Introduction
The ocean plays a significant role in ensuring the planet functions and that there is life on Earth. According to Sumaila & Tai (2020), the ocean attains all these by “mediating global weather patterns, cycling of carbon (i.e., biological carbon pump) and carbon sequestration (i.e., carbon sink), contributing almost half of the annual primary production on Earth” (p. 523). The ocean’s health determines the well-being of the marine ecosystem goods and services to people.
However, Sumaila & Tai (2020) have indicated that “there are many potential consequences of continuous human population growth and rising per capita consumption” (p. 523). Overfishing has been indicated to be a significant issue. Therefore, this paper will focus on overfishing as an essential ethical challenge in coastal marine environments and evaluate policies that exist to address it.
Discussion of the Problem
Fish play a significant role in the marine ecosystem and are considered the core of the food web in marine. This ecosystem depends on fish to create the “predator-prey relations both within different fish species and between fish and other marine life keep the ocean thriving” (Sumaila & Tai, 2020, p. 524). When an ocean is full of life, it becomes a critical source of food, and many people from all over the globe depend on it.
According to Link (2021), fisheries play a significant part in the US economy, representing about 1% of the total economy, with sales over $212 billion. The report also indicates that fisheries contribute about 1.7 million jobs in the US. It is also an essential source of protein in the nation, contributing to about 16 pounds per capita annually. Overall, the state of a marine ecosystem and the marine capture fisheries play a significant economic, societal, ecological, and cultural role in the US and the globe.
Even though the marine ecosystem and fish play an essential role in different waters in the US, including the Salish Sea, they face many kinds of threats. According to Sumaila & Tai (2020), overfishing is one of the most significant threats facing fish and life in the ocean. Even though fishing does not hurt the marine environment, overfishing has an effect as it reduces the number of fish in the ocean. Overfishing refers to catching a lot of fish at a time, which affects the breeding population, making it challenging to recover (Link, 2021).
Overfishing affects the fish stock in the ocean, thus affecting the overall food supply in a nation. Issifu et al. (2022) note that about 87% of the world’s fish stock is either fully exploited or overexploited. A recent report estimated that about 40% to 70% of European fish stock is unsustainable due to overfishing (Sumaila & Tai, 2020). Therefore, overfishing has grown to be an issue in the marine ecosystem as it can cause imbalances in the national and international food chain, impacting the survival of other marine species.
Overview of Environmental Policies
Many environmental policies help reduce the rising rate of overfishing, which is a significant issue in the coastal marine environment. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act is the first environmental policy related to overfishing. The Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) is a policy that provides for the management of fisheries in the US coastal marine environment (Federal Register, 2022). First passed in 1976, this policy ensures that marine fisheries are economically and biologically sustainable in the long run. Its objectives include preventing overfishing, protecting the fish habitat, providing a safe and sustainable seafood supply nationwide, and rebuilding overfished stocks. Before this policy, fleets from other nations could fish in the US waters above 12 nautical miles. However, this policy extended the nation’s jurisdiction to 200 nautical miles.
The other environmental policy related to overfishing is the Endangered Species Act (ESA). ESA is an environmental policy in the US that has been passed to ensure endangered and threatened species and their habitat are significantly conserved and protected. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is the body responsible for administering this policy for freshwater and terrestrial species.
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) also administers this law in the US for marine species (Eberhard et al., 2022). Under this law, the authorities can list a species as threatened or endangered. Threatened species are more likely to face danger in the future, which might affect their existence. On the other hand, endangered species are those exposed to the danger of extinction at almost every point of their habitat (Murphy & Weiland, 2019). Once the authorities have listed the species, the law protects it, and anyone who harms, kills, or damages its habitat is charged.
Evaluation of Environmental Policies
In the US, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act is the primary law to prevent overfishing and promote sustainable fisheries in all waters. The law has always required officials to develop fishery management plans for all fisheries in the nation managed by the federal government. The plans are often based on scientific assessment of the available fish stock and the impacts the fish and the country would encounter if these stocks are fished from (Federal Register, 2022).
The fishery management plans include guidelines and measures that limit the amount of fish to catch and control the efforts made in fishing, such as fishing seasons, catch quotas, and much more (Bertrand, 2022). Additionally, the law requires the prevention of overfishing and necessary efforts to rebuild fish stocks. If any fish stock has been overfished, the law requires the relevant authority to design a plan to rebuild it.
The Endangered Species Act also significantly relates to the problem of overfishing in coastal marine environments. Since overfishing involves catching more fish than the ocean can naturally replenish, it reduces the overall fish population. This makes fish either endangered or threatened, hence needing the law’s protection (Sumaila & Tai, 2020).
