Overfishing Problems: Causes, Strategies and Solutions Report

This report examines the multifaceted problems of overfishing, a critical issue that depletes fish stocks and disrupts marine ecosystems. It explores the adverse impacts on marine biodiversity, food security, and the overall food chain, while also identifying key drivers such as the expansion of global fish markets, technological advancements, and inadequate institutional arrangements. The report outlines existing strategies, including no-fishing zones and monitoring tools, and then proposes innovative solutions using the SCAMPER method (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to other uses, Eliminate, Rearrange). The best viable solution suggested is educational programs and campaigns to raise awareness among fishers. Finally, it details a plan for adoption and feasibility, including limiting catches, controlling bycatch, protecting pristine areas, and implementing monetary enforcement. References from relevant research papers are included to support the findings and recommendations.

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION
-OVERFISHING

PROBLEMS OF OVERFISHING
Overfishing is the type of overexploitation in
which fish stocks are decreased to below specific
levels. This mainly occurs when more number of
fish is caught than population can restore
through the natural reproduction.
There are several problems of overfishing, which
are described below:
Overfishing has adverse impact on the marine
biodiversity. This means that overfishing destroys
environment as well as marine ecology, which in
turn completely disrupt overall food chain.

•Owing to overfishing practices as well as
deficiency in sustainable management leads to
decline in fish stocks below the acceptable levels.
As a result, this leads to marine imbalance that
involves increase in algae’s growth and threats to
health of coral reef.
•Overfishing also threatens food security in long
term specifically in the developing nations.
However, with the decline in total number of fish,
fisheries move out of the business in less time.
•Another issue associated with overfishing is
open access fisheries. As there are less property
rights, there might be lack of incentive basically
for fishermen for leaving fish in water.

MAIN DRIVERS OF OVERFISHING
Expansion of global market for fish
Advancement of new technology results in
diffusion of fishing activities
Institutional arrangements in order to access
rights to resource creates incentives for
overfishing
Expansion of processing capacity of fish
Subsidies provided by the government of the
nation directly or indirectly plays huge role in
increasing overfishing as well as harvesting
capacity

RANGE OF EXISTING STRATEGIES
There are few benefits and disadvantages of overfishing, which
includes-
Benefits
It helps to control on the population on fish
It reduces cost of fishing as well as seafood
It facilitates to meet rising demand for fish
It also helps to create several jobs, thereby reducing
unemployment rate
Disadvantages
• It lead to extinction of species
• It leads to environmental damage
• The government of the nation faces difficulty to control
overfishing

The range of strategies adopted by the government
of the respective nations in several fishing regions
are-
•In many regions, no- fishing zones are marked for
allowing fishes to recover
•Several monitoring tools have set up for regulating
fishing trawlers activities and their movements
•Fisheries are motivated to stick in their quota for
limiting number of fishes caught at particular time

SCAMPER IDEA GENERATION METHOD
The Scamper idea generation method that can be used
for curbing overfishing is given below-
Substitute-The boats can be equipped with new
technology for tracing catching of fish
Combine- The fishers across the globe can combine
this with mobile platform for tracking their catches
and controlling fishing
Adapt-REM (Remote Electronic Monitoring) system
and GPS should be adapted for knowing exact vessel
location and assessing legality of discards
Modify-Electronic traceability programs should be
modified for meeting increasing demand for fish

•Put it into other use-This
technologies can also be used to
monitor the existence of the
invasive species under water
•Eliminate-Trawling can be
eliminated from this process
•Rearrange-Mapping tools as well
as software should be rearranged
for monitoring the process

BEST VIABLE SOLUTION
The best viable solution for
curbing overfishing is to hold
educational programs as well
as campaigns regarding
disadvantages of overfishing
for the fishers.

PLAN FOR ADOPTION AND FEASIBILITY
Implementation of plan for curbing
overfishing-
Limiting on the number of fish catches
Controlling on bycatch for preventing
unintentional killing of fish
Protecting pristine
Monetary enforcement should be adopted
for reducing overfishing

REFERENCES
 Purcell, Steven W., Annie Mercier, Chantal Conand, Jean‐
François Hamel, M. Verónica Toral‐Granda, Alessandro
Lovatelli, and Sven Uthicke. "Sea cucumber fisheries:
global analysis of stocks, management measures and
drivers of overfishing." Fish and fisheries 14, no. 1 (2013):
34-59.
 Möllmann, Christian, and Rabea Diekmann. "Marine
ecosystem regime shifts induced by climate and
overfishing: a review for the Northern Hemisphere."
In Advances in Ecological Research, vol. 47, pp. 303-347.
Academic Press, 2012.
 Kraemer, Erick. "Tackling problems of overfishing:
protecting sharks and bluefin tuna." Environmental Claims
Journal 25, no. 3 (2013): 250-271.
 Mace, Pamela M. "Evolution of New Zealand’s fisheries
management frameworks to prevent overfishing." ICES