The Future of Fish Reading Answers

Dec 26, 2022

The Future of Fish Reading Answers is a part of the IELTS reading section. The reading section in IELTS is composed of three passages or sections. The Future of Fish Reading Answers has 14 questions in total. Candidates need to read them carefully and make small notes regarding the important points. This topic has been taken from the book Practice Tests for IELTS 2 - Volume 2. This IELTS reading sample answer: The Future of Fish Reading Answers is an IELTS Academic topic. It has three different question types: Yes, No, and Not Given, Choose the correct letter, and Complete the summary. Students can increase their knowledge in English writing and reading skills with the help of IELTS reading practice papers.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

The Future of Fish Reading Answers

The face of the ocean has changed completely since the first commercial fishers cast their nets and hooks over a thousand years ago. Fisheries intensified over the centuries, but even by the nineteenth century it was still felt, justifiably, that the plentiful resources of the sea were for the most part beyond the reach of fishing, and so there was little need to restrict fishing or create protected areas. The twentieth century heralded an escalation in fishing intensity that is unprecedented in the history of the oceans, and modern fishing technologies leave fish no place to hide. Today, the only refuges from fishing are those we deliberately create. Unhappily, the sea trails far behind the land in terms of the area and the quality of protection given.

For centuries, as fishing and commerce have expanded, we have held onto the notion that the sea is different from the land. We still view it as a place where people and nations should be free to come and go at will, as well as somewhere that should be free for us to exploit. Perhaps this is why we have been so reluctant to protect the sea. On land, protected areas have proliferated as human populations have grown. Here, compared to the sea, we have made greater headway in our struggle to maintain the richness and variety of wildlife and landscape. Twelve percent of the world’s land is now contained in protected areas, whereas the corresponding figure for the sea is but three-fifths of one percent. Worse still, most marine protected areas allow some fishing to continue. Areas off-limits to all exploitation cover something like one five-thousandth of the total area of the world’s seas.

Today, we are belatedly coming to realise that ‘natural refuges’ from fishing have played a critical role in sustaining fisheries, and maintaining healthy and diverse marine ecosystems. This does not mean that marine reserves can rebuild fisheries on their own - other management measures are also required for that. However, places that are off-limits to fishing constitute the last and most important part of our package of reform for fisheries management. They underpin and enhance all our other efforts. There are limits to protection though.

Reserves cannot bring back what has died out. We can never resurrect globally extinct species, and restoring locally extinct animals may require reintroductions from elsewhere, if natural dispersal from remaining populations is insufficient. We are also seeing, in cases such as northern cod in Canada, that fishing can shift marine ecosystems into different states, where different mixes of species prevail. In many cases, these species are less desirable, since the prime fishing targets have gone or are much reduced in numbers, and changes may be difficult to reverse, even with a complete moratorium on fishing. The Mediterranean sailed by Ulysses, the legendary king of ancient Greece, supported abundant monk seals, loggerhead turtles and porpoises. Their disappearance through hunting and overfishing has totally restructured food webs, and recovery is likely to be much harder to achieve than their destruction was. This means that the sooner we act to protect marine life, the more certain will be our success.

To some people, creating marine reserves is an admission of failure. According to their logic, reserves should not be necessary if we have done our work properly in managing the uses we make of the sea. Many fisheries managers are still wedded to the idea that one day their models will work, and politicians will listen to their advice. Just give the approach time, and success will be theirs. How much time have we got? This approach has been tried and refined for the last 50 years. There have been few successes which to feather the managers’ caps, but a growing litany of failure. The Common Fisheries Policy, the European Union’s instrument for the management of fisheries and aquaculture, exemplifies the worst pitfalls: flawed models, flawed advice, watered-down recommendations from government bureaucrats and then the disregard of much of this advice by politicians. When it all went wrong, as it inevitably had to, Europe sent its boats to other countries in order to obtain fish for far less than they were actually worth.

