Are You Going to Eat That?
Part A: Irresponsible Fishing Practices
Several types of irresponsible fishing practices contribute to the threat against sustainable seafood. In order to meet consumer demands, the fishing industry sometimes uses techniques that are harmful to fisheries and marine ecosystems. However, conscientious seafood consumers can help to change this. Slight changes in seafood purchasing habits can make an enormous impact on the effort to curb losses in marine biodiversity and to increase seafood sustainability.
Fishing Gear & Methods
1. To learn about fishing methods currently in use by commercial fisheries, visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium's website on Fishing & Farming Methods. Read the Fishing Methods section to learn more about some different ways fish and seafood are trapped and caught.
2. To get a sense of how the methods of fishing have changed over time, visit the Sea Around Us site and examine the graph of Catches by Gear in the Global Ocean from 1950 to 2014. Move your cursor over the graph to view the yearly values of metric tons of fish caught by various types of gear.
Checking In
Answer the following questions about the information provided in the Catches by Gear graph.
- What methods of fishing caught the most and least tons of fish in 1950?