Sci/275 Week 6 Water Resource Plan

Water Resource Plan

SCI/275

September 7, 2013

Instructor/William McIntosh

University of Phoenix

Humans are the biggest contributors to environmental problems. Pollution, global warming, ozone destruction, and endangered species are some of the environmental problems we face today. Overfishing, which is declining fish stock, is an environmental issue that not many people are aware of. Since people are not aware of this issue, there are not many plans in place to conquer the negative effects of over fishing. I am going to discuss the overfishing problem and explain a plan that will benefit both sides.

“According to the National Research Council, 80 percent of nearly 200 commercially important fish stock in the United States and nearly 30 percent worldwide are fully exploited of overfished (Berg, Hager, & Hassenzahi, p, 262) Overfishing is a major water resource problem which is causing depletion on many commercial fish species. There is an increasing demand for fish and this causes overfishing. As the demand for fish increases, increasing fishing boats go out to sea to supply the demand for fish. With advanced technology and highly effective methods of fishing, the population of fish is depleting.

The techniques used by fishermen today have negative effects in the declining fish stock. They drag heavy and large nets along the sea floor to catch fish. This is a very destructive fishing practice that is called bottom trawling. It destroys the sea floor and fish species that dwell on sea floors. It will take many years for the recover from the damage.

As I am researching this issue, I find there is fishing called bycatching. This is the capture of species such as dolphins, marine turtles, and seabirds. Each day, thousands of miles of nets are set in the oceans. This is an effective way of catching the desired fish species, but also captures anything that may get caught in the nets. The undesired species are thrown overboard dead or left to die....