Overview
The Pacific Ocean is one of the world’s five oceans and it is the
largest with an area of approximately 60.06 million square miles. It stretches
form the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south (Amanda, 2011). The
Pacific Ocean covers about 28% of the Earth’s surface and it’s almost equal to
the total land areas in the world. The Pacific Ocean is divided into North and
South Pacific regions with the equator as a division (Amanda, 2011).
In terms of geology the area encompassing the Pacific Ocean is sometimes
called the Pacific Ring of Fire. This region has this name because it’s the
world’s largest area of volcanism and earthquakes (Amanda, 2011). The Pacific Ocean is subject
to this geologic activity because its seafloor sits above subduction zones
where the edges of the Earth’s plates are forced own below others after
collision. In addition there are some areas of hotspots volcanic activity where
magmas from Earth’s mantle is forced up through the crest creating underwater
volcanoes which can potentially form islands and sea mounts (Amanda, 2011).
Throughout this blog you will learn about the threats facing the Pacific
Ocean, how overfishing exerts impacts on the environment and society, and how
overfishing can devastate an entire marine ecosystem.
Overfishing is simply exploitation of fisheries and commercial fishing
on the populations of fish that also includes top predators, reproductively
immature juveniles, marine mammals, sea birds, and turtles. The problem is that
the mortality impacts the economy and impacts other species in the ocean. Worldwide
the fishing fleets are two to three times as large as needed for present day catches
of fish. On a global scale there are enough fishing fleets to cover at least
four Earth like planets (Center for Oceans Solutions). We are losing species as well as entire ecosystems
because of overfishing. The overfishing in the United States has a lot of risk
involved and we are currently at risk of losing a valuable food source that
many people depend on for social, economic or dietary reasons.
Among all of the threats facing the Pacific Ocean, overfishing exerts
one of the most severe impacts on both environment and the society. Many
commercially important fisheries throughout the Pacific Ocean have collapsed or
have shown declines. The methods of fishing are unsustainable in their own ways
and have had a negative effect on the ecosystem (Overfishing a Global disaster, 2011). Fishing in high seas from top predators such
as sharks, have made certain species rare across the Pacific Ocean. Unsustainable
fishing methods are ways of catching wild fish that are not considered
sustainable in a long term (Overfishing a Global disaster, 2011). This is because these methods threaten the fish
stock by overfishing and it also threatens the environment the fish need to
thrive.
One of the endangered species Blue fin tuna has been endangered for years
and has suffered a decline in stocks more than 96% (Fiona, 2013). The problem occurs when the
year fish are caught that haven’t had a chance to reproduce. Blue fin tuna is
one of nature’s most successful ocean inhabitants and the biggest of the tuna and
the top of the food chain fish. There are very few natural predators of the
blue fish tuna. Because of the industrial fishing methods there have been a lot
of people after this particular fish and now it is on the brink of extinction (Fiona, (2013).
Environmental and Socioeconomic Impacts
Overfishing and exploitation can devastate an entire marine ecosystem. Historically
people have utilized fishing and extraction of marine resources as a source for
food and cultural significance. Some of the earliest cases of over fishing was
because fish were hunted for their blubber.Jones, E. 2013). A lot of the overfishing that
occurs in the Pacific Ocean is from the Impact of the Seafood Industry and how
some species of fish have become a delicacy (Jones, E. 2013). Some westernized types of food
such as sushi have added to the impact of overfishing.
Fish provide about 1.5 billion people with 20 percent of their animal
protein and provides 3 billion people with at least 15 percent of such protein.
The demand for seafood increases and so does the price (Jones, E. 2013). This ultimately can
result in billions of people unable to afford seafood due to increasing demands
in wealthier nations. Top seafood countries like Japan, China, and the United
States are exponentially increasing their annual seafood consumption, creating
large gaps between rich and poor countries (Jones, E. 2013).
http://youtu.be/BA7enHKa5As
Works cited
Center for Oceans Solutions. http://www.centerforoceansolutions.org/?q=projects/pacific-ocean-initiative/major-threats-pacific-ocean/overfishing-and-exploitation
Briney, Amanda. (2011). Geography of the Pacific Ocean. http://geography.about.com/od/specificplacesofinterest/a/geography-pacific-ocean.htm
Overfishing a Global disaster. (2011). http://overfishing.org/pages/about.php.
Copyright 2007-2012 Pepijn Koster.
Harvey, Fiona. (2013). Overfishing causes Pacific Bluefin tuna numbers
to drop 96%. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jan/09/overfishing-pacific-bluefin-tuna.
Jones, E. (2013). The Environmental and Socioeconomic Effects of Overfishing Due
to the Globalization of the Seafood Industry.
Pictures
http://www.sharks-world.com/great_white_shark_in_the_pacific_ocean.html
http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Sunset-Cliffs-Beach-on-the-Pacific-Ocean-at-Sunset-San-Diego-California-USA-Posters_i2866784_.htm
taken by Christopher Talbot Frank
http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/03/california-waves-photographed-by-david-orias/
Photographer David Orias Makes the Pacific Ocean Look like Rainbows and Gold
Youtube Link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA7enHKa5As
