Editing Resource depletion (section)

== Overfishing ==
{{Main|Overfishing}}
Overfishing refers to the [[Overconsumption (economics)|overconsumption]] and/or depletion of fish populations which occurs when fish are caught at a rate that exceeds their ability to breed and replenish their population naturally.'''<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |title=What Is Overfishing |url=https://www.msc.org/what-we-are-doing/oceans-at-risk/overfishing |access-date=2024-02-18 |website=MSC International - English |language=en |archive-date=2024-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219022635/https://www.msc.org/what-we-are-doing/oceans-at-risk/overfishing |url-status=live }}</ref>''' Regions particularly susceptible to overfishing include [[Arctic|the Arctic]], [[East Africa|coastal east Africa]], [[Coral Triangle|the Coral Triangle]] (located between the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] and [[Indian Ocean|Indian]] oceans), [[Central America|Central]] and [[Latin America]], and [[Caribbean|the Caribbean]].<ref name=":15">World Wildlife Fund. (n.d.). ''What is overfishing? facts, effects and overfishing solutions''. WWF. Retrieved 2024-02-18 from <nowiki>https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/overfishing</nowiki></ref> The depletion of fish stocks can lead to long-term negative consequences for marine ecosystems, economies, and food security.<ref name=":15" /> The depletion of resources hinders economic growth because growing economies leads to increased demand for natural, renewable resources like fish. Thus, when resources are depleted, it initiates a cycle of reduced resource availability, increased demand and higher prices due to scarcity, and lower economic growth.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Steer |first=Andrew |chapter=Resource Depletion, Climate Change, and Economic Growth |date=2014-09-04 |title=Towards a Better Global Economy |pages=381–426 |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/11948/chapter/161165975 |access-date=2024-03-22 |edition=1 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198723455.003.0006 |isbn=978-0-19-872345-5 |archive-date=2024-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422061039/https://academic.oup.com/book/11948/chapter-abstract/161165975?redirectedFrom=fulltext |url-status=live }}</ref> Overfishing can lead to habitat and biodiversity loss, through specifically habitat degradation, which has an immense impact on marine/aquatic ecosystems. Habitat loss refers to when a natural habitat cannot sustain/support the species that live in it, and biodiversity loss refers to when there is a decrease in the population of a species in a specific area and/or the extinction of a species. Habitat degradation is caused by the depletion of resources, in which human activities are the primary driving force.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Pons-Hernández |first=Mònica |title=Habitat Loss |date=2024-01-30 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice |url=https://oxfordre.com/criminology/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264079-e-764 |access-date=2024-03-22 |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.013.764 |isbn=978-0-19-026407-9 }}</ref><ref name=":32">{{Cite journal |last1=Worm |first1=Boris |last2=Barbier |first2=Edward B. |last3=Beaumont |first3=Nicola |last4=Duffy |first4=J. Emmett |last5=Folke |first5=Carl |last6=Halpern |first6=Benjamin S. |last7=Jackson |first7=Jeremy B. C. |last8=Lotze |first8=Heike K. |last9=Micheli |first9=Fiorenza |last10=Palumbi |first10=Stephen R. |last11=Sala |first11=Enric |last12=Selkoe |first12=Kimberley A. |last13=Stachowicz |first13=John J. |last14=Watson |first14=Reg |date=2006-11-03 |title=Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1132294 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=314 |issue=5800 |pages=787–790 |doi=10.1126/science.1132294 |pmid=17082450 |bibcode=2006Sci...314..787W |issn=0036-8075 |access-date=2024-03-23 |archive-date=2024-03-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240322211624/https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1132294 |url-status=live }}</ref> One major impact that the depletion of fish stocks causes is a dynamic change and erosion to marine food webs, which can ultimately lead to ecosystem collapse because of the imbalance created for other marine species.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last1=Jennings |first1=Simon |chapter=The Effects of Fishing on Marine Ecosystems |date=1998 |title=Advances in Marine Biology |pages=201–352 |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2881(08)60212-6 |access-date=2024-03-22 |publisher=Elsevier |doi=10.1016/s0065-2881(08)60212-6 |isbn=978-0-12-026134-5 |last2=Kaiser |first2=Michel J. |archive-date=2024-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422061651/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0065288108602126?via%3Dihub |url-status=live }}</ref> Overfishing also causes instability in marine ecosystems because these ecosystems are less biodiverse and more fragile. This occurs mainly because, due to overfishing, many fish species are unable to naturally sustain their populations in these damaged ecosystems.<ref name=":32" /><ref name=":4" />
[[File:Trawlers overfishing cod.jpg|thumb|A visualization of the depletion of fish stocks through overfishing/ overconsumption.]]
