With all the issues going on in our nation right now, there are some extremely important ones that are frequently overlooked, one of which is overfishing. A fair share of our nation turns to our oceans for sources of food, as they have in the past, but in the process we are depleting the population of several species of fish. If we keep harvesting at the rate we have been, some species of fish will not be able to make a full recovery to get back to a healthy population size.

We need to find a happy medium, a middle ground that favors both the workers that are involved in the industry, and the species of fish that are being harvested. We don’t want to deplete the population of fish, we want to preserve the population so future generations may work in the same industry as the men and woman do today. On the other hand, we also don’t want to have to shut down the industry, and put many people out of work. Many people rely on their jobs in the fishing industry as their livelihood to pay for everyday essential expenses for their families, and the last thing they want is for their jobs to be taken from them because we can’t control how much we take and take before we realize it is almost all gone. We need to create tangible laws and regulations to control our consumption, while at the same time making sure they benefit the workers.

Taylor Lewis, student
Hyde School, Bath


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