How Overfishing has undermined the Quality of Life in the Atlantic Region Essay

The Atlantic country of Canada has been affected by many issues that operate communities in various ways. Over tiping is one of such issues and has caused the formation of dissimilar opinions from the politics of Canada and communities in provinces such as Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Labrador and Prince Edward Island. The politics is constantly putting pressure on look forermen by implementing policies that bar them from fish certain species of fish such as the Atlantic lecture (Gadus Morhua) and salmon (Blanchette, 1994). On the separate hand, fishermen in the Atlantic region ar usually stressed because they can non cumulate enough money to support their families because of the limitations and quota on maximum catch and type of fish species caught as directed by the government (Hauser & Carvalho, 2009). Thus, there is a dilemma on whether to mitigate depletion of fish stocks by limiting fishing activities or allow the fishermen more catch to improve their welfare.Government efforts to law of closure depletion of fishThe Government of Canada as been concerned that torrential fishing leads to speedy depletion of fish stocks (Hauser & Carvalho, 2009). This is true in view of the fact that uncontrolled or unregulated fishing encourages fishermen to devise many techniques of catching fish, some of which may be harmful to fish stocks in the long run. In addition, uncontrolled or unregulated fishing encourages fishermen to encounter a lot of by-catch since they may use gear that captures many fish of undesirable surface or species that are not required and ultimately discard them (Rothschild, 2007).In an attempt to mitigate depletion, the Government of Canada has implemented an other(a)(prenominal) limitation measures such as requiring fishermen to venture into the ocean to a maximum of 100 kilometers from the bring down and the fishermen are not allowed to catch salmon or torment (Hutchings & Reynolds, 2004). entirely fishermen a re of the opinion that they are entitled to fish anywhere in the Atlantic Ocean because that is their mode of earning a living. It is now evident that the prize of life of flock in the Atlantic region has deteriorated because of the limitation impose on fishing and the decline in fish stocks due to overfishing. This is discussed in the following section.Implications of the decline in fish stocks in the Atlantic regionThere are concerns that the limitations imposed by the government on fishing and the general decline in fish stocks has caused major job losses since many fishermen form been forced out of the fishing industry (Lauck et al, 1998). This has been translated to other industries such as fish processing factories that nonplus realized declines in productivity due to shortage of fish, thereby implementing massive job cuts.Whereas fishermen and other communities in the Atlantic region express their frustration at the governments decision to limit fishing, there is evide nce that indeed fish stocks have declined and if no corrective measures are taken the situation is apprenticed to deteriorate. Marine biologists have expressed concern that the Atlantic salmon and cod populations have declined greatly and the two species are on the verge of quenching (Tegner & Dayton, 2000).The government has been discouraging fishermen from fishing the salmon and cod, instead advising them to target the close (Tegner & Dayton, 2000). Although this may sound as a solution to the depletion of salmon and cod, it is not a precise good idea since the seal is not very popular among the association and is equally endangered. Fishermen have argued with the government over this difficulty and no agreement has been arrived at yet (Tegner & Dayton, 2000).The government has noted that the steep concentration of fishermen in the Atlantic region is the cause of overfishing and would like to warn this by ensuring that the fishermen are dispersed (Lauck et al, 1998). But t his move tends to discourage fishermen from their business line since they are fond of going fishing as a community. This notwithstanding, the incumbent situation is that fishermen continue to capture young salmon and cod (recruitment overfishing), which hinders perseverance of the fish population.Case study NewfoundlandHigh rates of depletion of fish in Newfoundland (figure 1) have had major ecological and economic implications in recent decades. legion(predicate) species of fish have been lost, thus posing a risk of cotton on of the Atlantic fishery. Consequently, the Newfoundland region has lost a precious source of food, which was depended upon by people for dietary purposes, social values, and economic purposes.Newfoundland province is one of the areas that have recorded highest rates of job loss due to fishermens disengagement from fishing. Singe 1992, Newfoundland has been identified as the region that recorded the worst clang in the fishery industry, particularly the cod fishery. The break off of the fishery industry was caused by a long period of mismanagement characterized by overfishing. The corollary of the collapse of the fishery was that as many as 40,000 people lost their sources of upkeep and the ecosystem went under a condition complete decay (Blanchette, 1994 Myers, Hutchings & Barrowman, 1997).Today, almost 17 years after the collapse of the Newfoundland fishery, fishermen are still waiting for cod stocks to stabilize but the tussle between the government and fishermen remains. As a result, the Newfoundland community fish-eating culture has undergone a significant transformation. Many people have turned to eating crabs as a delicacy to put back the cod, a contrast to the common opinion that the crab is a pain to many people in Newfoundland (Rothschild, 2007).The situation in Newfoundland presents major issues that subscribe to be addressed. One is that overfishing changed the once economically vibrant Newfoundland fishing communit y to a state of dependence on other economic activities that are not as viable as fishing. Secondly, there is a melt off chance that the fishery will improve since anglers still insist on having rights to access the fishery. The insistence by fishing communities to fish in nonproductive waters shows how important the fishery is to the community yet overfishing has increased the peoples dependence.