f i s h i n g
The fishing industry is slowly killing itself. By overfishing and having blatant disregard of the laws in certain countries, the industry is wreaking havoc on coral reef ecosystems. The fishing industry is currently working towards making more sustainable choices, but with ever growing demand the issue is becoming even more controversial.
Against Solving Issue:
While it may hurt the environment, by taking advantage of coral reefs (both by using certain fishing techniques and overfishing) economies can flourish. Overfishing, while looked down upon by many, is needed to support many small communities and to support economies. Local economies are significantly boosted when fishing an incredibly high amount of fish occurs; the fisherman have a surplus of fish thus the prices of fish fall to record lows. Overfishing can even support the environment if used to control a fish population. It is also needed for feeding the rapidly growing demand for fish around the world.
Making environmentally conscious decisions in coral reefs would prevent the fishing industry from doing its best in the current times (what I mean by this is that it helps them short-term to ignore saving the coral reefs). For example, bottom trawling is an extremely efficient way to catch fish. By dragging heavy equipment along the ocean floor hundred to thousands of fish can be caught at once. This method of fishing provides for many commercial industries and employs hundreds of people directly. At the same time, it damages coral reefs permanently. The UN has outlawed trawl fishing for this reason, but now a popular fishing method cannot be used. Those who support trawl fishing would say that this was a poor decision. Some even argue that fishing habits that are destructive to coral, such as trawling, can benefit certain fish species. Kaiser, who has investigated the effects of trawling for more than 20 years, said that "Trawling can remove competing species, and fishermen observed this in coastal locations with natural seabed disturbances." Other destructive fishing habits such as blast fishing are much more effective than traditional fishing, too.
In conclusion, by allowing for the damage of coral reefs in relation to fishing, the fishing industry can thrive and thus some (mainly inhabitants of third-world countries or small communities) feel that making more sustainable choices is bad news for them.
Overfishing damages coral ecosystems, but provides a lot of fish for consumption in the short-term.
For Solving Issue:
Coral ecosystems that provide the fishing industry - and the world - over 25% of all fish that are caught. They produce 5 tonnes of fish and other seafood per square kilometre each year if in healthy conditions. Coral reefs alone provide an essential source of protein for over 1,000,000,000 people.
Many in the fishing industry are working towards making sustainable choices to protect coral reefs because they want their industry to be able to support itself for generations to come. The exploitation of coral reefs can yield many fish, but by doing so many future generations of fish cease to (eventually) exist.
As mentioned earlier, destructive fishing methods such as blast fishing, bottom trawling, or cyanide fishing are used because they can help local economies by creating a surplus of fish. What I did not mention was how the other side of the fishing industry would argue that these fishing methods, while effective, are extremely unsustainable because of the industries reliance on coral reefs. In 2008, the UN stated that “...fishing teams around the world lose a combined average of $50 billion annually due to overfishing and subpar management practices.” Wiping out what the fishing industry is reliant on is as if the fishing industry is slowly killing itself - short bursts of productivity are resulting in the overall productivity significantly lowering. Fishing industries in smaller, more tropical countries that are overfishing and killing coral are causing increased beach erosion, which if severe enough destroy the ports that fisheries need to export their product. Coral protects coasts from erosion, but due to the fact that (usually) erosion is very gradual many fail to acknowledge
the effects of it.
The majority of the fishing industry has come to understand that it must make sacrifices to support itself in the long-term. While tempting to yield massive amounts of fish, it is not sustainable. Exploiting coral reefs results in the industry losing billions of potential dollars annually.
Small-scale fisheries are able to provide food and jobs for their communities without ruining coral ecosystems.
