Environmental Impact: Industrial Importance
Recently, the moon jellyfish has become a bit of a nuisance to many different fishing companies. They diminish the size of commercially important fish larvae by either direct predation or due to the result of food competition (Dawson and Jacobs 2001). Additionally, commercial fishing has served to remove some of the predators of the moon jelly. Global climate change has extended the reproductive period, which has contributed to the species inhabiting a wider range of areas (Mills 2001). These two factors have led to an increase in the moon jellyfish population. This overpopulation has caused power plants in Japan to shut down because moon jellies have been sucked into the cooling system, while other tourist locations have taken a hit because the jellyfish are a medical liability to the swimmers. Looking forward, control measures may need to be implemented before to much harm is done to the fishing, power, and tourism industries.