Most common causes of overfishing:<ref name=":02" />

* Increasing consumption: According to the [[Food and Agriculture Organization|United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)]], aquatic foods like fish significantly contribute to food security and initiatives to end worldwide hunger. However, global consumption of aquatic foods has increased at twice the rate of population growth since the 1960s, significantly contributing to the depletion of fish stocks.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Record fisheries and aquaculture production makes critical contribution to global food security |url=https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/record-fisheries-aquaculture-production-contributes-food-security-290622/en |access-date=2024-02-18 |publisher=FAO |language=en |archive-date=2024-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219022634/https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/record-fisheries-aquaculture-production-contributes-food-security-290622/en |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Climate change]]: Due to climate change and the sudden increasing temperatures of our oceans, fish stocks and other marine life are being negatively impacted. These changes force fish stocks to change their migratory routes, and without a reduction in fishing, this leads to overfishing and depletion because the same amount of fish are being caught in areas that now have lower fish populations.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":22">{{Cite web |title=Climate change and fishing |url=https://www.msc.org/what-we-are-doing/oceans-at-risk/climate-change-and-fishing |access-date=2024-02-18 |website=MSC International - English |language=en |archive-date=2024-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219022634/https://www.msc.org/what-we-are-doing/oceans-at-risk/climate-change-and-fishing |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing|Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing]]: Illegal fishing involves conducting fishing operations that break the laws and regulations at the regional and international levels around fishing, including fishing without a license or permit, fishing in protected areas, and/or catching protected species of fish.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Illegal And Destructive Fishing |url=https://www.msc.org/what-we-are-doing/oceans-at-risk/illegal-unreported-unregulated-iuu-destructive-fishing |access-date=2024-02-18 |website=MSC International - English |language=en |archive-date=2024-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219022636/https://www.msc.org/what-we-are-doing/oceans-at-risk/illegal-unreported-unregulated-iuu-destructive-fishing |url-status=live }}</ref> Unreported fishing involves conducting fishing operation which are not reported, or are misreported to authorities according to the International and Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs). Unregulated fishing involves conducting fishing operations in areas which do not have conservation measures put in place, and cannot be effectively monitored because of the lack of regulations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-08-06 |title=Understanding Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing |publisher=NOAA Fisheries |url=https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/insight/understanding-illegal-unreported-and-unregulated-fishing |access-date=2024-02-18 |language=en |archive-date=2024-02-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240218103952/https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/insight/understanding-illegal-unreported-and-unregulated-fishing |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Fisheries subsidy|Fisheries subsidies]]:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies |url=https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/rulesneg_e/fish_e/fish_e.htm |access-date=2024-02-18 |publisher=WTO |language=en |archive-date=2024-02-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217092614/https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/rulesneg_e/fish_e/fish_e.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> A [[subsidy]] is financial assistance paid by the government to support a particular activity, industry, or group. Subsidies are often provided to reduce start up costs, stimulate production, or encourage consumption. In the case of fisheries subsidies, it enables [[Fishing fleet|fishing fleets]] to catch more fish by fishing further out in a body of water, and fish for longer periods of time.<ref>{{Cite web |title=4. WHAT IS A FISHERIES SUBSIDY? |url=https://www.fao.org/3/y4446e/y4446e0k.htm#:~:text=Fisheries%20subsidies%20are%20government%20actions,Box%201:%20WTO%20definition |access-date=2024-02-18 |publisher=FAO |archive-date=2024-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219022634/https://www.fao.org/3/y4446e/y4446e0k.htm#:~:text=Fisheries%20subsidies%20are%20government%20actions,Box%201:%20WTO%20definition |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-10 |title=Fisheries Subsidies Agreement: What's the Big Deal? |url=https://pew.org/3pr0Eft |access-date=2024-02-18 |publisher=Pew Research |language=en |archive-date=2024-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422061543/https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/fact-sheets/2023/05/fisheries-subsidies-agreement-whats-the-big-deal |url-status=live }}</ref>