Monthly Archives: November 2016

References

Agardy, Tundi and Jacqueline Alder (Coordinating Lead Authors), 2005, “Coastal Systems,” chapter 19 in Rashin Hassan, Robert Scholes, and Neville Ash, eds, Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Current State and Trends, Volume 1, Washington, DC: Island Press.

“Fish More Important than Ever in Providing Jobs, Feeding the World – UN Report.” UN News Center. UN, 19 May 2014..

Helfrich, Louis A. 2003.  Sustaining America’s Aquatic Biodiversity What Is Aquatic Biodiversity; Why Is It Important?

Hiddink, J.g., B.r. Mackenzie, A. Rijnsdorp, N.k. Dulvy, E.e. Nielsen, D. Bekkevold, M. Heino, P. Lorance, and H. Ojaveer. 2008. “Importance of Fish Biodiversity for the Management of Fisheries and Ecosystems.” Fisheries Research 90.1-3: 6-8. 2005.

Magiera, Ewa. 2016. “World Nearing 3% of Ocean Protection.” IUCN. IUCN.

Moyle, Peter B. 1992. Loss of Biodiversity in Aquatic Ecosystems: Evidence from Fish Faunas. New York: Chapman and Hall. Print.

“Report Highlights Growing Role of Fish in Feeding the World.” FAO – News Article: Report Highlights Growing Role of Fish in Feeding the World. FAO, 2014.

Introduction:

When investigating the environmental social sciences, it is imperative to trace back and examine how social forces contribute to changes that we see in the environment. In the past, conservation biology focused largely on the loss of biotic diversity in terrestrial environments. However with increase pressures from population growth and modernization, biological degradation of aquatic environments is becoming increasingly recognized as a global problem (Moyle, 1992). Mitigation strategies have proved to be a difficult task because there is a lack of understanding when it comes to studying the loss of aquatic biodiversity. Some of these factors may include the ocean depth making it difficult to study marine habitats, and organisms living in freshwater habitats tend to be small invertebrates difficult to identify (Moyle, 1992).  Presumably, as we look into the trends of fishes in order to understand and identify the decline of biodiversity in aquatic environments, we can make suggestions in order to help solve these problems. One of the primary reasons for using fish as an indicator of aquatic biodiversity stems from the fact that fishes are relatively easy to identify, diverse and play a pivotal role in affecting other organism  ( Moyle, 1992) This means that there are an abundance of different species which reflect different types of environmental conditions (Moyle,1992). An example can be taken in the form of an algae eater, a common name that refers to bottom-dwelling fish that live off Algae. In some parts of the world, algae eating fishes can cause a disruption amongst other organisms that consume algae. This in turn, would likely result in a disruption and have repercussions throughout the food web.