Economics and Fishing: Problems

            Historically, the fishing industry has been able to meet the demand of human needs, but the rising demand has caused the industry to over-harvest marine resources. Due to high demand, we continuously supply large amounts of fish at the cost of the fish populations. By over-harvesting fish and other aquatic animals from oceans and other bodies of water, we are depleting their populations before they can be naturally replenished. This causes marine ecosystems to lose aquatic biodiversity, which keeps the ecosystem healthy, and it causes a scarcity of fish in the economy.

            Currently, 52% of world fisheries are being fully exploited, which means that no more resources can be drawn from them without damaging the environment. 24% of fisheries have become over exploited  their resources have been depleted and they can no longer be relied on as a source. That means that only 24% of the world’s fisheries are being used sustainably, which drastically limits the resource. And, if the resource is limited, that means that the industry is losing jobs and money, and the government is losing money as it pays to restore the ecosystems to what they once were.

Unsustainable Fishing - More information on the impact of unsustainable fishing practices by the United Nations Environment Program.