# 'Only 50 years left' for fish



## Mike Wilson (Nov 3, 2006)

And I was going to rely on fish oil after all the petroleum ran out.... damned!
Eat up while you can...

Sorry Charlie...

-- Mike

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'Only 50 years left' for sea fish  

By Richard Black 
Environment correspondent, BBC News website  

There will be virtually nothing left to fish from the seas by the middle of the century if current trends continue, according to a major scientific study. 
Stocks have collapsed in nearly one-third of sea fisheries, and the rate of decline is accelerating. 
Writing in the journal Science, the international team of researchers says fishery decline is closely tied to a broader loss of marine biodiversity. 
But a greater use of protected areas could safeguard existing stocks. 
"The way we use the oceans is that we hope and assume there will always be another species to exploit after we've completely gone through the last one," said research leader Boris Worm, from Dalhousie University in Canada. 
"What we're highlighting is there is a finite number of stocks; we have gone through one-third, and we are going to get through the rest," he told the BBC News website. 
Steve Palumbi, from Stanford University in California, one of the other scientists on the project, added: "Unless we fundamentally change the way we manage all the ocean species together, as working ecosystems, then this century is the last century of wild seafood." 

Spanning the seas 
This is a vast piece of research, incorporating scientists from many institutions in Europe and the Americas, and drawing on four distinctly different kinds of data. 
Catch records from the open sea give a picture of declining fish stocks. 
In 2003, 29% of open sea fisheries were in a state of collapse, defined as a decline to less than 10% of their original yield. 
Bigger vessels, better nets, and new technology for spotting fish are not bringing the world's fleets bigger returns - in fact, the global catch fell by 13% between 1994 and 2003. 
Historical records from coastal zones in North America, Europe and Australia also show declining yields, in step with declining species diversity; these are yields not just of fish, but of other kinds of seafood too. 
Zones of biodiversity loss also tended to see more beach closures, more blooms of potentially harmful algae, and more coastal flooding.

Experiments performed in small, relatively contained ecosystems show that reductions in diversity tend to bring reductions in the size and robustness of local fish stocks. This implies that loss of biodiversity is driving the declines in fish stocks seen in the large-scale studies. 
The final part of the jigsaw is data from areas where fishing has been banned or heavily restricted.
These show that protection brings back biodiversity within the zone, and restores populations of fish just outside.


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## Sandor (Nov 5, 2006)

Just another chunk of evidence that backs up the Overshoot Theory.

Come to think of it, I have not seen Swordfish on a resturant menu for awhile....


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## Mo Heat (Nov 7, 2006)

Hey Sandor, When are you predicting 'the collapse'?


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## jjbaer (Nov 13, 2006)

Mike Wilson said:
			
		

> And I was going to rely on fish oil after all the petroleum ran out.... damned!
> Eat up while you can...
> 
> Sorry Charlie...
> ...




hey, they said the same crap about oil....no, we're not about to find new "fish reserves" but better technology to restock species should help.


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## begreen (Nov 13, 2006)

I don't think so, not unless population is controlled significantly.


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## jjbaer (Nov 13, 2006)

BeGreen said:
			
		

> I don't think so, not unless population is controlled significantly.



other part of equation is limiting consumption......other countries could do what parts of US did that were overfished.......imposed fishing restrictions.......problem is it doesn't work unless other countries also do it....


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## webbie (Nov 13, 2006)

If they just spread the word the eating fish interferes in some way with sex, we'd restock the planet in a decade. But that conflicts with the GW abstinense thing. We will have to think of something else (like heavy metals).

A lot of the fish these days are "farmed" anyway, and I suspect the future holds much of the same. And, as cast mentioned, "current trends" will probably not continue. These things are warning signs and I dare to say that sometimes we get the hint. Despite all our problems, the "hippies" (said that to rile castiron) started the clean air and water movement in 1970, which resulted in MUCH cleaner water and air in the USA. Yes, it is another government program...brought on by the people - which worked!


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## webbie (Nov 13, 2006)

castiron said:
			
		

> other part of equation is limiting consumption......other countries could do what parts of US did that were overfished.......imposed fishing restrictions.......problem is it doesn't work unless other countries also do it....



Yeah, just like the Kyoto treaty, land mine treaties, nuclear treaties, etc.

When the big players (like US) refuse to participate, it lets a lot of wind out of the bag.

However, it still does do something......

Plenty of lobster still off Ma. and Me. - then again, they are not "fish" are they?


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## babalu87 (Nov 13, 2006)

Nope
Lobsters are bugs and managed very well in New England

Codfish and Bluefin Tuna are in VERY bad shape due to overfishing in the Herring industry and under fishing in the Dogfish industry.
Dogfish (small sharks) are so thick that what Herring are left after the trawlers come through are cleaned up by the Dogfish.
Dogfish are also eating the small Codfish faster than they can grow/reproduce.

Farming??????
Get yourself some WILD Salmon and then try a piece of that junk they call Salmon from a fish farm, NO comparison.
Also some species take better to farming that others, maybe I'll get into that later.


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## Mike Wilson (Nov 13, 2006)

What I would do for a nice, fresh slab of flakey Cod...    

Well, you guys haven't helped the fish at all today... I just re-read this thread, got hungry, and am going out to Braun's Seafood this afternoon for some Cod...  

-- Mike


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## Homefire (Nov 13, 2006)

Mike Wilson said:
			
		

> What I would do for a nice, fresh slab of flakey Cod...
> 
> Well, you guys haven't helped the fish at all today... I just re-read this thread, got hungry, and am going out to Braun's Seafood this afternoon for some Cod...
> 
> -- Mike



Didn't they say the same thing about oyster's in the Chesapeake Bay in the 60's.


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## webbie (Nov 14, 2006)

I hear you about salmon, but simply speaking, if a billion people on the earth want to eat salmon once in a while, would it be possible with wild?


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## begreen (Nov 14, 2006)

Interesting question. I remember hearing once that if all the people in China wanted a beer, the world's grain supplies would be depleted in minutes.


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