The Green Analysis

Overview

How many times have you eaten fish this past week? The chances are you most likely have had fish at least once this week. But when you were enjoying your seafood meal did you ever stop to think about how the fish you are eating affects the environment? The fishing industry is expected to grow to a value of 3 trillion USD in 2030 according to worldbank.org. 35% of all fish caught are caught by bottom trawling and Pelagic trawling. But, this one method of fishing alone produces 1 gigaton of carbon dioxide each year roughly the same amount of carbon dioxide as the entire aviation industry.

Environmental Impact

Trawling is by far the largest contributor to carbon emissions, with around 1 gigaton of carbon dioxide released each year, or roughly 2% of total emissions. Trawling releases carbon dioxide because when the large nets drag across the ocean floor, it releases all of the carbon dioxide stored in the ground. The sea floor has carbon dioxide stored in it because the decomposition of organic matter releases it into the soil. Another environmental factor is the fact that 80% of the world’s fisheries are either fully exploited, over-exploited, depleted, or in a state of collapse.

Human Impact

The fishing industry is estimated to be at around 3 trillion USD by 2030 and provides income currently for 10-12% of the global population. Fishes also provide over 3 billion people with vital nutrients for life. This shows just how much of the world depends on the fishing industry either for food or for pay. Many of the countries that rely on the fishing industry are developing countries that without the vital money supplied through fishing their countries would collapse into crisis.

My View

The fishing industry is in a very complex situation, on one hand, it produces lots of carbon dioxide and also puts global fisheries on the brink of collapse. Yet, it also supplies the world with vital money for countries and also provides essential nutrients to people. One solution that could be beneficial to both sides of the spectrum would be aquaculture. Aquaculture is the sustainable farming of fish in an enclosed area. Aquaculture can be a viable method because it allows fishers to get a large amount of fish while also not depleting the important stocks of wild fish. Another solution could be a ban on trawling fishing because the largest amount of greenhouse gas emissions from fishing comes from trawling. This solution has some problems, one being that trawling is the most effective fishing method, and a ban on trawling would mean the loss of profit for thousands of people. On the other hand trawling by far causes the most greenhouse gasses, so a ban on trawling would cause a vast reduction in greenhouse emissions from the fishing industry. Overall some solutions have great benefits for the Earth but at a cost of the profits of thousands while other solutions provide milder benefits to the Earth but do not inhibit the profits of the industry.

Bibliography

https://www.ucsdclimatereview.org/post/the-environmental-impact-of-the-fishing-industry https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/overfishing https://www.msc.org/what-we-are-doing/minimising-fishing-impacts-on-ecosystems-and-habitats https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-57202758 https://stecf.jrc.ec.europa.eu/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=924c1ba8-94af-440d-94cb-f9cb124d2d57&groupId=12762 https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/planet-earth/oceans/overfishing-statistics https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/oceans-fisheries-and-coastal-economies https://unctad.org/news/fishery-exports-and-least-developed-countries http://ourocean2016.org/sustainable-fisheries