The secrets of ocean pollution
By: Alexander Tilley
Tags: Oceans, Commercial Fishing

The world’s oceans are arguably the most valuable resource to mankind and all life that the planet earth holds. The ocean not only serves as a resource for food it also plays a major role in carbon reduction in the atmosphere as it is the largest filter of carbon dioxide that we have. It is also home to some of the most amazing marine life and beautiful vibrant ecosystems that you can’t see anywhere else on the planet. In the past 10 years, there has been an increasing percentage of awareness to protect our oceans and attempt to reverse the effects past generations have done like cause oil spills, polluting, and plastics ending up at sea although these are all major problems something that hasn’t been listed or even made aware to many people is the detrimental effects of commercial fishing. Many ocean activist websites list many ways to stop ocean pollution and the most famous is not using plastic straws, many people have seen the image of a turtle with a straw stuck in its nose which is a problem but no one talks about the fact that over 4,600 turtles die as a result of bycatch which is being accidentally caught by commercial fishing boats while trying to catch the target species, and only 1,000 die from ingesting plastic. This fact poses the question what is the impact of commercial fishing on ocean ecosystems and, given this impact, why is commercial fishing not recognized as a major ocean problem?

Commercial fishing is the practice of mass catching a target species for resale this can be anywhere from cheap baitfish like mullet to bluefin tuna that’s served in expensive sushi dishes. The problem with commercial fishing is it is run by big corporations that only see dollar signs while operating their boats, so they use nets large nets that scrape across the bottom of the ocean catching whatever is in its path called trawl nets these nets are the major cause of dolphins, sharks, and sea turtles to be killed which is a huge disruption to the ecosystem. The ocean ecosystem is a massive cycle that all contribute to being able to support the life within it a main issue that researchers have noticed is the bleaching of coral reefs this is when coral reefs die from the lack of nutrients in the water which is happening because the fish that provide the food for the reefs are being taken away from the reefs in mass numbers and the reefs so the reefs go into shock from lack of food and end up dying leaving behind an ugly wasteland ridden of life. These detrimental effects will only get worse as coral reef bleaching has already started “, from 2014 to 2017, brought mass bleaching-level heat stress to more than 75 percent of global reefs; nearly 30 percent also suffered mortality level stress. This bleaching event was the longest, most widespread, and most destructive on record.” (NOAA) from this quote from the national oceanic and atmospheric association we have already begun to see mass effects that have been caused by comercial fishing and because in recent years comercial fishing has gotten far worse we can expect all coral reefs to be bleached in the next 15–20 years according to the NOAA. If humans don't want to live in a world without coral reefs and the vast marine life they hold then things need to change now.

coral reefs alive (left) bleached(right)

Dolphins and whales are one of nature’s miracles that sadly could be extinct due to commercial fishing. Although many countries protect these species this is not the case in the south of Japan in a place called Taiji where they are seen as a threat to profits because the dolphins and whales eat the fish their boats catch. There is a small cove in Taiji Japan where the Japanese government allows huge pods of dolphins to be herded where babies are taken away from their mothers to be used as marine entertainment and the mothers and other dolphins they don’t need are killed and left to die this occurs very often and the sole purpose of this is to have more fish to catch. These dolphins are worth almost $100,000 and data shows “ for every one Dolfin captured 12 were killed from 2000 to 2015” ( seasparicy) This means japan kills about 20,000 dolphins a year for no reason at all this is not only cruel but a staple of what represents the fishing industry as a whole. Many people are shocked that the Japanese government let this happen and even protect the people that participate in the mass slaughter and there is only one reason for it and that's money. It seems that when it comes to ocean life and the beauty of it there is only one thing stopping big business and government to take a step back and protect the waters that provide for them and that's money. Governments need to realize at the rate they are going although it is producing massive amounts of revenue as the global fishing industry is worth over 240 billion dollars according to a market watch. These industries don't realize that number could drop to $0 in the next 20 years at this rate because by that time all the oceans resources including their valuable fish will be depleted leaving an ugly barren overgrown with algae and muck sea which will only be a memory of what once was a beautiful oasis filled with all kinds of life that should not only be protected for their beauty but not letting them suffer anymore from nets and toxic gases.

