Ocean and fisheries notes

Oceans of the world:

There are five oceans that cover just over 70% of our planet, and they are all connected together:

 the Atlantic Ocean

 the Pacific Ocean
 the Indian Ocean
 the Southern Ocean
 the Arctic Ocean

The nearest ocean to the UK is the Atlantic Ocean. It stretches from Europe to North and South America,
and is the second largest of the five oceans.

Ocean as a resource:

Resource potential of the oceans can be broadly classified in to following categories:

• Food
• Building materials
• Chemicals
• Power generation
• Tourism
• Transportation - container ships, bulk carriers and tankers, (naval vessels, cruise ships and
ferries are common)
• A source of drinking water – desalination plants

• Food: the consumption of seafood it is comprised of aquatic plants and animals consumed by
humans directly or indirectly. Examples: Fish (such as cod and herring), Molluscs (such as clams
and oysters), Crustaceans (such as crab, shrimp and lobster),
• Building materials and Chemicals – e.g. Sea salt and limestone and sodium chloride and
magnesium that are currently commercially extracted

Sand and gravel are extracted offshore to provide aggregates for buildings materials for houses
and roads

• Tourism: Beaches, corals, swimming, boating

Example- The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world. It provides a
habitat for many species. Its biodiversity is high and it is a protected world heritage site.

Benefits of banning fishing in this site:

• allows fish stocks to recover
• repopulates other parts of the reef
• maintains biodiversity or prevent extinction
• maintains tourism
• maintains jobs
• maintains revenue from tourism

• Power generation: to meet our energy needs e.g. Offshore winds, waves and tides are used for
future global demand for energy
  Offshore: The sea wind that flows from the land towards the sea is known as offshore
winds.
 Onshore: The sea wind that flows from the sea towards the land is known as onshore
winds.

Some of the ways in which humans can use the ocean’s resources:

• fishing for food

• Wave or tidal energy
• Tourism or recreation
• Bulk or large or heavy transport
• drinking water/irrigation/domestic water use
• oil or gas

Main methods for harnessing the power of the oceans:

• Offshore wind farms

• Offshore wave generators
• Nearshore or onshore wave generators
• Tidal stream generators
• Tidal barrages

Advantages of wave and tidal power:

• Both generate clean, renewable electricity
• In some countries there are multiple suitable locations for wave power
• This creates jobs in environmentally friendly industries
• Wave and tidal power both reduce carbon emissions

Disadvantages of wave and tidal power:

• Tidal and wave energy could disrupt marine life
• Tidal energy is difficult to transport and is intermittent, although predictable
• Wave energy can be intermittent
• Offshore wave farms could disrupt marine navigation
• Nearshore wave farms have a visual impact on the coast

What are ocean currents?

 The water in the oceans is constantly moving in patterns (continuous movement)

called currents.

 Some currents flow quickly, while some move very slowly.

 As the currents flow around the planet they move cold and warm water from one place to
another, changing climate and temperatures all over the world.

 Heat from the tropics can be transferred to the cold Polar Regions, by large-scale water
movement within the oceans.
 Each ocean has its own circular pattern of currents.
  Heat is transferred by warm ocean currents, such as the North Atlantic Drift in the Atlantic
Ocean, from low latitudes to high latitudes.
 Ocean currents are set in motion by the prevailing surface winds associated with the general
atmospheric circulation.
 The direction of water movement is also deflected by the Coriolis force.

• These include the gravitational pull of the moon and sun in creating tides, surface currents
caused by wind, and warm and cold currents driven by thermohaline circulation – differences in
temperature and salinity
• The movement of major ocean currents has a profound impact on the climate of Earth as well as
on the distribution of marine species, and consequently the location of profitable fisheries
• Local currents are driven by winds and tides and how they interact with land
• These play a key role in the erosion, transportation and deposition of sediment along the coast
• Major ocean currents are complex
• There is a clear pattern of warm surface water moving away from the equator in a giant spiral
motion
• These gyres spin clockwise in the northern hemisphere and anticlockwise in the southern
hemisphere

What is a gyre?
• A gyre is a large system of rotating ocean currents
• There are five major gyres, which are large systems of rotating ocean currents.
• The ocean churns up various types of currents.
• Together, these larger and more permanent currents make up the systems of currents known as
gyres.
• There are five major gyres: the North and South Pacific Subtropical Gyres, the North and South
Atlantic Subtropical Gyres, and the Indian Ocean Subtropical Gyre.
• Wind, tides, and differences in temperature and salinity drive ocean currents.
• The ocean churns up different types of currents, such as eddies, whirlpools, or deep ocean
currents

