Research PaperThe Environmental Impact of Fishing and Fish Farming on a Global ScaleDuring our oceanography class trip to La Jolla, England California, we spent a day on the Ocean Institute boat carrying out tests and observing marine life. To sample the different fish in the area, we dragged a large net through the water, something volunteers say they don't do often because it's destructive to the environment. I found it interesting that catching fish in this way could be harmful not only to the fish, but also to the ocean environment itself. I am a pescetarian for environmental reasons, but I have never considered the environmental effects of fishing. My experience made us want to learn more about commercial fishing and whether it had serious effects on the environment. This article is a simple investigation into commercial fishing, fish farming and their impact on fish populations and the environment. Marine fisheries are large commercial fishing enterprises that recklessly catch massive quantities of fish, causing marine fish populations to decline and irreversibly change. the oceanic environment. Scientists Goldburg and Naylor record fishing statistics which indicate that the amount of fish caught worldwide by commercial fisheries is approximately 90 million tonnes per year (21). Due to this excessive volume, it is estimated that ninety percent of the world's large fish, such as sharks and swordfish, were wiped out (Goldburg and Naylor 21). Harris and Codur cite statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which show that sixty percent of major fish species in eleven of the fifteen most important global fisheries are in decline (1). One might assume that such a population decline, apparently impossible to restore, must be... middle of article ......_fisheries>Pauly, Daniel and Dirk Zeller (lead authors); J. Emmett Duffy (subject editor). 2006. “Marine Fisheries.” Earth Encyclopedia. Ed. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, DC: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council on Science and the Environment). (2006). March 25, 2010 Pauly, Daniel, Reg Watson and Jackie Alder. “Global trends in global fisheries: impacts on marine ecosystems and food security.” Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences, Fishing: a future? Flight. 360.No. 1453, (2005): 5-12 March 28, 2010Norse, Elliot A., et al. ed. Marine conservation biology: the science of maintaining the biodiversity of the sea. Washington DC: Island Press, 2005.