Coastal Management Fall 2017
2017 Coastal Opinions
Overharvesting Ocean Resources
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By James French, Monica James and Dakota-Rose Whearley
Poor fishery management in the world’s oceans has lead to a 90% decline in large predatory fish populations (Myers and Worm 2005). Image Source: © OCEANS OF FUN 2017
Introduction
Harvesting marine resources has been a way of life for many generations of people around the world. Life from the ocean serves as a source of nutrition and income. Prior to 1960, fisheries around the world and throughout history were able to maintain relatively stable population sizes (Anderson 2017). Historically, overfishing has always existed but has only become a global issue in the last century. A boom in technological advancements spurred the mass marine fishery declines seen today. The 1940’s, produced ships with mechanical arms, radar, sonar, GPS, LORAN and satellites (Anderson 2017). Once these highly efficient technologies made their way into the hands of the general public the rapid decline of fish stocks began. Fisherman who used these advancements were suddenly able to locate fish stocks and use mechanical arms to wrench massive quantities of fish from the ocean.
Intense commercial fishing since World War II has resulted in a direct increase of fish caught per year and excessive bycatch caught per year (Anderson 2017). Between 1969 and 1973, finfish stocks in the Southern Ocean (Antarctic Ocean) decreased the average population size to <50% of their original size. By the mid-1980’s the finfish populations had been reduced to <20% of pre-exploitation levels (Ainley and Blight 2009). Despite the organization of management methods, few of these finfish stocks have recovered and many are still in decline. Massive exploitation of fish stocks around the world has resulted in similar ecological collapses. In 2004 it was determined that 52% of the world’s fish stocks were fully exploited while 25% were overexploited (Anderson 2017). As declines continue, the extinction of sensitive populations and species is a real threat (Myers and Worm 2005). Marine management methods have been put into action in an effort to bring populations of marine fisheries back to sustainable levels but there has not been a significant increase since 1980 (Anderson 2017).
HYPOTHESIS:
People feel it is important to manage marine fisheries to sustain future demand and ocean diversity throughout the trophic levels.
Overview of Current Situation
California is a coastal state that heavily relies on the coast and marine environments. In a statewide survey conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), 46% of Californians expressed concern about overfishing off the coast of California (Bladassare 2006). In a similar study done by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the main causes of marine environmental concern was overfishing. 88% of respondents felt that overfishing, as a result of commercial fishing activity, was the greatest threat to fisheries along coastal states. Respondents felt that industrial pollution (86%) and habitat loss (79%) were also of great concern (NOAA 2003). Trevor Branch, an associate professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington, surveyed the general public with polls showing that the respondents are not well informed on the status of marine fisheries. When the public was asked “what percentage of US fisheries do you think are overfished?”, 63% believed that U.S. fisheries were being overharvested. According to NOAA, 29 out of 170 surveyed fisheries were overharvested by 20% (CFOOD 2016; NOAA 2017). There are other groups that are trying to raise awareness about problems concerning overharvesting. Certain groups like, the ocean project, pew charitable trusts and greenpeace, advocate to end overharvesting. They promote initiatives to improve policies designed to protect U.S. fisheries.
When one species is overharvested, fishermen switch their attention to a more abundant resource until that one is depleted which results in harvesting down the food web (Anderson 2017; Sobel 2004). To prevent negative impacts on the environment there are laws and policies in place to regulate, manage and monitor the status of marine environments. The laws that govern NOAA, which is responsible for the stewardship of marine environments, include the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act (NOAA 2017). The MSA prevents overfishing through regulation of the amount of fish stocks that can be caught. This ensures a sustainable supply of seafood and the rebuilding of damaged fisheries. The Marine Mammal Protection Act protects marine mammals to ensure the stability of marine ecosystems and helps to restore damaged populations. As well as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of proposed actions before making decisions (Anderson 2017; NOAA 2017).
Exposure to recreational activities such as fishing could have an impact on the public’s knowledge of the status of fisheries and thus their opinions on environmental issues relating to the regulation of California’s fisheries.
Relevant Survey Questions (8, 13, 19 & 35)
The following questions from the Coastal and Marine Resources Public Opinion Poll version 11.2 surveyed in October 2017, were analyzed to assess attitudes toward marine fisheries and over harvesting. Data was utilized and interpreted from a sample size of 1,479 people, in and around the Ventura and LA counties. These survey questions were chosen based on their ability to accurately perceive Californians opinions based on practices used to harvest marine resources.
