Strip mining involves removing shallow strips of dirt and rock to expose valuable ores. Since the deposit is relatively shallow in the earth and the land is relatively flat, strip mining would be the most appropriate method.

Contour mining resembles terraces for farming on a slope, and is indeed only practical on a sloped topography. Mountaintop removal is an equally moot point, seeing that the deposit is on flat land where there are no mountains. Subsurface mining would be appropriate if the deposits were only found deep underground.

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 was meant to restore previously damaged land to its former state. The key word is reclamation, which is an effort of society to reverse harmful actions taken on the environment and return it to its former state. The act accomplished this by setting operating standards and requiring companies to obtain permits to mine. 

Permitting under SMCRA requires that mines meet performance and environmental standards as well as provide a detailed excavation plan and a plan for environmental restoration after ceasing operations. Providing an undecided solution that will be voted on later is not a valid environmental reclamation plan, and the firm's application would likely be denied. 

Overfishing is prevalent all over the globe in almost every body of water, from the highest levels of the food chain to the lowest.

In 2015, 80% of worldwide fisheries are either harvested at their fullest capacity or are being overexploited. This pattern will reduce sustainable fish harvests over the long run and poses a serious threat to the future of ocean ecosystems and the fishing industry.

Herring and sardines are low trophic-level species that consume mainly phytoplankton. With a diminished local herring and sardine populations, phytoplankton blooms are a likely outcome. Sharks and tuna eat species higher on the trophic level, namely fish like herring or sardines. Whales eat krill and phytoplankton, but are usually offshore and migratory. Of the provided examples, herring and sardines have the most significant impact on phytoplankton populations.

Trawling employs the use of a large net that is dragged along the ocean floor, but typically no hooks or fishing line is used. A result of drift line fishing, a different harvest method altogether, is that dolphins, sharks and other species not intended to be caught are caught on hooks and die from it.

The Tragedy of the Commons is the idea that individuals do not view a resource as a common good and will exploit it to the best of their ability, which, when done by everybody, depletes the resource. The modern commercial fishing practice of overfishing to maximize one's individual gains is a prime example of the Tragedy of the Commons. 

Bycatch refers to the catching of any species other than the target species during fishing. While most sorts of fishing produce some sort of pollution, this is not the best answer since it is not unique to bottom trawling.

Fish farming is seen as an alternative to wild-caught fish and thought to give wild populations a chance to rebound, both in commercial species and in by-catch species and also to let the wild ocean recover from damage done by fishing gear. However, fish farms produce a great deal of waste, and do habitat damage where they are located.