Chapter 14. Chapter 14: Fisheries and Aquaculture

How are fish and fisheries like that of the Atlantic cod...?

Why You Should Care

Fishing in the ocean has been a major source of food for thousands of years. Whole trading routes and civilizations (such as herring fisheries in the Viking cultures) have been built around fish and their ecosystems.

Today, more advanced technology means that fewer people are needed to run increasingly larger fishing vessels. Coupled with decreasing catches, this has economic and cultural impacts on human societies that depend on fishing. People are put out of work, especially in areas that historically have focused only on fishing (leaving few alternative jobs), and the decreasing catch forces societies to move away from traditional values and either identify with new values or move elsewhere to continue fishing as a way of life.