The ESA is an effective law addressing overfishing because it offers measures for protecting threatened and endangered species and where they live. This law is administered by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in the coastal marine environments to manage the fish population by establishing measures for preventing overfishing (Federal Register, 2022). It sets fish catch limits based on their scientific stock assessment results. Like MSA, ESA implements size limits, fishing quotas, and seasonal closures.
Ethical Approaches or Governance Approaches
One relevant approach to overfishing is the ecosystem-based approach. The ecosystem-based approach is a strategy that ensures adequate land, water, and living species management that contributes to attaining environmental sustainability (Lauria et al., 2020). Regarding overfishing, this ethical approach recognizes that many other marine species and their general environment depend on the fish population. Prey-predator relations will be facilitated when the fish population increases, and the seafood supply will significantly increase.
According to this theory, there needs to be a holistic approach to managing the entire coastal marine environment and ensuring all species are protected from harm that might lead to extinction (Vasseur, 2021). This approach would help control overfishing in the coastal marine environments that would otherwise cause an imbalance in the food supply chain. It would help rebuild the fish stock.
The other approach that would help address overfishing is marine spatial planning (MSP). MSP is “a public process of analyzing and allocating the spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic, and social objectives specified through a political process” (UNESCO, n.d., p. 1). It is a practical way that marine officials use to establish a better way to optimize the available marine space and how its users interact. It aims to balance the demand to develop the environment and the need to care for the surroundings, yielding economic and social outcomes as required.
It systematically analyzes the ocean space and identifies areas suitable for certain activities, including shipping, fishing, and conservation. It would ensure that areas with less fish stock are left to rebuild, and no fishing activity will occur there. Additionally, it would help prevent ocean users, including those fishing, from conflicting and ensure they follow the stipulated sustainable fishing practices (Grip & Blomqvist, 2021). Therefore, this approach effectively controls overfishing by setting plans for areas where fish could be done and those needing to rebuild the stock.
Recommendations
Relevant authorities must find better ways to deal with overfishing and increase the fish population. As mentioned earlier, fish is an integral part of the coastal marine environment as it serves as food for other species. Additionally, fish helps increase the seafood supply in society, which reduces the risk of food shortages and also helps improve the economy(Sumaila & Tai, 2020). However, with the rise of overfishing, the fish stock is getting lower, which might lead to extinction. Even though laws have been passed to address this issue, it still needs to be solved. Therefore, there needs to be more improvements in the policies being used and even create new ones if possible.
The first recommendation to help prevent overfishing in the coastal marine environment is implementing catch shares. According to Pham et al. (2021), catch shares are a fishing management system that allows fish stock to replenish to avoid extinction due to overfishing. This system involves collecting scientific data on the health of fish stock and the state of the coastal marine environment in an area and then deciding the total allowable catch. It would direct all fish businesses on the exact number of fish they should catch. Catch shares would be effective in aiding the passed laws in preventing overfishing, as it will require everyone’s participation in attaining the required outcomes.
This recommendation is based on community-based ethics, prioritizing the local community’s interests and values instead of individuals. When it comes to preventing overfishing, community-based ethics suggest that policies ensure the whole community is engaged and their needs should be prioritized (Banks et al., 2023). Catch shares will provide seafood that is valuable and, hence, more nutritious, generate more profits, and protect the environment.
The other recommendation will involve implementing a Marine Protected Area (MPA). According to the National Geographic Society, MPA “is a section of the ocean where a government has placed limits on human activity” (National Geographic Society, 2022, p. 3). Often, these MPAs require people to protect the environment when using the specified area.
Others also ban fishing activities, with a few completely restricting people from accessing the site. Over the years, governments have implemented MPAs to protect species exposed to threats and dangers, including water pollution, overfishing, global climate change, and litter (National Geographic Society, 2022). This recommendation should be used in more instances because it can help protect the marine ecosystem and prevent fish from becoming extinct due to overfishing.
Conclusion
The coastal marine ecosystem faces many threats and dangers, including overfishing, global climatic change, litter, and water pollution. Overfishing has become a significant issue threatening the fish population and increasing the risk of extinction. The US government has been trying to prevent overfishing in some areas by passing laws such as the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Endangered Species Act.
However, these laws must catch up to effectively prevent overfishing at the national and global levels. Some recommendations that would help effectively address this issue include implementing marine spatial planning, ecosystem-based approaches, Marine Protected Areas, and catch shares. These recommended solutions would help increase the fish population and their value, stabilizing the food chain and increasing the economy.
References
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