches the underwater plants, therefore reducing the amount of oxygen produced through photosynthesis (Emily Hawton, 2020). The ocean is facing growing threats and greater uncertainty, putting marine life we depend on at risk. We need healthy fish populations because they are critical to healthy ecosystems and coastal communities (Gabrielle Wilson, 2022).
Canada's Fish Population
What impact does overfishing have on biodiversity loss? Biodiversity is all the different kinds of organisms and life forms in an area. Loss of biodiversity in our oceans is concerning because it can lead to food insecurity, in the ocean and in smaller communities that rely heavily on consuming fish, such as the 53 coastal communities of the Inuit Nunangat in Canada’s Arctic (Emily Hawton, 2020). Biodiversity in the ocean has many different species of fish, mammals, shellfish, coral, etc. There was an updated bylaw on June 21, 2019, the Fisheries Act where the Canadian government created new regulations and outlined actions to rebuild the depleted fish populations. Before this time, many fishers and fisheries have been catching and catching more fish which depleted the fish population (Emily Hawton, 2020). To further decrease marine species, fisheries accidentally catch non-target species (bycatch), such as turtles, sharks and stingrays. Since these species were not targeted, they are often viewed as a waste and are discarded or kept. These unsustainable fishing practices result in a serial depletion of marine ecosystems AKA “Trophic Cascade'' (Angel Hsieh, 2021). For example, the overfishing and decline of Newfoundland cod throws all the ecosystems out of balance. The Newfoundland cod feeds on sprat which feeds on zooplankton. With the decrease in cod, there is an increase in sprat. This leads to a decrease in zooplankton, with the decrease in zooplankton, the levels of phytoplankton increases, which can make the effects of eutrophication more severe (Emily Hawton, 2020). Overfishing is deeply rooted in Canada and can be seen from the collapse of the Atlantic Cod Fishery due to overfishing between 1962-1977. After 2 billion individual cod were lost to overfishing, only 1% of the cod population was left in Newfoundland (Angel Hsieh, 2021).
Mass Fishing Before and After 1960s
How does overfishing impact our economy and social life?
Canada’s economy is relatively stable and strong. But overfishing can affect our economy negatively in a drastic way. Canada’s largest food export is fish, and it is one of Canada’s largest natural resources. Fishing provides jobs and recreational activities for Canadians. However, overfishing made the fish population decline to such an extent that the minister of Fisheries and Oceans declared a temporary hold on the Northern Cod Fishery to rebuild the fish population population (Emily Hawton, 2020). This temporary hold had many huge impacts on the economy and on local communities that relied on the fishing industry. The temporary closure was the largest industrial closure in Canadian history and 50,000 people lost their jobs because of the closure, which affected the local and national economy (Emily Hawton, 2020). Canadian commercial fishing industries provide more than 130,000 Canadians with jobs in the industry and it nets up to 5 billion dollars a year, while the fishing industry is exporting about 3.9 million dollars worth of fish annually (Miles Crooks, 2013). Reduction in fish population also impacts recreational fishing which is estimated to contribute roughly 7.5 million dollars annually to Canada’s GDP.
Critical Habitat of Aquatic Animals at Risk in Canada (Shown Above)
Fish Supply vs. Population
How does overfishing affect global warming and our climate?
Overfishing can not only affect what's happening in the ocean, but also the climate around us. Overfishing decreases the ocean’s ability to withstand many impacts of climate change (Angel Hsieh, 2021). The ocean, and the life that lives in it, is the largest carbon sink of our planet, absorbing more than 25 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions, and over 90 percent of the excess heat generated by humans (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2022). Destructive fishing activities and overfishing remove significant amounts of carbon from the oceans, then releasing it into the atmosphere (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2022). The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (2022) has also stated that on top of all of the carbon going into the atmosphere, fishing fleets emit millions of tons of carbon dioxide each year from burning fossil fuels into the atmosphere. With more and more ships out fishing and idling and using gas/fuel, it is polluting the earth which can affect global warming worldwide. This results in carbon being stored into the seafloor sediment being plowed up and re-suspended by heavy nets, which may have otherwise been captured and hidden away for thousands of years (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2022).
Conclusion
Overfishing is very dangerous and harmful to our planet and is a global issue. But we can turn this around and make our oceans full of life again. We need to keep on protecting our oceans from overfishing and regulate fisheries and commercial fishing. The government should continue implementing new bylaws or regulations to keep overfishing under control. Fish exports are one of Canada’s most important food exports, so if we continue to deplete our fish population, we will not have any more fish to export, and Canada’s main source of export income will be gone. Overfishing is a problem that needs to be resolved soon because the longer we wait around, the oceans will lose marine ecosystems, marine habitats, and our atmosphere will contain more CO2 leading to more global warming. I want Canada’s government to look at overfishing as a serious issue and create more marine protected areas, and more no-catch zones to allow fish populations to grow. This will hurt the economy now, but will ensure we have healthy oceans, healthy marine ecosystems, and a fishing industry in the future.
