Impact of Social and Ecological systems on sustainability

The three actual dimensions of sustainability in the present-world include the economic, social, and environmental/ecological aspects. No aspect among these outweighs the other in its importance as all have an equal impact on the sustainability of our world resources for future generations. There are some; however, that showcase striking similarities in their ideologies and are the ones that are mostly focused upon in sustainability efforts, as they appear to have the most evident impact in conserving resources. These are the ecological and social systems. Interactions among both social and ecological systems, in a significant way, affect how sustainable a resource will be. While social networks refer to the relationships between individuals, groups, or institutions and consequent interactions fostered by these relationships, ecological systems can get described as the interactions between any organism and its environment (Argos, 2015). Each has nearly as much impact as the other in determining how much of a resource will get depleted within a specific frame of time and how much of it will get left for future generations. As some might argue, though, the two ought to be considered in the same frame- as they work hand in hand – when it comes to talks on sustainability.

In this case, the fish eco-system will be used to demonstrate the relationship that exists between the social and ecological systems. The fact that there exist thousands of fish species within the vast sea waters is undeniable, an astonishing figure barring the fact that there are many more species yet to be discovered in the deepest parts of the oceans.

These numbers can be attributed to the high reproduction potential of fish, with a single nest of a fully grown 8-inch fish holding over 300 eggs (Akpalu, 2011). The fish, too, live in quite a sustainable environment, complete with corals for laying eggs and providing habitats, planktons that provide their food, and a predator-prey relationship that works to keep fish numbers in check.

 

The fish numbers inevitably presented them as a viable source of food for a similarly booming human population. This has therefore led to the emergence of fishing as both a means of domestic sustenance as well as for commercial purposes. The Pacific and Atlantic waters, teeming with all types of marine fish, have been rapidly transformed into major fishing grounds for all continents. Countries bordered by the sea are all cashing in on the “underwater goldmines” as a significant source of income. This has been encouraged further by the coming up of fishing culture in many societies, more so in the Asian, European, and Arab countries. Fish-eating also reduced reliance on beef as the dominant source of protein in most parts of the world.

As with all forms of exploitation, however, the question of how sustainable the venture is has cropped up, only when it comes to the fish population, the actual figures are quite worrying. Due to an increase in demand, new and inventive technologies for capturing fish have been conjured up since the earlier days of spearing and using harpoons or traps to catch small numbers of fish, mostly for domestic use. Larger nets, bigger boats, more effective baiting techniques have come into the scene in recent years, with the ability to catch thousands of fish with a single cast of the net. Inventive methods like the purse seining, trawling have been employed, which can be able to capture hundreds of thousands of fish at a time, depending on the breadth of the net used. The result has been the removal of nearly 77 billion kilograms of fish and other sea creatures from the waters per year according to recent data (Editor, Sustainable Fishing, 2017).

A perfect example is the famous bluefin tuna, considered one of the fastest and largest fish in the sea. Its sumptuous, tasty meat has led to its popularity across the world, more so, in Asian countries, where it is served raw and is famously referred to as “sushi.”  The high demand has led to the indiscriminate fishing of the species, with it being reported that only nearly 30% of the population of the species in 1970 remains. It is therefore rightly feared that continued fishing of this and other species at this rate might lead to the collapse of fisheries, as the fish numbers soon won’t be enough to cater for the market, and, at worst, may lead to the extinction of the species.

Graph of the biomass of bluefin tuna against time in years (Fujiwara, 2012)

The sudden threat to fish sustainability has been affected, in no small way, by the social processes in society. A rapid change in the culture of the people, for instance, has led to the preference for fish as a source of protein as opposed to other alternatives. This has led to it becoming a staple in some countries, and the demand to be satisfied prompted the renewed efforts in fishing to supply it. This, as can be seen, however, has led to dwindling in fish numbers and threatened the marine eco-system. Interaction among people of different cultures races and communities can also be sighted as a cause for the spread in the fish-eating culture to a broader population, making it impossible to meet the market demand without upping the technology and capturing large sums of fish. Advancements in technology by the human population can also be considered a cause for threatening fish sustainability. As said earlier new machines and instrumentation were invented in light of the increased demand for fish, which caused indiscriminate fishing that’s led to the fall in numbers.

The impact of ecological processes on fish numbers, too, can be felt. Pollution of sea and ocean waters by the introduction of harmful substances such as oil and industrial effluents harms marine life. It is estimated that over 10,000 sea mammals and fish die annually through pollution of the waters, this either due to air depletion caused by an oil layer on top of the water or through poisoning by toxic wastes such as garbage dumped into the oceans (Editor, Sustainable Fishing, 2017). While the production of wastes is unavoidable in the present day, with the abundance of industries in place, their careless disposal has posed a significant threat to the marine ecosystem. In the process of fishing too, instruments such as nets with many metal hooks tend to disturb the topography of the sea bed. This tends to ruin the coral reefs that are habitats and breeding grounds, similarly causing disturbance of the sea animals living there, leading to their migration and subsequent drop in fish numbers.

In conclusion, from the above evidence, the social and ecological systems both affect sustainability in one way or another. They are also more or less similar in that they look at the interaction of human beings either with each other or with the environment around them. The two should, therefore, be incorporated into one discipline to better understand the factors ailing sustainability and better deal with them to conserve resources.

 

 

 

 

REFERENCES

Akpalu, W. (2011, April 2). Ecological economics. Elsevier , p. 8.

Argos, C. (2015, March 10). Sustainability Explained with Simple Natural Science. Retrieved February 16, 2020, from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eec0UYGIeo4

Editor. (n.d.). n.

Editor. (2017, February 12). Sustainable Fishing. Retrieved February 16, 2020, from National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/sustainable-fishing/

Fujiwara, M. (2012, May 1). Demographic Diversity and Sustainable Fisheries. Open Access, p. 14.