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Popular seafood species in sharp decline around the world

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Re: Popular seafood species in sharp decline around the world

#11

So if the population collapses, the fishermen will go out of business until the population recovers? Or is it not as simple as that?

When the population collapses, the species will go extinct.

I mean the population would presumably dip low enough to where fishing becomes too difficult to be profitable before total extinction.

Re: Popular seafood species in sharp decline around the world

#12

So if the population collapses, the fishermen will go out of business until the population recovers? Or is it not as simple as that?

When the population collapses, the species will go extinct.

Even worse, another unpredictable aspect can occur within the whole ecosystem, either another dependent species dies as well or something goes out of whack. It's sad to see so many species disappear in such a short timespan.

Re: Popular seafood species in sharp decline around the world

#13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When the population collapses, the species will go extinct.

I mean the population would presumably dip low enough to where fishing becomes too difficult to be profitable before total extinction.

I'm sure hunters of the Passenger pigeon thought the same too.

Many fish and bird species have shear reprodutive ability as their only defense. In the case of Passenger Pigeons, they had very little defenses against predators, but migrated in huge flocks of hundreds of thousands at a time. No predator could really harm the flock as a whole.

Well, until Humans became too good at hunting anyway. (Also, USA used to be covered in forests. But we cut those trees down to make room for our cities)

As described in 1813 (From Wikipedia):

> The air was literally filled with (passenger) Pigeons; the light of noon-day was obscured as by an eclipse; the dung fell in spots, not unlike melting flakes of snow, and the continued buzz of wings had a tendency to lull my senses to repose.

Re: Popular seafood species in sharp decline around the world

#14

So if the population collapses, the fishermen will go out of business until the population recovers? Or is it not as simple as that?

After a true collapse, the local stocks may never recover. The removal of one species may impact the ecosystem so strongly that that species is not able to return. Or the lack of numbers may make breeding so difficult/slow that it could take decades/centuries to return to a "normal".

Re: Popular seafood species in sharp decline around the world

#15

So if the population collapses, the fishermen will go out of business until the population recovers? Or is it not as simple as that?

Lets hope its as simple as that. If they go out of business, then I would think the fish would recover. Maybe the next business will want to be more sustainable?

I'm reminded of the jellyfish problem in Japan. Because of over-fishing, the jellyfish polyps aren't being eaten as they used to. So, enormous jellyfish swarms are being caught by these fisherman instead. I had to laugh at the frustration on their faces, cursing all of these jellyfish that they were catching. It was a problem of their own creation!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HP0_7_RRwg

Re: Popular seafood species in sharp decline around the world

#16
We cultivate all our other food. We don't feed ourselves by walking around the plains of Anatolia and collecting wild wheat. Why should we feed ourselves by dragging hooks through the oceans? The fishing industry is the last vestige of humanity's hunt-and-gather past, and it, too, needs to yield to agriculture. We need better fish farms.

Re: Popular seafood species in sharp decline around the world

#17
post #6

I really wish there was a way to stop all fishing at a commercial level for 10 years. Not that you can’t eat a fish just that if you want that luxury you have to go catch it yourself. I know this will never happen.

There is, but the duration might be longer than 10 years. We grab a bunch of what's endangered, sequence their genomes, construct plans for future repopulation, and be prepared for a future when we're more responsible with these natural resources. The fisheries will exhaust, and demand will shift elsewhere in the short term.

There is no other path to success, as attempting cooperation with those who will fish relentlessly is futile. Preserve what's left today for a future with better humans.

Re: Popular seafood species in sharp decline around the world

#18

So if the population collapses, the fishermen will go out of business until the population recovers? Or is it not as simple as that?

The population 82% of species are "below levels that can produce maximum sustainable yields, due to being caught at rates exceeding what can be regrown." Fishermen are already losing money, and the worst going out of business, because the size of the total catch available to all fishermen is already smaller than in the past.

Re: Popular seafood species in sharp decline around the world

#19
With the way the human population is expanding and the rising income of 3rd world nations we are really going to look at a major increase in both genetically engineering food stock to be larger and more nutritious as well as ramping up lab grown meat. Conservation is clearly not going to work as so many nations ignore it anyway and quite often regulations lack teeth due to the fear of killing an industry. Its difficult to ask 3rd world nations to cut back while first world nations have been reaping benefits for so long.

While I wish organically growing food and conservation was the answer, its unfortunately not. Society just wont change to support it. A science fiction style solution is going to be the only way to feed the world.

Re: Popular seafood species in sharp decline around the world

#20
We should be fixing farmed fish. When was the last time people ate wild cow. It's not sustainable for a population to be exploiting wild fish, farm properly and learn to do it quickly. As long as we eat meat, we have to do it in the least intrusive way.
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