Vélez Rivera 1

Mirelys Z. Vélez Rivera

ENGL 1302-208

Dr. Sharity Nelson

March 2, 2023

Essay 2 Draft 1

(Introduction, brief explanation of topic)

Illegal fishing is considered to be a fishing activity in which fishermen do not report to

authorities, or if they do, they give out wrongful information. On occasion, illegal fishing can

also be related to the breakage of laws. Some examples of what could be considered as illegal

fishing can be the catch of fish that are too small, fishing in the jurisdiction/area of another

country, utilizing illegal gear, capturing endangered species, contraband, and fishing in places

like seasonal spawning sites, among many others. As would be expected from such a matter,

illegal fishing ends up causing a lot of negative effects for different countries around the world.

Fishing without following the regulations laws or acts made by the government can damage the

economy and the ecosystems of that country. For wish reasons, it is important for the nations to

find a way to handle the situation as best as they can to avoid future issues.

(Body, Methods used for Illegal fishing)

When it comes to illegal fishing, there are multiple methods performed by illegal

fishermen. As it is vital for them not to be caught by legal means, they came up with different

ideas to trick the system. One of the things done by fishers can be the usage of explosives to kill

the fish so their bodies float to the surface of the ocean and fishermen are able the catch them by
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utilizing nets. Another thing that can be considered illegal fishing is overfishing. Which is when

people catch more fish than what can be naturally reproduced by the other fish population.

Meaning that they do not give time for the population to stabilize to the same amount of living

organisms they used to have. Bycatch is another method of overfishing that is caused when

fishing nets caught a numerous number of other animal species that were not the ones initially

intended to catch. Sometimes they return the animals injured or dead to the sea, meaning they are

harming organisms fiercely. Some other thing that is considered illegal fishing is the usage of

bottom trawling, which consists of a weighted net dragged along the seafloor, capturing big

amounts of fish but in the process destroying everything that crosses the path of the huge fishing

net. Something else that illegal fishers do is cyanide fishing, that is the usage of chemicals to

stun the fish and make the more manageable or easier to catch. Not to mention that catching

undersized or oversized fish can also be seen as illegal fishing.

(Body, Economical effects of illegal fishing)

“Organized crimes impede a sustainable ocean economy. To reach a sustainable ocean

economy requires balancing the use of the ocean space and its resources with the long-term

carrying capacity of the ocean's ecosystems” (Witbooi) A sustainable ocean economy consists of

the usage of fishing to raise the economy and business of a country while protecting the natural

resources of a habitat.

(Body, Environmental effects of illegal fishing)

Why is it important not to overfish? Every ecosystem has its own perfectly balanced food

chain and if humans overfish a population or species, causing the breakage of that chain. When
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an animal disappears from the equation, it breaks the balance of that specific ecosystem resulting

in the endangerment or risk of extinction of some species and the overpopulation of others

species. As it is mentioned in Xuechan’s research paper, “Fishing threatens the ability of the

aquatic system to continue providing vital ecosystem services and essential food resources.” In

other words, as illegal fishing has “pushed down many species into decline” of their population

numbers. ( Illegal fishing 245) As a result, the food chain and habitat have been affected. A good

example proving this matter can be the research conducted by L.M. Feitosa and other scientists

in which they confirm that illegal fishing has threatened shark species conservation. The reason

for this to be is that elasmobranch species tend to have “late sexual maturity, low fecundity, and

low natural mortality rates”, which leads this population to severely decline. As so, many other

organisms have been affected in similarity.

(Body, Possible solutions for the matter {act/laws})

As would be expected, the government was not going to stay with its arms crossed while

our life survival and the different countries’ economies were affected. “Furthermore, states

acknowledge that a failure to effectively address organized fisheries crimes will result in a

widespread inability to fulfill, among others the SDG16 goal of peace, justice, and strong

institutions and ultimately, will hinder the realization of the sustainable ocean economy.”

(Conclusion, Evaluate ideas {explain what it was missing from the articles})

Even though the government and other agencies are working daily to minimize the rate of

illegal fishing, more action is needed to solve this issue. It is important and vital to protect the

ecosystem of the ocean, as literally, our survival depends on it. The total disappearance of one

specie, one type of living organism, can affect the food chain in a community that will also affect
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the habitats and environments where these creatures live. Not only that, the illegal trade of fish

will also affect globally the different countries economy by making it decline because of
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Works Cited

Agnew, David J., et al. "Estimating the Worldwide Extent of Illegal Fishing." PLoS ONE, vol. 4,

no. 2, Feb. 25, 2009, Gale In Context: Science, https://go.gale.com/ps/retrieve.do?

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Anderson, James L., and Taryn Garlock. “Economics of Aquaculture Policy and Regulation”

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Desai, Raj M., and George E. Shambaugh. "Measuring the global impact of destructive and

illegal fishing on maritime piracy: A spatial analysis." PLoS ONE, vol. 16, no. 2, Feb. 24,

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Feitosa, Leonardo Manir, et al. “DNA-based identification reveals illegal trade of threatened

shark species in a global elasmobranch conservation hotspot.” no. 3347, Feb. 20,

2018, Scientific Reports, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-21683-5.

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Lynch, Tim. "Illegal, Unreported, Unregulated Fishing, and the Universal Fisherman." Maritime

Studies, no. 154, 2007, pp. 20-23. ProQuest,

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Mackay, Mary, Britta D. Hardesty, and Chris Wilcox. “The Intersection Between Illegal Fishing,

Crimes at Sea, and Social Well-Being” Frontiers in Marine Science, vol. 7, Oct. 12,

2020, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.589000/full

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Address Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing." Australian Journal of

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Selig, Elizabeth R., et al. “Revealing global risks of labor abuse and illegal, unreported, and

unregulated fishing.” no. 1612, Apr. 5, 2022, Nature Communications,

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Witbooi, Emma, et al. "Organized Crime in the Fisheries Sector Threatens a Sustainable Ocean

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Xuechan, Ma. “An economic and legal analysis of trade measures against illegal, unreported and

unregulated fishing.” Marine Policy, vol. 117, July 2020, pp. 103980, Science Direct,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2020.103980.