DangerousCatch-Group1

Dangerous Catch (Pd 3)  “Our massive demands on the ocean’s bounty impacts life far beyond the shoreline: bushmeat hunting is on the rise in Ghana while in Namibia; fishing grounds struggle to recover as putrid fumes explode from the ocean depths and poison the waters; and radical new fish farms are sprouting up from Puerto Rico to Canada. Across the globe, all life is feeling the effects of overfishing. Can we protect fish in time to safeguard the ocean, life on land and ultimately ourselves? Find out how we all can make a difference.” Group 1: Far-Reaching Effects of Overfishing in Ghana · What did biologist Justin Brashares discover when he went to Ghana to study antelopes?

· What are the Direct and Indirect effects of the baboon overpopulation in Ghana?

· What did Brashares discover about the baboons by looking through the wildlife archives in Mole National Park?

· How are fish, baboons and bushmeat related?

· What are other factors contributing to the problem of fish supplies?

· What actions can be taken to restore balance in Ghana?

In Ghana there are far-reaching effects of overfishing. Nobody took action to this problem until a biologist named Justin Brashares came to Ghana to study antelopes. He found that the animal population was decreasing except for baboons. It wasn’t long until Justin found himself hovering over papers of animal records. In the animal records he found that the animal population will go down every time the fishing season was in session. While this was happening the baboons started to change the way they acted and their strategy of hunting for prey. The baboons had a direct and indirect way of their overpopulation. Directly they were overpopulating because of the lack of predation. Baboons were acting more aggressive and began to hunt at night eating farmer livestock. Indirectly the baboons were causing kids a lack of education by forcing their fathers to take them out of school so they can protect the livestock, and they began to spread disease. Brashares soon found out that the lack of animal was due to hunting, and that fishing in Ghana was a huge importance to their culture.

Question 1: Biologist Justin Brashares discovered the antelopes were disappearing along with many other animals in Ghana, while he was in Ghana to study antelopes.

Question 2: The direct effects of the baboon overpopulation in Ghana are that there was a lack of predation and they became more aggressive by night hunting. Indirect effects were farmers had to take their kids out of school to protect their livestock, and the baboons began to spread disease.

Question 3: Brashares discovered that the baboons were overpopulating while the rest of animals’ population was decreasing. He received this information at the Mole National Park.

Question 4: Fish, baboons, and bushmeat are all related by the amount of fishing in the area. If there was a good fishing season, bushmeat was not needed as much allowing the baboons to decrease because there are more predators in the area. Same goes the other way around.

Question 5: Other factors contributing to the problem of fish supplies are they are being over fished by Europeans with the big capturing nets and they are being stolen by pirates.

Question 6: The actions that can be taken to restore the balance in Ghana are the people in Ghana can buy their fish from good fisheries, and the Europeans can capture fish with undersea biomes.

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Overall you guys did a good job on summary and answering questions. I'm not quite sure what you mean though in Q6 about the Europeans capturing fish in undersea biomes. The people in Ghana could set up marine preserves to allow the fish population to recover. They could also start sustainable fish farming. I have a good friend who is in Ghana right now starting a fresh water fish farm for tilapia on the on the Volta River. <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">75/75