Utilitarianism Ethics as it Relates to Fisheries

Utilitarianism Ethics as it Relates to Fisheries

Fishing is an organized activity of people to catch fish or other marine organisms. Normally, fishery is a source of human food, even though it also serves other objectives like sport or recreational fishing or getting ornamental fish or fish products for extraction of fish oil. Industrial fisheries are those where the catch is not considered for direct consumption for humans. (Fishery: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Ethical dilemma we are facing enlight of the shortage of fishing areas and the abundance or lack of abundance of fish in those areas

Overfishing can be a threat to our food supply. According to some scientist, it will cause massive changes in the ecology of the ocean like degradation of reefs, damage to bottom grasses, eutrophication of estuaries. Even though application of fertilizer, runoff, sedimentation are damaging the ecosystems, it is been argued that overfishing has been the main culprit, and in case it is brought under control, ecosystems might recover. (Sharks attack people. People attack fish)

3) Recommend a logical solution or alternative support of those alternatives and all show or cite examples of the interests that these alternatives will have for the fishing industry.

(a) How do we fish in our present times?

Modern Fishing can be categorized into commercial fishing and recreational fishing. Commercial fishing delivers a huge quantity of food to a lot of nations across the world through harvesting nearly every aquatic species like tuna, cod, salmon, shrimp, krill, lobster, squid, crab etc. Commercial fishing methods over the years become very professional through the use of large nets and sea-borne processing facilities. Recently regulatory measures have often been integrated with several fishing allocation schemes, and international treaties which have tried to curb the annual fishing practice. Some of the usual commercial fishing practices presently are trawling, seining, longling etc. On the other hand, recreational fishing is practiced for sheer pleasure or participating in competitions. Recreational fishing is laid with rules of competition, conventions, licensing limitations or laws which restrict the manner in which fishes might be caught. Recreational fishing is normally performed with a fishing line with bait which is known as angling. (Fishing: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

(b) How do we use the fish we catch?

The fishes that are caught through various methods are processed for food. Prior to 1970s, processing of fishery products was uncomplicated and its processing was mainly done through knives and salt. Following the popularity of the seafood processing industry, particularly after 1980s while the market prices of seafood were completely liberalized, changes have taken place and modern processing techniques have been undertaken in case of various fish products. Frozen or cold stored products have made way for salted products. (Fish processing)

(c) How has pollution from cities caused the population of fish been affected?

Seemingly, the greatest impact on fisheries has been the effect of marine pollution. Greater anthropogenic pressures on marine ecosystems have caused reduced quantity of commercial fish species and total ichthyic fauna. New settlements resulting in habitat destruction, water pollution with ballast and inflow waters, waste dumpsites located inside the coast, building of hydroelectric facilities have impacted the fish species habitats and their natural breeding grounds and migration areas. Bio-accumulation of chemical compounds has been noted among Black Sea fish and mollusks. (Regional Trend Overview: Fishery)

(d) Have areas that have been major fishing areas been depleted and how do we let these areas replenish if that is possible?

About a fifth of the population on this planet is dependent on fish as their primary source of protein. With the rise of the population pressure and increased standards of living, demand for fishing will increase. However, there has been a huge problem as the feasibility of a lot of fisheries and the sustainability of a several varieties are threatened by overcapacity of commercial fishing ventures which sometimes reaches about 100% above that of the sustainable fishing levels and also through bad management practices causing wastage of about 25% of the sea catch. Unlawful fishing might also be responsible for 30% of the total yield of some fisheries. (Fishery Depletion)

(e) How has offshore drilling affected the fishing as well?

Fishery stock also gets affected due to offshore drilling. There is also the danger of abandoned offshore oil platforms and their pieces which obstruct navigation and trawling fishing. With an abundance of artificial reefs, this problem needs special regulations for negotiating the predictable clash of interests. A similar regulatory program has been developed and applied in the U.S.A. In Gulf of Mexico on the shelf of Louisiana. (Decommissioning, abandonment and removal of obsolete offshore installations)

(f) What difference does it make whether we have fisheries or not as it relates to employment, technology and the social structure of the towns that depend on the livelihood of fishing?

In majority of nations, the national, economic and social policies impact the public policies towards fisheries and aquaculture. Food security intended for everybody, rising income levels, employment scope leading to reduced poverty, food safety for everybody, conservation efforts and rational use of the environment are all crucial government development initiatives that are also made applicable to the fishery sector. Nevertheless, the comparative significance of these objectives varies a great deal among the nations. Whereas the poor Third World nations often accord more importance on food security and enhanced incomes / employment public policies in affluent, industrialized nations have recently accorded increasing weight to food safety and also to the conservation and rational use of the environment inclusive of the marine ecosystem. In case of several nations where hard currencies are a bottleneck for progress, exports come to be assumed as a development objective for the fisheries sector also. In acute instances, fisheries aquaculture is viewed as activities in remote isolated areas so as to establish an effective claim on territories. (The impact on fisheries of strategies used to attain national development objectives)

(h) Has the amount of fishing changed in quantities today compared to 10, 20, 30 or 40 years ago?

The quantity of fish catch in the 1970s and 1980s attained such a huge proportion that this element considerably impacted the water bodies of the region and the ecosystems. Degradation of the water quality concurrently resulted in reducing of the total volume of bio-organisms and the deterioration of ecosystems. For example, the number of commercial fish in the Black Sea in case of 30-year span was decreased from 24 to an abysmally low to just 3 to 4 species by the year1990. (Regional Trend Overview: Fishery)