Study: Edible Fish Gone by 2048

[Simplicius]

This is an issue which is of significant concern to my state, given the small size of its economy and its resource dependence (forests on the one hand, fish on the other). As a result, aquaculture is getting a good deal of attention, even in a small town like mine - an education center recently opened up in Port Clyde village, for example.

Every so often, there's a piece of good news, but it's usualy a small one. Atlantic salmon have made enough of a comeback since 1999 that recreational fishing is once again permitted, but codfish (and other groundfish) require protection if stocks are to be preserved, and the industry is suffering for it.

[Jade Falcon]

The worst offender in Europe is apparently the Spanish. The Scottish fishing fleet has been cut by two thirds under command from the numpties in Brussels. While I understand that there have to be restrictions, it can go too far. For one thing, while the UK has some deep sea fishing boats, a lot of what there is is the shorter range smaller vessels. Some of the fishing boats that Spain operate are about the size of small warships.

I've heard that they basically fished their own waters out, they've attempted to do the same with Canada, the USA, and not too long ago a gunboat from either Morocco or Algeria put a shot across a trawlers bows for coming into their territorial waters without permission.

[His Divine Shadow]

Well, I try to contribute in my own small way by not eating fish. Good thing I hate, hate hate the taste of fish.

[The Yosemite Bear]

you realize that this is like a death knell for me right?

what about my river/stream bottom feeding lovely ugly bull heads that only a cajun or a yosemite bear would dare eat. (I like catfish almost as much as I do Salmon)

[Thanas]

A huge problem with fish farms - and this is why they are not a solution - is that the fodder mostly consists of fish flour, as is the case in most european animals like pigs.
Threfore, Fish farms only add to the problem, since fish is caught just for the reason of feeding it to the fish in the farms.

[salm]

A huge problem with fish farms - and this is why they are not a solution - is that the fodder mostly consists of fish flour, as is the case in most european animals like pigs.
Threfore, Fish farms only add to the problem, since fish is caught just for the reason of feeding it to the fish in the farms.

And couldn´t they be fed with other stuff?

[Spin Echo]

A huge problem with fish farms - and this is why they are not a solution - is that the fodder mostly consists of fish flour, as is the case in most european animals like pigs.
Threfore, Fish farms only add to the problem, since fish is caught just for the reason of feeding it to the fish in the farms.

And couldn´t they be fed with other stuff?

They're working on developing vegetarian fish feed, but last I heard it'll be about 5-10 years until that's workable.

[Lord of the Abyss]

The whole notion of overfishing is bizarre to me, because the oceans are so vast.

As I understand it, compared to the land the oceans are largely deserts. Yes, they are big, but they have a low density of life compared, to, say, a forest.

[General Brock]

you realize that this is like a death knell for me right?

what about my river/stream bottom feeding lovely ugly bull heads that only a cajun or a yosemite bear would dare eat. (I like catfish almost as much as I do Salmon)

The article deals with ocean fish, so your menu is secure, barring pollution, hydro, and water diversion projects.

The commercial demand for bottom feeding river fish is unlikely to take off even if they become the last large fish species on earth.

[Erik von Nein]

Yeah, a good deal many of the commercial fish caught are relatively shallow water fish relatively near the shoreline. Why? Well, it's simple; nutrients that flow out from the rivers on land. Sure, there're fish like tuna that can be caught in the more open parts of the ocean, but that's only catching them migrating. In the open ocean you're looking at lots and lots of plankton, if anything. Nothing like the commercial fish most people eat.

There's some good being done and some progress being made. The biggest thing isn't necessarially to attack fishermen for doing this, even though they share a big part of the burden. No, the important thing is to convince them as to why it's a good thing to help bring their catch size down. They don't want to see these fish go extinct, either, though for different reasons by and large. There's been a big local battle going on about fish catches locally and one of the biggest supporters of the side wanting to limit catches are fishermen, so that's a good sign.

Farmed fish, if done as most places do it currently, is a terrible solution. Not only is it rough on the fish, it's a huge source of polution in the area. All that fish waste being flushed, ho boy. Especially the ones set up in fresh water lakes. Then there're the shrimp farms set up in the south that are helping contribute to the huge die-off of Gulf Stream everything due to the nitrites being dumped there. Of course, progress is being made there by way of calm farms being put along an increased outlet river from the farm (always inland) and the ocean to reduce the amounts of nitrites dumped into the area (and it works fairly well, too).

All in all this is yet another huge environmental crises that needs to be addressed and soon. Taking out such a huge part of the global environment like a lot of commercial fish and it's just going to be devastating.

[wilfulton]

I recall listening to a lecture given by our favorite jailbird (Hovind) about how the world isn't overpopulated, look at the wide open spaces out in the middle of where nobody wants to live, there's plenty of room!

Heh.

When we start driving wild things to extinction, I beg to differ. Until we can open up Mars for fishing (or Europa), We would be the fools to not act. And as Mike put it, we do tend to be foolishly shortsighted.

[Jade Falcon]

The most bizarre thing is that Britain, and I assume other EU countries operate under quotas. While quite a few fish are lower in stocks, the main one in Britain seems to be North Sea Cod. So, just picture that Trawler A from Peterhead can catch "x" amount of fish, the trawler nets are brought up, and if the total catch exceeds the quota allowed, the excess, dead fish are chucked back over the side.

While I can see the need for quotas, it's also no good if certain nations don't stick by them. Strangely enough, the Scottish Fleet getting hit hard by Cod quotas is a bit unusual as Cod is really more popular in England than Scotland. If you got into a fish and chip shop and ask for a fish supper you will most likely get either Haddock or Whiting. Some places are a bit more exotic, Scampi for example. England has a larger variety in their carry outs.

[Darth Quorthon]

I read an article about this in the paper the other day, I think it was thursday. On friday night, a buddy of mine and I went fishing off the local pier. Caught four guitarfish, threw them all back. As we left, we saw a kid getting read to clean a pitifully undersized shark at the sink. I'm no ecologist, and I may be wrong here, and I'm sure big-time commercial fishing does a lot worse than that, but damn if little incidents like that don't add up over time. That pier has been "fished-out" for years now. I know that California has already instituted some no-fishing zones, I hope it's soon enough to help.

[Jade Falcon]

It just seems downright silly that because the nets can pull in more than is needed the extra is thrown over the side. The fish are dead, it's not as if returning them is going to help replenish the stocks.