Water Resource Plan to Fix Overfishing
After reviewing the video, I now understand that the water resource problem at hand is overfishing. I believe that overfishing has always been a problem, however, I feel as though it has become more of one up until now. When you think of the word overfishing, what comes to mind? I am sure that the same thing came to your mind as it did to mine. Simply put, fishing too much. Commercial and non-commercial fishermen are fishing so much that the fish cannot sustain their population. The fish become fewer and fewer, until there are no more fish to catch. (Overfishing, 2007).
Overfishing has become a huge problem up until now, and I could talk for a long time regarding this issue. I do not know about how, however, I seem to understand things more fully if I can actually see it. The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) release a two yearly report that breaks down what percentages of certain species of fish are either exploited or close to being exploited.
• 52% of fish stocks are fully exploited
• 20% are moderately exploited
• 17% are overexploited
• 7% are depleted
• 1% is recovering from depletion (Overfishing, 2007)
Based upon the statistics shown above, it is obvious that nearly 80% of the world’s fisheries are fully over-exploited or depleted. With statistics as clear as these, one can only assume that overfishing is more destructive to the ocean than toxic pollution or degrading water quality (Declining Fish Stock VLR).
After discussing the issues regarding overfishing, the solution seems rather simple: stop pulling so many fish out of the ocean. While that is a huge part of it, I believe there are other steps to follow. Below is a table outlining action items in my sustainment plan for a solution to overfishing.
My plan will follow in this order, Action Items, Action Steps, and Timeline.
Establish marine reserves - Implement the use of marine reserves...