Overfishing , marine management, policies. Life Sciences Essay

The Impact of Overexploitation of the Marine Ecosystem in the Pacific Region and the Advances in Marine Policies in the Context of Economic Trends
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Introduction and Background
Economic activities that involve fisheries strengthen the market of countries with an extensive water surface area. Fishing is a financially viable pursuit where the producers specifically target the species that are profitable to retailers and valuable to the consumers (Emery, Gardner, Hartmann, & Cartwright, 2017).
With the development of economic globalization, people's demand for marine fishery products has changed from a regional demand-supply relationship to a global demand-supply relationship (Mohanty, Sajeev, & Sajesk, 2019).
For some regions, the emergence of massive demand has led to a capitulation to the needs of economic development, leading to policy changes and increased exploitation of marine fisheries. The excessive exploitation and exploitation of marine fisheries have led to changes in the regional marine ecosystem (Islam, Shamsuzzaman, Mozumder, et al., 2017). This is evident with the development of various fishing gears such as fish traps, scallop dredges, and prawn trawls to target the rarest and indispensable species. Scientists and engineers have developed new technologies that can drastically increase the production rate of the specific species of marine life (Kraus & Diekman, 2018).
These economic activities have shown to pose a significant risk for the environment as well as to the economy by overexploiting the marine life, which may lead to a reduced potential yield from the fish standards. Moreover, the overindulgence of the benefits of the fisheries can lead to a shortage of supply from catching immature species. Thus, preventing a particular species from rebreeding (de Mitcheson, Linardich, Barreiros, et al., 2020).
Overexploitation of the fishing capacities influences the fishing industries globally. This is best demonstrated by the extreme stagnation of world marine captures from the 1980s. Due to this, fisheries management has been established in various countries to control the overexploitation of the seas, to sustain the fishing industry, and to encourage the recovery of the countries that suffered from overfishing.
In the Mediterranean European territories, it has been found out that the disruption of the marine ecosystem secondary to abuse that there is a significant decline in the number of species of shellfish and large predators such as whales and sharks. Studies have shown that the impact of overfishing in the Mediterranean Seas presented a considerable change in the ecosystem, at least for the past fifty years. Also, additional damage is done to the marine ecosystem by the advancing technology that destroys the natural habitat of the marine species, such as their coral reefs (Colloca, Scarcella, & Libralato, 2017).
The Pacific Region also demonstrated the same difficulties. This is because the economic benefits of the fishing industry are not limited to the large fishing companies. Small-scale fisheries serve as the main livelihood and source of food for the people in the Pacific region. However, there is inadequate management support from the governments in this area to limit the overexploitation of marine life (Grafeld, Oleson, Teneva, & Kittinger, 2017).
The majority of the islands surrounding the Pacific are remote areas that are often neglected by the environmental agencies. This, along with the marginal political power, has avoided the national fisheries development policy. Small-scale fishery sectors are often neglected over large-scale and industrialized fishing companies resulting in lesser resources. Thus, undervaluing their contribution to the economies. As such, countries that have sovereignty to some of the Pacific Islands neglect their contribution by a factor of five (Grafeld, Oleson, Teneva, & Kittinger, 2017).
Specifically, the nearshore fisheries of the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) in the US Pacific Region have been critically exhausted to seventy-five in contrast to the sheltered, secured, and unfished Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). It has been found out that in MHI, fishers can now only harvest one per cent of their harvests during their times of prosperity. These are the consequences of overfishing or harvesting of species that are not within the reproductive maturity, pollution, habitat alteration and destruction from coastal and commercial developments, and various fisheries-independent agenda. As a result, the economic gains of the fishing industry, specifically the nearshore fisheries decline over time (Grafeld, Oleson, Teneva, & Kittinger, 2017).
The primary objective of this paper is to determine the impact of overfishing in the Pacific region to the ecosystems as well as its economic and political causes and consequences.
Method
The DPSIR (Drivers, Pressures, States, Impacts, Responses) framework is utilized to analyze the significant impact and development in the subject of exploitation and overexploitation of the marine fisheries. Moreover, the assessment, countermeasure, and policies or laws provided by the national and local government units are evaluated (Kristensen, 2004).
This model can dissect the significant interrelationships among the social, environmental, economic, and political factors affecting the fishing industries. Also, the DPSIR framework is an excellent analytical model for assessing issues that involve the water since this subject has an unceasingly changing complex marine ecosystems. DPSIR is also suitable to examine the surrounding populations and ecosystems through time. Furthermore, it can gauge the statistics and guides that are imperative to allow the researcher to provide feedback (Kristensen, 2004).