Ocean currents of the world:

Humboldt/Peruvian, Benguela; Gulf Stream, Canaries, N. Atlantic Drift, Labrador, Brazil, Mozambique

Warm: N A Drift; Gulf Stream; Brazilian; Mozambique; (coming from tropics)

Cold: Benguela; Peruvian/Humboldt; W Australian; (coming from poles)
 You can see that:

 The currents set up circular loops or gyres. Gyres are spiral oceanic surface currents and are found in
both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
 The pattern of current flow is clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and anti-clockwise in the
Southern Hemisphere.
 In the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the currents make a similar pattern.

Warm and cold ocean currents:

 Ocean currents flowing away from the equator are called warm currents (towards poles).
 The water in these currents is not necessarily warm, but it is warm compared to what you would
expect for that latitude.
 The Gulf Stream is a good example of a warm current.
 If a current flows towards the equator it is a cold current (or away from pole) for example the
Canaries current.

Effects of current on Labrador and current on UK:

Current on Labrador makes colder than UK with same latitude but different climate

The pattern of ocean currents in the Atlantic Ocean:

Two systems of circulation; one (system) in the North Atlantic and one in the South Atlantic;
(Circular/clockwise/anticlockwise)

A cold ocean current may affect the climate of nearby coastal areas by

 Reduce temperatures in (summer);

 reduce precipitation from winds coming from over the sea;
 May cause coastal fog; examples.

Continental shelf:
Area of shallow water next to the land areas

Different types of natural resources obtained by people from continental shelves:

Fish and minerals, salt and sea weed.

People find it more difficult to exploit the natural resources of seas and oceans than those of the land
because

 All resources are more difficult to discover than on land because they are less likely to be visible
and discovery is both more difficult and expensive.
 Some are moving resources e.g. shoals of fish and movements are difficult to predict and
discover.
  All resources are more difficult and expensive to obtain at or from under the sea; they have to
be transported back to land to be used;
 Weather conditions are more of a problem e.g. average wind speeds are higher at sea.
 Some resources are at depths beyond what current technology allows.

Physical difference between the continental shelf and the rest of the ocean floor:
 It is flatter, smooth and gently sloping , shallow water or less deep

The world’s most productive ocean fishing grounds are found on continental shelves:
 Because more light penetrates the water because it is shallow, more nutrients to support plant
and animal life.
 Some carried from the land in river sediments and some brought by ocean currents (especially
cold currents)
 Richest where cold currents upwell from deeps / warm and cold currents meet;
 Food chain or food web supporting other life in the oceans;

Factors which limit human exploitation of potential resources in the rest of the ocean beyond the
continental shelf:

 Depth of water – cheaper and easier to exploit resources in shallow waters

 It is more difficult to discover deep water resources;
 Increased distance from shore to provide equipment and supplies for workers

Upwelling:
Coastal winds push surface water out to sea; this warm water is replaced by rising of colder, nutrient
rich water

• When the wind blows parallel to a coastline, surface waters are pushed offshore and water is
drawn from below to replace the water that has been pushed away.
• The upward movement of this deep, colder water is called upwelling.

Causes of the upwelling to stop:

During an El Nino year, this upwelling stops and there are few fish to catch and reduce fish numbers
The coastal winds weaken or even blow the other way causes evaporation; this causes reversal in
surface currents; so warm water moves towards the coast; fish migrate or move away; minerals used by
algae; which feed fish; oxygen reduced in warm water;

Key areas where major fish populations will be found:

• In the shallow waters around the continental shelf where sunlight can penetrate to the sea floor
• In coastal waters
• Around coral reefs
• Where ocean currents cause upwelling
• Around oceanic islands

El Niño southern oscillation phenomenon (ENSO)

 El Niño and La Niña are complex weather patterns

 El Niño means 'the little boy' in Spanish, referred to as the warm phase of the ENSO. It is around
the month of December.
 La Niña translates as 'the little girl' in Spanish, and can be referred to as the cold phase of the
ENSO. It creates below average temperatures in the east-central Pacific.
 El Niño and La Niña are opposite phases of the ENSO
 El Niño resulting from variations (or the unusual warming of surface water) in ocean
temperatures in the east-central equatorial Pacific Ocean
 El Nino is the “warm phase” of a larger phenomenon called the El Nino-Southern Oscillation
(ENSO).

