A Warming Ocean

    We’re not only hurting our ocean directly by dumping garbage into it, or killing animals by boat pollution or overfishing, but also indirectly by our everyday actions; our carbon footprint.  The release of our overused CO2 emissions cause global warming, as we all know, which is causing serious changes to our ocean.  Global warming causes a rise in ocean temperature, a rise in sea level, and a change in currents.  Entire species and ecosystems are at risk due to the increased temperatures and acidic buildup, as they are unable to adapt. For example in many parts of the ocean, coral is turning white and dying, and it’s blamed on the rise in temperature. 10% of the worlds coral has already been destroyed.

How do Carbon Emmisions Effect Our Ocean

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/oceans/

Overfishing

The UN Food and Agricultural Organization stated in its latest report that:
      52% of fish stocks are fully exploited
      20% are moderately exploited
      17% are overexploited
      7% are depleted
      1% are recovering from depletion
 
What does this data mean?
    This means 25% of the worlds fish are overexploited or depleted, 52% are at their brink (fully exploited) and overall almost 80% of our ocean’s fish stocks are fully or overexploited, depleted, or on the brink of collapse.
    These statistics show us that we’re losing species and entire ecostystems, and all are at risk of collapse.  It also means we’re at danger of losing one of our largest food sources that many humans depend upon for dietary and economical reasons.  In 1922 in Newfoundland, Canada, the cod fish industry suddenly came to a hault when no cod arrived, due to overfishing in previous years, leaving 40,000 people jobless.  So the depleting ocean means not only less fish living, less fish to eat, but also less coastal jobs.


Overfishing from greenforum on Vimeo.

So what needs to be done?
We can start to reduce overfishing by having fisheries follow these rules and regulations:
    1. Set Safe Catch Limitis; this is the number of fish that fisheries are allowed to catch.  This number should be reassed often as the ecosystems change, scientifically determined, and followed by all fisheries.
    2. Controls on Bycatch; management rules determined to prevent the unintentional killing of bycatch.
    3. Protection of Pristine and Important Habbitats; Pristine ecosystems (such as the ocean floor) need full protection from the destruction of fisheries.
    4. Monitoring and Enforcement; A system set up to ensure fishermen are not exceeding the safe catch limit, with penalties and fines to further enforce .


http://overfishing.org/