We are squandering the wealth of oceans. If we don’t break out of this cycle of failure, humanity will lose a key source of protein, and much more besides. Disrupting natural ecosystem processes, such as water purification, nutrient cycling, and carbon storage, could have ramifications for human life itself. We can go a long way to avoiding this catastrophic mistake with simple common sense management. Marine reserves lie at the heart of the reform. But they will not be sufficient if they are implemented only here and there to shore up the crumbling edifice of the ‘rational fisheries management’ envisioned by scientists in the 1940s and 1950s. They have to be placed centre stage as a fundamental underpinning for everything we do in the oceans. Reserves are a first resort, not a final resort when all else fails.

Section 2

Solution with Explanation

Questions 1-5:
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 3? Write

YES- if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO- if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN- if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

It is more than a thousand years since people started to catch fish for commercial use.

Answer: Yes
Supporting Sentence: Fisheries intensified over the centuries, but even by the nineteenth century, it was still felt, justifiably, that the plentiful if resources of the sea were for the most part beyond the reach of fishing, and so there was little need to restrict fishing or create protected areas.
Keywords: Fisheries intensified, nineteenth century, create protected areas
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, 2^nd sentence
Explanation: The first paragraph says that fishing has been accustomed as a commercial activity for ages. The supporting sentence says over the centuries. century means 100 years. Many centuries means thousands of years.

In general, open access to the oceans is still regarded as desirable.

Answer: Yes
Supporting Sentence: We still view it as a place where people and nations should be free to come and go at will, as well as somewhere that should be free for us to exploit.
Keywords: fishing and commerce, free for us to exploit
Keyword Location: Paragraph B, 2^nd sentence
Explanation: The supporting sentence states that individuals can access sea at any point of time with any authentication or permission as such. Hence, in general, open access is still desireable.

Sea fishing is now completely banned in the majority of protected areas.

Answer: No
Supporting Sentence: Worse still, most marine protected areas allow some fishing to continue.
Keywords: protected areas, corresponding figure, marine protected, exploitation cover
Keyword Location: Paragraph B, 2^nd last sentence
Explanation: The author states that twelve percent of the world's land is now contained in protected areas. he also states that in protected areas also, fishing is allowed. It can be concluded that most of the fishing premises have been implemented under protected areas. However, there are still some places that exploit the norms and regulations of fishing. Hence, the statement is not ture.

People should be encouraged to reduce the amount of fish they eat.

Answer: Not Given

Explanation: There is no information provided regarding this. Hence, the answer is Not Given.

The re-introduction of certain mammals to the Mediterranean is a straightforward task.

Answer: No
Supporting Sentence: The Mediterranean sailed by Ulysses, the legendary king of ancient Greece, supported abundant monk seals, loggerhead turtles and porpoises.
Keywords: Mediterranean sailed, Ulysses, king of ancient Greece, abundant monk seals, loggerhead turtles and porpoises
Keyword Location: Paragraph D, 5^th sentence
Explanation: The author states that it has not been an easy task to relocate and introduce mammals in the Mediterranean. The reason is that they had to deal with several preys.

Questions 6-8:
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D and write them in the boxes on your answer sheet.

What does the writer mean with the question, ‘How much time have we got?’ in the fifth paragraph?

Fisheries policies are currently based on uncertain estimates.
Accurate predictions will allow governments to plan properly.
Fisheries managers should provide clearer information.
Action to protect fish stocks is urgently needed.

Answer: D- Action to protect fish stocks is urgently needed
Supporting Sentence: According to their logic, reserves should not be necessary if we have done our work properly in managing the uses we make of the sea. Many fisheries managers are still wedded to the idea that one day their models will work, and politicians will listen to their advice.
Keywords: marine reserves, fisheries managers
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, 2^nd sentence
Explanation: The passage shows that many fisheries are waiting that one day the model will work. However, there is no time and action is urgent. There have been necessary measures adopted by individuals against the prohibition of the fishery. However, these measures have failed.

What is the writer’s comment on the Common Fisheries Policy?

Measures that it advocated were hastily implemented.
Officials exaggerated some of its recommendations.
It was based on predictions which were inaccurate.
It was based on predictions which were inaccurate.

