Impacts of Overfishing
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| overfishing/ˌəʊvəˈfɪʃɪŋ/ | A classic tragedy of the commons. |
| bycatch/ˈbaɪkætʃ/ | bycatch |
| trawling/ˈtrɔːlɪŋ/ | trawling |
Emptying the seas
- The ocean once seemed to hold endless fish.
- But modern fleets can catch fish faster than they breed.
- Many fisheries have collapsed, and others are close.
- This overuse of a shared resource is overfishing.
What overfishing is
- Overfishing 过度捕捞 means catching fish faster than they can reproduce.
- Each year fewer breeding adults are left.
- The population shrinks, then can crash completely.
- Once collapsed, a fishery may take decades to recover — if it ever does.
Catch rises with effort until the stock collapses (illustrative)
Overfishing means…
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Overfishing takes fish faster than they breed, so the population crashes.
Damage beyond the target
- Fishing gear often catches more than the target fish.
- Bycatch 兼捕 is unwanted animals — dolphins, turtles, seabirds — caught by accident.
- Bottom trawling 底拖网 drags heavy nets across the seafloor.
- This destroys the seabed habitat that many species depend on.
Bycatch is…
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Bycatch is unwanted animals — dolphins, turtles, young fish — caught and killed by accident.
Dragging heavy nets across the seafloor, destroying habitat, is called bottom ____.
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Bottom trawling scrapes the seafloor, destroying habitat and catching huge bycatch.
Protecting fish stocks
- Catch limits (quotas) cap how much can be taken each year.
- Marine protected areas give fish safe places to breed.
- Better gear reduces bycatch and seafloor damage.
- With care, overfished stocks can slowly recover.
Problem or solution?
Sort each idea by whether it worsens overfishing or helps prevent it.
Catch limits and marine protected areas can help fish populations recover.
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Quotas and protected areas give fish time and space to breed, letting stocks rebuild.
Select all true statements about overfishing.
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Fish stocks are limited and can collapse. The other three are correct.
Overfishing is a classic tragedy of the commons. The open ocean belongs to no one, so each fleet gains by catching more — until the fish are gone for everyone. Only shared rules, like international quotas, can protect a fishery that no single nation owns.
The cod that vanished:
- For centuries, fishers took cod from the rich waters off Canada.
- Then powerful modern trawlers caught them faster than they could breed.
- In the 1990s the cod fishery collapsed completely, putting tens of thousands out of work — a warning of what overfishing can do.
Overfishing takes fish faster than they can reproduce, crashing fish populations. It also causes bycatch (unwanted animals killed) and, through bottom trawling, destroys seafloor habitat. Catch limits, marine protected areas, and better gear can protect and rebuild fish stocks.