OPPapers.com

Water Resorce: Declining Fish Stocks

Declining Fish Stocks

Simply stated, a decision must be made as to the veracity of data and observation, which speaks to the availability of wild fish stocks. The commercial fisherman in the VLR feature has decided that the ocean is a bigger place than we think it is. He believes there are a great deal more fish in the ocean than the two scientific reports say there are. We are asked to consider his position and may well consider him as representative and typical of people engaged in taking wild fish stocks from the waters. He is a commercial fisherman and states as much when he refers to his concerns for being limited or regulated in his fish takings. He says he has invested his resources in his fishing vessel. I would ask the reader to consider this exemplar of what true commercial fishing exacts as a toll on the worlds fishing stocks. I would also ask that the reader consider that the very nature of the term “commercial” is that it is something done for profit. That it is done for profit implies risk. Commercial fishing ventures take profit from common resources.

FAO Catch Statistics, World Catches from 1950 – 2005. [Chart] Retrieved November 10, 2007, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishery
The person in the VLR is in an industry, which takes tons and tons of wild stockfish from the ocean’s waters. The industry is driven by profit. There are countless reports of and industry, which simply exploits certain fish species because those species fetch higher prices on the market. The Fishing and Agriculture Department or FAO (2004) stated, “Although Japan is the primary market for blue fin tuna, it is estimated that demand in the United States is around 45 000 tons, mainly for sushi and sashimi, but also for grilling”. From this same report comes the information that commercial CBA or Capture Based Aquaculture prefers the method of capturing huge numbers of baby fish or seedlings to be used as stock in ocean based pens. The small fish are...