 Episodes usually occur approximately every 2 to 7 years, and last for between nine and twelve
months

 In normal years when there is no El Niño or La Niña, atmospheric pressure is greater in the
eastern Pacific than in the western Pacific. Because wind flows from higher to lower pressure,
the trade winds blow from east to west.

The changes to winds and surface currents in an El Niño year compared with a normal year:
  El Niño occurs when the normal easterly trade winds weaken and the warm water current
moves eastward or towards Peru - warming the ocean in the eastern Pacific Ocean, rather than
the usual westward direction or towards Australia. (Cold Peruvian current blocked or it is
replaced by warm water)

An El Niño event (summary):

 Due to weakening of trade winds, reversal of warm or equatorial current to flow eastwards
(Current reversal in Southern Ocean or off Peru or in Pacific), it increase in rainfall, so no
upwelling of cold water, so lack of nutrients at surface, causing decline in numbers of marine
creatures

 An El Niño year brings heavy rain to the west coast of Peru because warm water off the coast,
so more evaporation, warm air (by ocean) likely to rise; leading to condensation or cloud / rain

Advantage of an El Niño year for the people of Peru:

 heavy rain improves agriculture

During El Nino event fisheries off the coast of Peru decline because
 Warm water or deep water carries less nutrients or minerals not coming up so eventually
phytoplankton or plants (algae) do not grow well, it dies; then less food for fish e.g. anchovy and
also less oxygen, fish cannot survive these, it die or migrate due to these factors.

Climate change in peru:

 An El Nino event in Peru (along the coast) brings torrential rainfall and floods to the normally
desert Areas

Factors involved in El Niño:

 Measure wind speed / direction and air or ocean temperature these are the ways in which
improved weather forecasting allows earlier warnings of an El Nino event.

World fisheries:

 The world’s main oceanic fisheries are located in coastal or continental plate; shallow water;
high nutrients; thus plenty of food for fish; where cold and warm currents meet

 Continental shelves often major fishing grounds because shallow; (so) plenty of light; plenty of
nutrients; so plenty phyto- / zooplankton / food (for fish); (because of winter) sea stirring /
mixing; reject upwelling
 The coastal waters of Peru are excellent fishing grounds. These provide up to 70% of the world
catch of anchovy
 Anchovy fishing is a valuable part of the Peruvian economy because anchovy is a major part of
the world catch, there will always be world demand for anchovy the fish should always be
available.
 It contributes to GDP and income spent on infrastructure.
 Most of the anchovy catch is processed in factories into fish meal and fish oil for export.

 The Peruvian Ministry of Production insists that every fishing boat now has a licence.
  Fish processing factories are not allowed to buy anchovy from unlicensed boats.

 The Ministry of Production decided to license boats to stop further expansion of fishing and
prevent depletion of fish stocks and it will be able to control fishing or to prevent overfishing.

Race for fish: race to fish:

 A pattern of fishing characterized by an increasing number of highly efficient vessels fishing at an
increasing pace, with season length becoming shorter and shorter
 The Ministry of Production has still not entirely stopped the ‘race for fish’.
 At the beginning of each fishing season every boat lands as much anchovy as possible until their
quota is reached.
 The ‘race for fish’ causes problems for the fish processing plants by too much fish to process at
once, so some may not be processed properly or go rotten. Because it is working for 24hours
and even storage problems

 The ‘race for fish’ makes it easier to land anchovy illegally because it is difficult to inspect every
catch and it is easier to mix illegal fish with legal ones

 To stop the ‘race for fish’ the Ministry of Production publishes a list of the names of licensed
boats allowed to fish that day and those that are not. The list changes every day.
 The advantages of this system for fisherman for safer working as more time off and still able to
fish to the quota and stops price dropping quickly; time for repairs to boat; fishing gear.
 The advantages of this system for fish processors: less storage problems and do not have to
work long hours and less labour costs for night work. fish can be processed without mistake and
time for plant cleaning and maintenance

What is meant by fish stocks falling ‘below safe biological limits’?

A certain number of any species is needed to support breeding stocks for the future; the suggestion is
that cod and haddock numbers have fallen so low that they may never be able to recover to the levels
needed for commercial fishing.

