Why can overfishing lead to ecosystem collapse?

Since most people associate the word "ecosystem" with the food chain, let's define it in this context: an ecosystem consists of many components, including predators and prey, with predators at the top eating prey. If any one of these components is removed, the ecosystem will collapse.

Humans are predators, and overfishing means removing too much food from the ecosystem. If we remove too many fish from the ocean, we will wipe out everything. For instance, if we remove a fish that typically consumes a particular type of plant and that fish is the only one that eats that plant, that plant will grow larger and may even take over other territories, which will kill other plants. Next, another fish that only eats that plant will die, and that fish will die, which will lead to the death of larger fish that ate it.

This is purely hypothetical, and there are a plethora of other variables to take into account.

Overfishing can lead to ecosystem collapse by depleting fish populations, disrupting food chains, and causing imbalances in marine ecosystems. The removal of key species can lead to cascading effects, impacting other species dependent on them and causing a domino effect throughout the ecosystem.