Besides the killing of marine life that is vital to the ocean's ecosystems a huge factor in comercial fishing is the pollution left behind. Our planet is already overrun by Co2 emissions from cars, planes, and power plants but luckily our oceans can absorb a certain amount of that and act like a filter but the fishing industry alone can contribute to the same emissions as 51 coal-powered power plants according to PHYS.org they also explain how this is possible

“The marine fishing industry relies heavily on the use of fossil fuel and its role in global greenhouse gas emissions has been largely ignored from a policy or management perspective,” said Krista Greer, lead author of the study and a researcher with the Sea Around Us at UBC. “Until now, the most comprehensive study of carbon dioxide emissions from fishing suggested that for the year 2011, fisheries released 112 million tonnes of CO2 per year from the combustion of fuel during fishing.”

The co2 alone is enough to raise concern these toxic gasses not only destroy the ecosystem but eventually ends up on our plate when we eat fish caught from comercial fishing. Another factor of fishing pollution is the massive fishing nets that often get left behind floating in the water entangling more fish and slowly killing them the world wildlife foundation says “ Fishing gear accounts for roughly 10% of that debris: between 500,000 to 1 million tons of fishing gear are discarded or lost in the ocean every year. Discarded nets, lines, and ropes now make up about 46% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” this is an absurd about of waste from fishing gear alone and should be taken more seriously reducing the amount of waste in the ocean by 10% is a huge step in the right direction to a better future for the next-generation to come.

commercial fishing boats on fire

There is a huge problem with the false belief that some fish you can buy in the store is caught without bycatch because it has a cruelty-free stamp on it. But this is not necessarily true some companies offer a certification mark on their cans of fish that says no dolphins or bycatch were killed in the process of catching the fish but there are many flaws to this. First off the observers only go out on the boat once to receive the certification, aslo many observers are paid off by the boats or even threatened. There was a case in Indonesia where an observer reported the killing of dolphins and she was found dead the next day in her home many think it was to make an example of her to other observers. The seriousness of this problem goes beyond the life of the oceans it begins to affect humans with unsafe working conditions on these fishing boats in America the only danger is the rough waters and potentially being thrown overboard but in less developed countries like Indonesia people are taken into work on fishing boats against their will and their lives are threatened if they want to leave “During 2000–2015, an annual average of 42 deaths occurred (117 deaths per 100,000 workers),” (CDC) this quote is an average to show how dangerous it is just to catch fish this factors is shocking considering how many dolphins and human lives we are losing just because comercial fishing.

dolphins being taken out of a cove after they were slaughtered

This topic is a very important topic to me as I live on a beach and have spent most of my life around or in the oceans, and in recent years I've noticed large amounts of plastics and fishing gear on my local beaches which made me want to write about this topic. There is a huge call to action from the information detailed above many people think because they aren't near a body of water it doest affect them but people need to be aware the how much the ocean provides for the planet after all it is the largest Co2 filter in the world. The biggest point is to bring a stop to comercial fishing because of how unsustainable it is and the harm it not only brings marine life but brings to humans. The best way to do this is to stop eating fish from big fishing industries and urge the people around you to be aware of what this industry is doing to the environment and how it can affect them. Many people say fish is a major part of their diet and if that’s the case to completely cut it out then buying locally caught fish is a better option. Although all these factors are against marine life the future is looking promising with new clean energies and awareness of this cause, many ocean activists are beginning to recognize how bad comercial fishing is for the planet which will hopefully slow down this toxic factor on our planet in the end, there still is a lot of work to go before the oceans can be completely saved.

Work Cited