By Ryan Pearson
In a world where man has negatively
impacted so many facets of the natural environment just to feed the planets
vast human population, I pose the question “How is it justifiable to decimate
entire populations of marine species to protect our leisurely pursuits?” Looking
into the future, the rapidly expanding human population is likely to have more
and more seemingly unavoidable impacts on natural systems through things like climate
change, over-fishing, eutrophication, and the input of anthropogenic pollutants
(Ricel and Garcia, 2011). It is clear that many necessary human endeavours will have
some significant negative impacts, with potentially dire repercussions for the
state of the entire planet. Research indicates that by 2050, a 50% increase in
fishery production from 2011 levels will be required just to feed the human
population (Ricel and Garcia, 2011). This is a figure that many agree the oceans
simply can’t hope to support. Despite a general awareness of these impacts,
humans often campaign for and implement further destructive mechanisms that are
not necessary for the survival of our species, but may have dire consequences
for others. Shark control programs are one such example.
