Talking about fish...

[Kärnfysikern]

To roid....

Overfishing Could Take Seafood Off the Menu by 2048

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?cha...8F7AAF&ref=rss

The latter study shows that among commercially important species alone, 91 percent have seen their abundance halved, 38 percent have nearly disappeared and 7 percent have gone extinct with most of this reduction happening since 1800.

Cod Stocks Down More Than 90 Percent Since 1850s
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?art...1583414B7F0000

Using daily fishing logs from the 1850s--which recorded the number of fish caught, their size and their location--together with a population modeling program, Andrew A. Rosenberg of the University of New Hampshire and his colleagues reconstructed the total biomass of cod that existed in the area at the time. The team calculated that there were 1.26 million metric tons of the fish on the Scotian Shelf in 1852, compared with less than 50,000 total metric tons--and just 3,000 metric tons from adult fish--today. "Despite stringent regulations for the last six to 10 years and a slight rebuilding of fish stocks, the best estimate of adult cod biomass on the Scotian Shelf today comprises a mere 38 percent of the catch brought home by 43 Beverly schooners in 1855," the scientists report.

Large Fish Populations Imperiled
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?art...C0809EC588EEDF

They conducted a 10-year-long study that assembled data sets representing all major fisheries in the world over the past 47 years. The analysis included biomass estimates of large predatory fish populations from four continental shelves and nine oceanic systems. The team determined that within the first 15 years of operation, commercial fisheries reduced fish populations by 80 percent on average. In the Gulf of Thailand, for example, 60 percent of large finfish, sharks and skate were lost within the first five years of commercial trawl fishing. "Since 1950," notes Myers, "with the onset of industrialized fisheries, we have rapidly reduced the resource base to less than 10 percent--not just in some areas, not just for some stocks, but for entire communities of these large fish species from the tropics to the poles."

Atlantic Shark Populations Shrinking Fast

With the exception of one species, the mako, all of the sharks experienced declines of more than 50 percent over the past eight to 15 years. The hammerhead shark population was the hardest hit, declining 89 percent since 1986.

[RA]

So if it was a huge problem why dont we have more fish hatcheries?

[RA]

We certainly have the technology to manipulate the fish population

[Kärnfysikern]

So if it was a huge problem why dont we have more fish hatcheries?

They are becoming more and more popular but they also have alot of problems. Especialy with disease and fish that escape. In alaska salmon farms is a big threat to the natural salmon population.

I think most of the salmon in stores in sweden nowdays are from farms.

[J.S.N.]

We certainly have the technology to manipulate the fish population

first off, it's not as easy as you think. fishery-produced fish don't survive nearly as well in the wild as their wild cousins, and it's expensive to run them, and you need access to all the resources required (tons of fresh, clean water esp. and a placeto drain the waste where it won't be a problem)

farms have all those problems and the additional one of producing less nutritious, much more toxic fish that many feel taste like ass.