8: Overall there are too many fish being taken from the sea:
- Agree
- Disagree
- I Don’t Know
13: How much of a threat to California’s coastal areas (beaches, oceans, estuaries, etc.) are the Following: (Please Rank 1-4; with 1= Greatest and 4= Lowest threat)
- Pollution
- Exotic Plants & Animals
- Excessive Hunting/Fishing/Collecting
- Habitat Fragmentation/Destruction
35: Commercial Fishing off of California’s Coast is:
- Overreggulated
- Regulated About Right
- Underregulated
- I Don’t Know
19: California’s marine fisheries are healthier and more abundant now than 60 years ago:
- Agree
- Disagree
- I Don’t Know/Unsure
Results
Question 8
About ⅔ of the surveyed population believes that Californians are over-harvesting, or otherwise depleting our fish stocks. 60% of men and 66% of women believed that Californians are over harvesting our fish stocks; with 17% of men and 12% of women believing that we are not over harvesting and about 22% of both genders unsure of how we are managing our fish stocks.
When comparing counties, both Los Angeles and Ventura counties showed similar polling responses,
with 56% of overall residents believing that Californians are over harvesting fish stocks.
Additionally 63% of Ventura County residents polled believe that over harvesting is occurring.
Question 13 (Rank Environmental Concerns from 1-4)
According to the polling data, over harvesting was ranked second in terms of most important environmental
issues, with exotic plant/animals species ranked as most important.
Question 19
40% of general public said they do not think California fishery health is better off now than 60 years ago. 47%
were unsure.
Question 35
Overall 47% of the surveyed population from all demographic areas were unsure of the current California
regulations on commercial fishing.
Interpretation
Along the southern coast of California in Ventura and Los Angeles County, the public seems to be aware of certain environmental concerns and are aware of their impact on the marine ecosystem. The public’s opinion on over harvesting was utilized to showcase evidence of acknowledgement of the situation at hand. Ventura and Los Angeles counties showed about 60% of those surveyed felt that too many fish are being taken from the ocean. One of the most important environmental concerns of California residents is over harvesting of resources. This was ranked 3rd out of 4 major environmental issues.
40% of respondents thought that California fisheries were in worse condition now than 60 years ago. This tells us that most Californians are uninformed about issues regarding marine environment. Survey results showed that the majority of people believe that we are depleting fishery stocks by over harvesting, with their main environmental concern being pollution. A relatively equal number of people think that the health of the ocean has either degraded in the last 60 years. The majority of respondents were unsure of fish regulations imposed on commercial fishing companies. A relatively equal number of people believed that it was either under regulated or regulated about right.
Overall the majority of the public is uninformed.
Key Takeaway
We see that the public is aware of the over harvesting of fish. They believe that California’s coast is less healthy than it was 60 years ago, and most of the public is either unsure of the regulations imposed on commercial fishing or believe that it’s under regulated.
REFERENCES
Ainley, D. G., and L. K. Blight. 2009. Ecological repercussions of historical fish extraction from the Southern Ocean. Fish & Fisheries 10:13-38.
Anderson, S. 2017. Intro to Fisheries- Part 1. https://www.youtube.com/
Anderson, S. 2017. Intro to Fisheries- Part 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Anderson, S. 2017. Intro to Fisheries- Part 3. https://www.youtube.com/
Baraff, L. S., and T. R. Loughlin. 2000. Trends and Potential Interactions Between Pinnipeds and Fisheries of New England and the U.S. West Coast. Marine Fisheries Review 62:1.
Baldassare, M. 2006. PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and the Environment. http://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-the-environment-february-2006/
Branch, Trevor. 2016. Public Perception of the Ocean Differs from Actual Ocean Status. http://cfooduw.org/public-perception-of-the-ocean/. (11/20/2017)
California Residents Opinions on and Attitudes Toward Coastal Fisheries and Their Management. 2007. http://www.alliancefisheries.org/uploads/4Reports_California_Coastal_Fisheries_Report.pdf
German, D. P., Raven, D. A., & Aguilar-Roca, N. 2017. Floating Fishes: An Activity Investigating Overfishing, Buoyancy & Gas Compressibility. American Biology Teacher (University Of California Press) 79(1):49-54.
Mott, Bill. 2017. The Ocean Project Launches New Initiative to Promote Science-Based Federal Fisheries Policy and Healthy Sustainable Marine Ecosystems. http://theoceanproject.org/2017/09/new-initiative-to-promote-science-based-federal-fisheries-policy/. (11/20/2017)
Myers, R. A., and B. Worm. 2005. Extinction, survival or recovery of large predatory fishes. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 360:13-20.
NOAA. 2017. NOAA Fisheries Saltwater Recreational Fishing Attitudes and Preferences Survey Preliminary Results. http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/management/recreational/documents/survey_results_final_web.pdf. (11/20/2017)
NOAA. 2017. Laws. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/insight/laws#what_is_the_national_environmental_policy_act_and_why_is_it_important?. (11/20/2017)
NOAA. 2017. 2017 Quarter 3 Update Through September 30, 2017. http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/fisheries_eco/status_of_fisheries/archive/2017/third/q3-2017-stock-status-summary.pdf. (11/20/2017)
The Pew Charitable Trusts. 2017. Federal Ocean Policies: Home Page. http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/projects/federal-ocean-policy. (11/20/2017)
Image Source: Oceans of Fun. 2017. Overfishing. https://www.oceansoffun.org/
