ENG 101
Professor: Dr. Lizzie McCormick
Jose Torres

Environmentalist vs. fishing companies

Environmentalist has a constant fight again the indiscriminate and illegal fishing practicing by unscrupulous anglers who are finishing and destroying the natural resources of the sea fishing dolphins, sharks and the worst of all whaling. They arguing their reasons to do it, for instead the environmentalist give their own to controlled these activities around the world like Australia and the Mediterranean. Unfortunately there are other species endanger which cannot be helped because the lack of economics resources and interest of governments affected.
Due to the great world demand for food, the number of large food companies had been increased around the world and the most of them do not care about the consequences of their activities. The fishing companies are the most dangerous of them. Those companies are killing dolphins and sharks while they are fishing tuna fish, because with their nets they are capturing not only tuna fish but sharks, dolphins and other species which are not released to the sea, they are been killed and sold in the black market doing an irreparable damage to the marine life. In Asia, countries like Japan and China use the fin of sharks and others animals as aphrodisiac.
The whaling is one of unconscious and destructive act of men, this species are endangered, for example according to Greenpeace and other nature researchers “Clapham, P.J. (1996). "The social and reproductive biology of humpback whales: an ecological perspective" (PDF). Mammal New studies (Ferrari, Mizroch, et al.) show first year calf mortality is 18-20%. Mortality beyond the first year is still being studied. Review (26): 27–49. Retrieved 2007-04-26.” The West Pacific grey whale is the most endangered in the world. It hovers on the edge of extinction with just over 100 remaining. Humpback whales currently number only 20,000, a report of this decade estimated there are no more that 5000 to 12000 Blue whales worldwide. Meanwhile the fishing companies and specially those engaged in whaling have increased in last years. According “Whaling history (鯨史稿), Seijun Ohtsuki, 1808” whaling has been an activity practice for millenniums but in the last decades in countries that protect the nature and resources, have emerged organizations like Greenpeace and these countries has developed commissions to debate about control and stop whaling.
Due to this debate have been created two groups, on the one hand are the pro-whaling countries like Japan, Norway, Iceland and anti-whaling like Australia, New Zealand, Britain and United States on the other. Between these groups has created a real war, the fishing companies or pro-whaling countries claim their necessity to work because they have been doing these activities for many decades and in most of the cases these are family business. They say that their fishing gear like rig, nets and harpoons have been designed to whaling; also, their market is essentially for the sale of whale meat. They argue that a change in their kind of work would be impossible and they do not really have an option, also they explain that supposedly have complied with the fishing regulations.
In the other hand, the environmentalist claim stop whaling and other kind of destructive fishing methods, because these fishing companies are doing an irreparable damage to the nature. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) , Greenpeace and other organization in favor of the ecosystem conservation demand to the governments specially Japan , Noriega and Iceland respect fishing regulations and suggest that they would practice conventional fishing and emphasizes avoid areas like the Australian Whale Sanctuary. Unfortunately the economic power is leading everything because when the anti – whaling countries boycotting the commissions , countries pro- whaling like Japan achieve that many smaller nations attend to this commissions thanks to their bribes, according to “Japan’s Whaling Triangle – The Power Behind the Whaling Policy. Japanese Studies; Dec2009, Vol. 29 Issue 3, p401-414, 14p, By Kagawa-Fox, Midori “ Institutions like Green Peace are doing an extraordinary work protecting species like dolphins, sharks and whales whose population are decrease. The work of this institution is extraordinary; they are working around the world and putting under pressure to countries like Japan.
According to “Antarctic Whaling: Australia’s Attempt to Protect Whales in The Southern Ocean. Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review; 2009, Vol. 36 Issue 2, p319-351, 33p, By Anton, Donald K.” in the last decade, they got that countries like Australia ruled the activities of the Japanese whaling fleet, and ordered it to halt its operations in the Australian whale sanctuary. In the same way according to Athens, International – Greenpeace, this institution has succeeded in reduce the fishing with enormous nets and they captured hundreds of Kilometers of illegal driftnets in the Mediterranean.
Similar institutions have dedicated their work to protect the eco-system, because the damage due to the bad practices of these fishing companies had affected other species like shrimp and crabs, because they do not respect the closed seasons. Other marine species such as sea cucumber, which are distributed in all oceans, are very common in southwest ocean Pacific and Indian oceans, the populations of these animals decreased drastically from the Ecuadorian coast in the last decade due to overexploitation and are now being taking in Galapagos Island, with the consequence decline of populations. This is as result of overfishing and illegal fishing.
Unfortunately, there are not institutions, which protect a few species. The most of time the economy of these institutions are not enough to do their mission, because they need a lot of money to get the logistic (people,boats,food, electronics devices) which are necessary to sail around the oceans looking for those fishing ships. In the same way, they need the support of countries and their authorities to achieve their mission.