Driving Force
The driving force is a necessity that can be divided into primary and secondary. The primary driving forces include the daily needs of a person that includes water, clothing, shelter, food, and security while the secondary driving forces involve factors for progress, amusement, and culture (Kristensen, 2004).
Pressures
The result of human activities employs pressures on the surroundings due to the manufacturing or expenditure processes. These can be separated into three main types, namely, the unwarranted use of environmental resources, the deviations in land use, and the emissions to the environment (Kristensen, 2004).
States
This refers to the condition or situation of the affected environment, which involves the quality of living in a specific ecosystem. The interaction within several aspects of the environment, such as the physical, chemical, and biological settings are also of utmost importance (Kristensen, 2004).
Impacts
This refers to the effects of the conditions on the environment. These also resolve and establish the quality of marine ecosystems to the people and the economic control over these ecosystems (Kristensen, 2004).
Responses
These are the advances initiated by society or policymakers to resolve the negative impacts caused by the pressures. The responses influence all the parts of the DPSIR framework (Kristensen, 2004).
Results
Driving Forces
For several years, there has been an increasing demand for marine species found in the Pacific region. The majority of these species are the source of food of the people living within the vicinity, and some serve as exported goods. The following are some of the exploited resources in the U.S. Pacific Region:
Pacific rockfish
Pacific rockfish which is frequently sold under the generic name of Pacific red snapper. This group, with the genus Sebastes, has more than sixty species that are being sold in several sushi restaurants, retail stores, and local fish markets around California and Washington D.C. Through genetic analysis, researchers have found that seven species of rockfish (Sebastes spp.), authentic red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus), and tilapia (Orechromis spp.) circulate around the abovementioned areas. Fifty-six per cent of these species are branded as overfished by the National Marine Fisheries Service from 2005-2008 (Logan, Alter, Haput, et al., 2008).
Beche-de-mer (Sea cucumber)
The Pacific region contributed to its mass export to Asia. Around twenty species of sea cucumber have been continuously exploited in the Pacific region, where about 1500 tons, equivalent to 15 000 tons when dried, have been caught annually. These are mainly used for the manufacture of traditional medicine in Asia for centuries. Additionally, in areas like Melanesia, fishing of sea cucumbers serve as the primary livelihood in small community areas. These highly valued marine species can be captured in shallow areas. Thus, increasing its tendency to be overfished (Hamilton & Lokani, 2011).Aquarium fish and invertebrates
The majority of the aquarium fish and invertebrates are captured in the Southeast Asia Pacific Ring of Fire, such as in the Philippines and in the jurisdiction of Papua New Guinea. These are mainly imported in the United States, Europe, and Japan, respectively (Bruckner, 2012). The significant families targeted are butterflyfish (Chaetodontidae), damselfish (Pomacentridae), surgeonfish (Acanthuridae), and angelfish (Pomacanthidae) (Rhyne, Tlusty, Schofield, et al., 2012).Trochus
Seven hundred seventeen tons of trochus were exported from the Solomon Islands from the Southwestern Pacific region, which is worth approximately $300, 000. An average of 410 tons of trochus has been exploited between 1972-1979 while approximately 700 tons were exported in 1986. A substantial amount of trochus more than the previous years has been exported to button factories from the 1990s onwards (Lasi, 2010).
Lobsters
The Pacific region houses the three species of a commercial lobster under the genus Panulirus. The most significant reserve can be found in the Torres Strait of Papua New Guinea with the species of ornate spiny lobster (Panulirus ornatus). Other countries in the Pacific Islands are home to the double-spined lobster with the scientific name Panulirus penicillatus (Jones, 2018).
In Indonesia, around fifty tons of lobster were marketed annually until 2009, secondary to the lack of knowledge in lobster farming. These lobsters are marketed domestically and exported to highly industrialized countries such as the United States of America. The Indonesian lobster aquaculture started to decline up to ninety-five per cent thirteen years (2017) after they have learned lobster farming. This may be due to the strict aquaculture policies and the increased risk perception by the lobster farmers (Jones, 2018).
In Vietnam, studies found that sea cage farms marketed the spiny lobster domestically. An estimated 3500 sea cage farms have been discovered in Vietnam (Hedberg, Stenson, Patterson, et al., 2018).
Nearshore pelagics
Luring for tuna and other big pelagics outside the coral reefs is a norm in the majority of the Pacific Island countries. This is especially famous in count...