Fishing Down Marine Food Webs

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declined from 1950 to 1994. This reflects a gradual transition in landings from long-lived, high trophic level, piscivorous bottom fish toward short-lived, low trophic level invertebrates and planktivorous pelagic fish. This effect, also found to be occurring in inland fisheries, is most pronounced in the Northern Hemisphere (Pauly 1998-1).� This led to the concern to scientists that our oceans are being overfished and the overfishing leads to some fish stocks that are being not only exploited, but fully exploited to where some fisheries are not allowed to fish anymore.
The best example of the ecological and economical dangers of overfishing is found in Newfoundland, Canada. In 1992 the once thriving cod fishing industry came to a sudden and full stop when at the start of the fishing season no cod appeared. Overfishing allowed by decades of fisheries mismanagement was the main cause for this disaster that resulted in almost 40,000 people losing their livelihood and an ...

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which it occupies a niche. Overfishing results in a form of ecological degradation or debasement, in which the naturally derived community of fish species changes. In extreme cases, a competing species may take advantage of vacant space or food resources and prevent the over-exploited species from being restored to its former abundance (Pauly 1988-2).�
One scientist by the name of Jefferson T. Hinke has said that, �Marine Fisheries have been likened to keystone predators in that the sustained pressure of harvesting can reduce the ecological impacts of the target predators on their prey. The effects of fishing in marine ecosystems may range from reductions of apex predators and other ...

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