{"id":1739,"date":"2025-06-04T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wizreads.wizako.com\/gmat-gre-sat-reading-comprehension-practice-articles-blog\/?p=1739"},"modified":"2025-06-15T16:08:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T10:38:15","slug":"deep-impact-of-industrial-fishing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wizreads.wizako.com\/gmat-gre-sat-reading-comprehension-practice-articles-blog\/science-technology-environment\/deep-impact-of-industrial-fishing\/","title":{"rendered":"Deep Impact of Industrial Fishing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Does industrial fishing impact our oceans beyond just depleting fish stocks? Could current harvesting practices be unknowingly undermining a crucial climate process that locks away carbon for centuries? These hard GMAT GRE RC passages<\/a> explore emerging research on how commercial fishing disrupts oceanic carbon sequestration, requiring readers to evaluate complex evidence and distinguish between correlation and causation in marine ecosystem studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read these hard RC passage(s) in Science Technology and Environment<\/a> and answer the question(s) that follows. You can choose the GMAT style Reading Passage and the question or the GRE RC variant and answer the GRE-style question. Even better, you could solve both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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GMAT RC Practice<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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GRE Reading Passage<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

GMAT Hard Passage | ~240 words<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Contemporary marine science challenges traditional perceptions of fisheries’ environmental impact through examination of the biological carbon pump theory, which suggests that when marine organisms die naturally, their carbon-rich biomass sinks to the ocean floor and remains sequestered for centuries. Dr. Elena Marchetti and colleagues at Coastal Research Institute investigated whether commercial fishing operations fundamentally disrupt this natural carbon storage mechanism, analyzing catch data spanning six decades (1950-2014) across multiple oceanic regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marchetti’s comprehensive analysis of large pelagic species\u2014including bluefin tuna, billfish, and various shark populations\u2014revealed that extracted biomass corresponded to 375 million tonnes of carbon that would otherwise have sunk to the seafloor through natural death processes. Significantly, her team discovered that 47% of these carbon-intercepting catches originated from financially marginal operations receiving no governmental subsidies, contradicting assumptions that only profitable fisheries drive carbon cycle disruption. The research employed isotopic analysis and oceanographic modeling to demonstrate that intercepted biomass would have remained buried in ocean sediments for 200-1,000 years under natural conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Marcus Rivera’s complementary research at Northern Maritime University expands these findings, documenting how large predator removal triggers cascading effects that alter marine carbon dynamics. His work demonstrates that depleted apex predator populations reduce vertical nutrient transport efficiency by 23% and diminish formation of marine snow\u2014clumps of organic matter crucial for deep-sea carbon storage. These cascading ecological effects suggest that current fisheries management frameworks inadequately account for carbon storage services, potentially necessitating integration of climate considerations into international maritime policy.
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Question Type: Inference | Question Difficulty: Medium-High<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Based on the passage, which of the following cannot necessarily be inferred from Dr. Marchetti’s research?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Large pelagic fish catches have prevented substantial amounts of carbon from reaching ocean sediments<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Government subsidies are not required for fisheries to significantly impact carbon sequestration<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Commercial fishing operations can disrupt natural carbon storage processes that last for centuries<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. The removal of large predators reduces the formation of marine snow crucial for carbon storage<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Isotopic analysis can be used to track how fishing affects long-term carbon sequestration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \n GMAT RC Question Answer & Explanation ▼<\/span><\/strong><\/summary>\n

    While the passage states that “depleted apex predator populations…diminish formation of marine snow,” this finding comes from Dr. Rivera’s research at Northern Maritime University, not from Dr. Marchetti’s study. Marchetti’s research focused on quantifying carbon lost through fishing catches and demonstrating that subsidies aren’t necessary for significant carbon impact. The formation of marine snow and its relationship to predator removal was established through different research.\n

    \nCorrect Answer: Choice (D)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<\/details>\n\n\n