Possible causes of tuna population numbers start to decline:

Overfishing, pollution, increased demand, increased human population, improved fishing technology,
fish migration, climate change

Different human factors for this big increase in total world fish catch:

• Growth in demand either from growing world population or the value of fish in the human diet
as a source of protein or food source
• Improved technology for discovering fish shoals
• improved or larger scale methods of fishing

The fish catch from the oceans has increased because of growth of population and growth of demand
and technology, such as sonar, increase in size of, boats or nets
Explain the natural factors which cause stocks of fish, such as anchovy, to be more plentiful in some
years than in others off the coast of Peru.

• Fish stocks are plentiful when the cold Peruvian current upwells near the coast;
• Cold waters rich in plankton on which anchovy feed;
• Shoals of anchovy migrate from coast in years when warm equatorial current from the west
brings warmer less nutrient-rich water to the coast;
• Periodic climatic change which causes stronger winds from the west blowing the warm waters;

The big increases in world fish catch by

Natural factors
• Only likely if new fishing grounds in the ocean are being exploited as a result of new technology,
and in sustainable quantities;
• Limit to the amount of fish that the natural ecosystems can support;
• Plentiful evidence of overfishing and formerly rich fishing grounds producing less such as the
Grand Banks off North America and the North Sea in Europe;

Human factors:
• Improvements in technology for locating big shoals of fish (such as sonar), for catching fish
(bigger nets and larger boats) and for preserving and processing fish caught (such as factory
ships)

Information about the world’s main commercial fish species:

23% Natural stocks still sustainable (fish stocks with fish of all ages, including young fish which will grow
to maturity; so that overall numbers will be maintained or may even increase.
e.g. herring, sardines, whitebait, mussels

8% depleted or exhausted
17% over-fished
52% fully-fished

The new fishing methods are described as ‘industrial fish farming’.

Industrial suggests ‘factory’ or also commercial business practice;
'Tuna ranches' farming on a large scale;
It is the type of organisation of an industry that would be expected of large companies;

Impact of exploitation of the oceans

Overfishing:

Overfishing is a serious problem in many of the world’s oceans.

Fish a body of water so extensively as to exhaust the supply of fish.

Reason for overfishing:

Demand exceeds supply, hunger, greed, any modern technology point

Changed fishing methods might lead to overfishing:

Radar location, sonar, electrofishing, large boats, Refrigeration, big boat range, satellite navigation,
better weather data, huge nets

Human Causes of overfishing:

 High modern technology for locating shoals of fish - technology such as radar or satellites and
sonar, or technology in terms of operational capabilities of boats - easier to find fish
 Larger size fishing boats (Big boats) - process more - fish further from shore and in more difficult
locations or weather conditions, hold more before they need to return to shore, economies of
scale favouring use of more sophisticated equipment
 Bigger nets in use (Large nets - catch more ) – trap larger shoals or numbers of fish, non-
selective which means that immature fish are caught as well
 Mesh size (too) small - catch more younger fish
 Refrigeration - can go further but still keep fish Population growth
 Refrigerated factory ships allow fishing much further from the shores or out in the oceans, some
processing at sea means that enormous numbers of fish need to be caught before it returns to
port
 Increased demand
 Fishing all year / taking fish of all ages
 Effect on numbers / young / reproduction

The problem of overfishing difficult to reduce because,

 Traditions of fishing/ way of life

 Population increase
 Hunger
 Economics
 Difficulty of monitoring, ignoring rules, quotas

International action is needed to bring about sustainable fishing practices because,

Fishermen stand to lose out in the short term if there are restrictions, so they will be unwilling to comply
(obey); if they are controlled in coastal waters, they are likely to go further into international waters;
where international action is the only solution.

The changes that happen to fish populations when they are overfished:
Less mature fish left to breed; so less very small fish to grow in future; changes in food chain;

Bycatch:

 The unwanted fish or marine species caught during fishing and capture of non target species are
called bycatch.
 Wherever there is fishing, there is bycatch—the incidental capture of non-target species such
as dolphins, marine turtles and seabirds
 Bycatch can be a large part of the total fish caught.
 Many fish caught as bycatch die in the nets. The death of bycatch fish is recorded as mortality
rate. It is used by scientists to understand the effects of fishing on each fish species.
  The amount of bycatch caught and the mortality rate are recorded for each type of fishing
method. This information is important for the sustainability of fisheries.
 Monitoring bycatch is important because for sustainable management of fisheries, high level of
mortality in bycatch and to understand the effects of fishing on each fish species

