Causes+of+overfishing

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Overfishing occurs when fish and other marine species are caught at a rate faster than they can reproduce. Without doubt the fish in the ocean are a finite resource. Overfishing is the biggest threat to the ocean environment according to many marine scientists. Worldwide, fishing fleets are two to three times as large as needed to take present day catches of fish and other marine species and as what our oceans can sustainably support. On a global scale we have enough fishing capacity to cover at least four Earth like planets. On top of the overcapacity many fishing methods are unsustainable in their own way. These methods have a large impact on the basic functioning of our marine ecosystems. These unselective fishing practices and gear cause tremendous destruction on non target species. Bycatch, discards and bottom trawling destruction are three examples of this.