By: Paige Bathke
Nutrient pollution is the process where too many nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are added to bodies of water and can act like fertilizer causing excessive growth of algae. As you can see in the picture to the right, the nutrients and fertilizer is running off into the body of water causing excessive algae growth. Nutrient pollution affects the economy in many different ways, from the tourism, property values, commercial fishing, and recreational businesses. The factors of production of seafood and crops are also being affected because of the nutrient pollution. The land is actually increasing and becoming more effective because the fertilizer being used and running off into the oceans, is boosting plant growth in farms because the fertilizer is killing the weeds. The labor for fishing industries would continue to decrease. As the pollution keeps spilling into the ocean more species are being killed, leading to a smaller fish and seafood population. This makes it harder for the fisherman to catch fish and sell the fish to restaurants which is how they make their money. Physical and human capital is increasing because there are more successful machines being used to spread the fertilizer or nutrient pollution that allows for a greater crop production. Entrepreneurship of fishing industries would struggle since there can only be a limited amount of fishing industries since there are not many fish to catch.
Furthermore, commercial fishing industries lose business and people lose jobs because they cannot make a sustainable income by being in the fishing industry. Fishing industries are failing because of the nutrient pollution in the oceans. Fishing and shellfish industries are hurt by algal blooms that kill fish and contaminate shellfish. As you can tell from the graph on the left there is a projected decline of seafood species. This dramatic decline is causing fishing industries to not be able to fish effectively. Annual loses to these industries are estimated to be tens of billions of dollars. When there are high levels of these algal blooms and the fish become contaminated customers of the fishing and shellfish industries become afraid to eat the seafood, because consuming the nutrient pollution can cause stomach pain, vomiting, and stomach rash.
Next, clean water can raise the value by 25 percent. Waterfront property values can decline because of the unpleasant sight of algal blooms. Additionally people would not want to have a property on the coast because they wouldn’t be able to swim in the water so the house would not be worth the expensive cost. The opportunity cost of not purchasing the waterfront property would be the great ocean view.
Additionally, the cost of drinking water is affected. Nitrates and algal blooms can drastically increase treatment costs. Nitrate removal systems in Minnesota caused supply costs to rise from 10 cents per 1000 gallons to over $4 per 1000 gallons. The scarcity of clean water is starting to increase so the cost of the clean water is going to continue to rise since it is harder to get the water and clean the water.
There is also a major loss in tourism in areas where nutrient pollution is prominent. Boating and fishing activities cannot take place in these areas because of the health affects nutrient pollution has on humans. These human health issues include; stomach rashes, stomach pain, respiratory problems, and lung alignments. Parents who are touring these areas where there is nutrient pollution would not feel confident taking their children on boats or on the water because children’s development is at risk when they are exposed to this pollution.
To conclude, businesses that are located near the ocean that are polluted by the nutrient pollution are at risk and the economy is going to continue to decrease drastically. Production of fishing industries is going to continue to decrease and fish will continue to die off so there will be less fish available to catch. The producers in the fishing industries will not be able to make an income because they will not be able to sell freshly caught fish. This will cause lots of jobs to be lost to those who rely on fishing as their way to make money. Waterfront property values will decline because of the unpleasant sight of algal blooms and the consumers cannot swim in the water or perform any water activities. Drinking water will increase in cost because treatment costs will rise. Tourism will start waning in areas where nutrient pollution is. In order to save the economy water sources will need to be cleaned and humans will need to stop polluting the water.
Works Cited
Charles Clover, Environment Editor. “All Seafood Will Run out in 2050, Say Scientists.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 3 Nov. 2006, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1533125/All-seafood-will-run-out-in-2050-say-scientists.html.
“The Effects: Economy.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 27 Mar. 2018, www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/effects-economy.
“Nutrient Pollution Definition.” Assignment Point, 1 Oct. 2015, www.assignmentpoint.com/science/agriculture/nutrient-pollution-definition.html.
“Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.” Introduced Crab Parasites Hijack Mud Crab Reproduction in Chesapeake Bay, serc.si.edu/research/research-topics/environmental-pollution/nutrient-pollution.
US Department of Commerce, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “What Is Nutrient Pollution?” NOAA's National Ocean Service, 1 Sept. 2009, oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/nutpollution.html.
We often hear about pollution of oil spills and plastic in bodies of water, but not usually nutrient pollution, which actually stimulates growth of algae. I think it is important to recognize that there are many different kinds of pollution effecting the ecosystem. People often are blindsided that this also effects our economy. But since our water filtration systems are not performing at an adequate level, other threats rise to the surface; such as young women using birth control, urinating, the medication not being filtrated, getting into food or water resources, and leaving the maturity process for young men unsteady. It is true, though, how when you go on vacation to what is advertised as blue waters and pretty beaches, only to find pollution. Tourist traffic will go down, and that will hurt a lot of the businesses who station themselves in a specific location and with limited products to meet the demand of the visitor.
ReplyDeleteThe question I have after reading this response is, how do we get the owners of the lakefront properties to stop polluting the water? Would there be some type of law enforcement patrolling constantly near their land?
ReplyDeleteThe reason I ask this is because it’s easy for someone on the lake not to care. If you have a huge lawn most people wouldn’t want to spend the extra money on safer fertilizer or anything of the sort, and instead would resort to the cheaper and faster option. Also, people that don’t use the lake to swim wouldn’t take this problem as seriously. They can still take their boats out onto the water and cruise around, they just can’t go in if they want to.
I feel the only thing we can really do without having people complain would be to just simply spread awareness about this problem. Alerting to people about what kinds of treatments and solutions are detrimental to the water could possibly help people make the switch to a safer option.
Runoff also present a problem in livestock farming. When small rivers and creaks are shared with conventional farms the fertilizers and pesticides can easily get into those shared waterways presenting a danger to livestock. Even when there's not an immediate danger organic farmers can potentially lose their licenses if runoff fertilizer is found on their farms without being properly contained decreasing the value of their product.
ReplyDelete