Mitigation Strategies and Solutions

Overfishing is a large water resource problem that needs to be addressed before the population of the fish is to the point where they cannot regenerate. Overfishing occurs when commercial fishermen continue to fish at rates too high for the fish species to reproduce disturbing the ecosystem. Overfishing has become a huge problem because of the rise in the human population. Becoming more health-conscious consumers are choosing seafood for their diet, as fish are high in protein. Therefore, reproduction in the ocean is declining drastically. The declining fish population not only affects humans, it affects the marine mammals and birds that rely on fish as their food source. Overfishing is not only about catching too many fish, but it is also about how this is destroying the aquatic ecosystem.

Freshwater fishing is presenting problems with the function of the ecosystem. Freshwater biodiversity is a symptom of intense fishing in inland waters; particular stocks are collapsing even as fish production is rising. Developing nations with low-income families in rural areas; where there are limits on jobs, depend on fishing for their livelihood. Small-scale commercial and subsistence fishing is a last resort employment when labor opportunities cannot be found. In developing countries, about one billion people rely on fish as their primary animal protein source, (Allan, David, Abell, Robin, Hogan, Zeb, Revenga, Carmen, Taylor, W. Brad, Welcomme, L.Robin, Winemiller, & Kirk, 2005). “A threat to freshwater fisheries and associated biodiversity does not receive much attention from conservation groups or the media even though inland water over fishing is more of a threat than marine ecosystems. Other threats are altered flow and habitat fragmentation due to dams and other infrastructure, pollution, habitat degradation, nonnative species introductions, and detrimental interactions with hatchery-reared fish,” according to Allan. Targeting of larger fish such as, sharks (apex...