Plan for a new survey to find out if fish populations are recovering in the area where fishing is banned:

 Sample in a repeatable manner, several samples

 Record - location, numbers of fish, species of fish, length of fish, mass of fish, sex of fish or
sexual maturity or breeding condition

Reasons for the loss of fisheries:

 Overfishing
 Improved technology
 Marine pollution - named one/effect
 Climate change - effect on food
 Increased demand - due to pop growth
 Damage to habitat - caused by trawling methods
 Commercialization, factory ships

Management of the harvesting of marine species:

Strategies for sustainable (way) management for fishing (harvesting) of marine species (fish from
ocean) include:

Strategies that can be used to reduce or avoid overfishing:

Some of the ways the government could help to protect fish stocks and strategies to stop the
declining of fish:

 These include controlling net types and set mesh size(Increase size of net apertures), Smaller
nets pole and line fishing, setting quotas, closed seasons, protected areas and
reserves(restricted seasons, restricted zones), banning fishing in certain areas or only fish in
designated areas
 Territorial controls (both national and international), Making and upholding conservation laws,
international agreements, Use of sustainable fishing methods or specific targeted methods e.g.
pole(rod) and line

• Licences, fishing patrols to enforce rules, fines, no catch areas, net hole, strategies to reduce
pollution, restriction young fish catch, net limitations

 No fishing during breeding season, Increased use of aquaculture (fish farming),

 Moratoria (a temporary prohibition of fishing activity)
 Fish types or species or size restricted
Net types and mesh size
• There are a vast number of methods used to catch fish around the world, including:
• Drift nets
• Pelagic trawlers
• Beam trawlers
• Bottom dredging
• Purse seining

Net size:
• Minimum fishing net mesh size is 13 mm it stops catching too many or young fish before they
can breed (Larger mesh)
• Smaller net

Shape of holes e.g. diamond shape

Pole and line

• Pole and line fishing is a selective and more sustainable method

• This is a particularly effective method which avoids unwanted bycatch as nets are not used

Length of fish: young fish catch

 Minimum length of fish caught is 12 cm it helps maintain breeding stock

Quota:
 Each boat has a fish quota to get only a sustainable portion of fish taken

Fishing days: limited number of fishing days each year

 Helps prevent illegal fishing or enforcing quota system or prevent overfishing and for mating
season

Some of the Restrictions to prevent overfishing:

 Restricted number of fishing days:
Limits the overall catch or protects fish stocks
 Introduce a quota or limited number of fishing licences
Limits the overall catch or protects fish stocks
 Closed season:
Allows species to reproduce or protects fish stocks or limits the overall (annual) catch
 Size of boat:
Limits the distance travelled by boats / prevents the use of factory ships / limits (daily) catch
 Type of fishing gear:
Only sustainable methods allowed, e.g. pole and line for tuna or only target species harvested
reduces bycatch
 Larger mesh size:
Allows juvenile fish to escape or protects fish stocks or reduces bycatch
 Smaller net size:
Limits the overall catch or protects fish stocks
 marine protected areas:
Protects vulnerable ecosystems or limits the overall catch or protects fish stocks
  However, implementation and monitoring dependent on accurate reporting e.g. accuracy of
bycatch recording or observance of international agreements
 Not all nations are members of the Regional Fisheries Management Organisation and are not
bound by its rules evidence from bycatches shows high mortality rates
 world population growing so more demand for increased quantity and variety of food
 overfishing depletes reserves of fish
 bycatch and overfishing depletes population of young fish
 It is difficult to get international agreements / difficult to regulate fishing in international waters

Reasons why these strategies are not always successful:

 Young fish caught, not kept but dead on return
 Can’t monitor
 Law breaking
 Hunger
 Poverty
 Demand irresistible

Some of the ways in which the government can enforce measures and prevent illegal fishing:
 Fishery protection or patrol boats
 Inspection of fishing gear/nets
 Inspecting fish caught
 Record all fish catches/sticking to quota
 Use of GPS/satellite to track boats
 Fines for illegal acts
 Impound(seize) boats
 Remove license

General problems might prevent this strategy from being successful:

Include:
 Economic - need to make a living, earn income from sale orexport, make a profit from having
capital tied up in boats and equipment
 Tradition / culture - continuation of long established activities
 Making and sticking to international agreements
 Cheating on net sizes, quotas, etc.