The 14 Fish Species Threatened by Overfishing

14 Fish Species Threatened by Overfishing 

The incredible craving for seafood has brought about the absolute and in some cases devastating exploitation of the world's fisheries. What's happening is referred to as overfishing, but it isn't a mere matter of overpopulation of numbers. Here we profile the 15 animals caught up in the global "overfishing crisis" why they are important, and what we can do to help turn the tide.

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna

The Atlantic Bluefin is an ocean giant, which can range from ocean to ocean and has been observed to reach considerable speeds. Because it is already fat at very young age, it's the conclave of the sushi market, and can pay you landlord's price. In fact, the market demand has produced such incredible fishing pressure that the eel has become one of the most iconic 'ocean endangered species of fish'. Despite the impact of international quotas, recovery of the population continues to be a major challenge due to illegal fishing and management issues relating to a species which is highly mobile across national borders.

Southern Bluefin Tuna

Southern Bluefin Theatos Tuna Southern bluefin is the Atlantic bluefin's cousin but it is unintentionally in an equally critical situation their numbers are also decreasing. Its population has been approximated to have undergone extremely severe loss (the carcinogens and other endocrine influences operating since man's un disciplined exploitation) in this century. Due to their low rate of reproduction, this species's recovery is a painfully slow process with tighter controls on their population.

Chilean Toothfish

If it is done well and marketed in the right way the situation can change. Renamed from its controversial side, Patagonian toothfish, to Chilean seabass, the popularity of the sub antarctic fish rapidly sky rocketed. The deepwater fish is slow growing and lives for over 50 years, so is very susceptible to overfishing. For this deep sea delicacy, illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is the biggest threat.

Atlantic Cod

Probably the most well known of the fisheries cautionary tales is that of Atlantic cod. Thousands were out of work by the time Canada's Grand Banks cod fishery collapsed in the early 1990s and became the world's poster child for "overfishing." A fish moratorium was instituted but the cod never recovered some ecosystems when broken just never recover at all.

Orange Roughy

A long life is a malady that irks this deep ocean fish. Orange roughy live for over a century and therefore they are slow breeding and are not well adapted to cope with industrialised fishing. Because they aggregate living on the bottom, they are at risk from bottom trawlers a destructive type of fishing which also destroys the ancient deep sea coral habitats in which they live.

Beluga Sturgeon

It is the caviar that has driven this species, called Beluga sturgeon, into endangerment. This incredibly large fish that could grow to prehistoric size is slain for only its eggs, which are much prized. However, combined with the effect of poaching, and the degradation of their migratory spawning grounds due to manmade dams, the species now seems to be teetering on the brink of extinction.

European Eel

The life cycle of the European eel is a remarkable and mysterious process; starting from the Sargasso sea all the way to the European rivers. Now, it is also a tragic one. Along with being listed as critically endangered, loss of habitat, pollution, overfishing for glass eels (juveniles), and even changes in ocean currents have all contributed to an astronomical decline of this species.

Vaquita

Of the more than 70 marine mammals, the vaquita, a little porpoise that lives in Mexico's Gulf of California, is without a doubt the most endangered marine mammal. Only estimated to be a few individuals left there are few options to save them from extinction as bycatch. The illegal gillnets are set for another "threatened fish species," or totoaba fish, which have swim bladders that are sold on the legitimate medicine market in Mexico, but are also attraction fish drawn into the gillnets.

Nassau Grouper

In some places and at some times of the year, the Nassau grouper (E. rencontre-laeterait), a dominant species of lagoon reefs, forms massive aggregations, diving for mating. As such they are the easiest fish to overfish, due to this predictable behavior: As a result of the anthropogenic utilization of these spawning aggregations, they now are considered to be useful natural resources that are currently under threat of exploitation in many parts of the Caribbean.

Blue Marlin

The Atlantic blue marlin is valued as a sportfish, and is also a victim of "bycatch" in commercial "blue line" longline fisheries targeting tuna and swordfish. Their relatively slow rate of increase and larger size allows them to quickly bounce back from reduced populations under such a high demand of intensive fishing.

King Mackerel

King mackerel is heavily harvested by commercial and recreational fisherman and a number of stocks have suffered from over exploitation and damaging free school periods resulting in large decreases in fish populations. Scientific regulations are in place to maintain their stocks and ensure their population stays healthy this includes strict size and bag limits, as well.

Atlantic Halibut

The giant sole was an important north Atlantic species but is now commercially extinct from most places. Its slow growth and old age at maturity will place this at significant risk from overfishing. The red grouper is not a quota species typically subjected to directed commercial harvest, but may be taken as bycatch of other ground fisheries.

Humphead Wrasse

An attractive and uniquely shaped coral reef fish, the humphead wrasse is highly sought for the live reef fish food trade of southeast Asia. Due to a complex life cycle and low fecundity paired with extreme fishing pressure, this species has become endangered.

Winter Skate

While not as glamorous as tuna, the winter skate is an important part of our ecosystem of the Northwest Atlantic. This species has become irretrievably depleted from heavy bottom trawling. And its story illustrates further that the so called "over fishing crisis" is not confined to what is now referred to as the "charismatic megafauna", but rather applies across all taxa of the marine biosphere:

Communities can be Part of the Solution

The great abundance of species within the sea is not a limitless resource. So we all must alter our appetite to 'sustainable seafood', and support great conservation efforts to enable these great 'endangered ocean fish' to not be something for our future generations to only remember, but actually consume. "Our oceans and terrestrial sphere are one and the same and responsible planetary vis a vis starts here, today and now."