ecology - sustainable fisheries

Question 1

how has modern day fishing caused numbers of fish to change?

Answer 1

great deal of fish captured in huge trawler ships. can easily catch many tons of fish.

Question 2

what do trawlers use to capture fish?

Answer 2

these can stay at sea for weeks at a time. they use huge fishing nets and modern technology to locate fish

Question 3

problem with trawlers?

Answer 3

fish stocks in many parts of the world are falling. one fish stocks in an area fall below a certain level, not enough mature fish left to breed so fish stocks simply collapse to an extremely low level. if happens then commercial fishing for this species will not be possible

Question 4

how are governments trying to reverse the fish stocks being low?

Answer 4

• fishing industry is set strict quotas on the numbers of fish that can be caught for each species. by reducing number of fish caught, remaining fish can breed and bring population back to normal levels
• net size must be large enough for smaller, immature fish to not be caught. these fish can develop into adults and reproduce to hopefully restore fish stock

Question 5

are the governments strategies working?

Answer 5

yes. in 1970s+80s levels of North Sea cod fell sharply but since introduction of quotas and minimum net sizes the population is increasing against to sustainable levels