Answer: C- It was based on predictions which were inaccurate
Supporting Sentence: The Common Fisheries Policy, the European Union's instrument for the management of fisheries and aquaculture, exemplifies the worst pitfalls: flawed models, flawed advice, watered-down recommendations from government bureaucrats and then the disregard of much of this advice by politicians.
Keywords: Common Fisheries Policy, European Union's instrument, fisheries and aquaculture,
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, 8^th sentence
Explanation: The author directly states that these were flawed models. There have been several setbacks associated with the Common Fishery Policy. Flawed models, flawed advice, watered-down recommendations from government bureaucrats and then the disregard of much of this advice by politicians.

What is the writer’s conclusion concerning the decline of marine resources?

The means of avoiding the worst outcomes needs to be prioritized.
Measures already taken to avoid a crisis are probably sufficient.
The situation is now so severe that there is no likely solution.
It is no longer clear which measures would be most effective.

Answer: A-The means of avoiding the worst outcomes needs to be prioritized
Supporting Sentence: Disrupting natural ecosystem processes, such as water purification, nutrient cycling, and carbon storage, could have ramifications for human life itself.
Keywords: Disrupting natural ecosystem processes, water purification, nutrient cycling, carbon storage.
Keyword Location: Paragraph F, 3^rd sentence
Explanation: The author states that we are harming the natural ecosystem. There is a necessity for prioritizing needs as these are leading to the degrading of the natural ecosystem. Hence, the means of avoiding the worst outcomes needs to be prioritized.

Question 9-14
Complete the summary using the list of words/phrases, A-J, below.

Measures to protect the oceans

Up till the twentieth century the world’s supply of fish was sufficient for its needs.

It was unnecessary to introduce 9 of any kind, because large areas of the oceans were inaccessible.

However, as 10 improved, this situation changed, and in the middle of the twentieth century, policies were introduced to regulate 11

These policies have not succeeded. Today, by comparison with 12 the oceans have very little legal protection.

Despite the doubts that many officials have about the concept of 13, these should be at the heart of any action taken.

The consequences of further 14 are very serious, and may even affect our continuing existence.

Words or Phrases:

A action

B controls

C failure

D fish catches

E fish processing

F fishing techniques

G large boats

H marine reserves

I the land

J the past

Question 9

Answer: B
Supporting Sentence: There was little need to restrict fishing or create protected areas.
Keywords: restrict fishing, protected areas
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, 2^nd sentence
Explanation: The author says that Negligible approaches were required to regulate access to large oceans. Regulate means control.

Question 10

Answer: F
Supporting Sentence: The twentieth century heralded an escalation in fishing intensity that is unprecedented in the history of the oceans, and modern fishing technologies leave fish no place to hide.
Keywords: heralded an escalation, fishing intensity, unprecedented
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, 3^rd sentence.
Explanation: As per the passage, the evolution of fishing techniques has changed several approaches. Approaches mean fishing techniques. Hence, F is the correct answer.

Question 11

Answer: D
Supporting Sentence: Today, the only refuges from fishing are those we deliberately create.
Keywords: refuges, deliberately create
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, 2^nd last sentence.
Explanation: We can see that several norms and policies have been developed to regulate fish-catching and fishery processes. The author states that we deliberately create refugees from fishing. Hence, fish catches is the correct answer.

Question 12

Answer: I
Supporting Sentence: Unhappily, the sea trails far behind the land in terms of the area and the quality of protection given.
Keywords: Unhappily, trails far behind, quality of protection given
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, last sentence.
Explanation: As per the author, oceans have very little legal protection. The policies that are framed toward protecting the sea over land are not powerful enough to protect the sea. Hence, land is the correct answer.

Question 13

Answer: H
Supporting Sentence: To some people, creating marine reserves is an admission of failure.
Keywords: creating marine reserves, admission of failure
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, 1^st sentence.
Explanation: There are very few norms that are intended for the protection of fishery and oceans. The case should be the opposite. These should be at the heart of any action taken. Fisher and ocean means marine reserve.

Question 14

Answer: C
Supporting Sentence: f we don’t break out of this cycle of failure, humanity will lose a key source of protein, and much more besides.
Keywords: squandering, cycle of failure,
Keyword Location: E
Explanation: The author states that we are squandering the wealth of oceans. These setbacks will eventually lead to a number of failures damaging the lifecycle of living organisms. This makes failure the correct answer.

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