OVERHARVESTING

Over-harvesting is when a species is reduced beyond the point where the population can sustain itself. Dramatic loss in one species can change an entire ecosystem. For example, the exploitation of blue crab could impact predators such as stripped bass. The economic impacts can also be significant. One example of this is the Atlantic Cod fisheries collapse of 1992, which is estimated to have cost the Canadian government over $4 billion dollars and communities 40,000 jobs.