No Fish? Foul! Yesterday's headlines included
an article from the latest issue of Science which said global fishing trends point to a collapse of most wild seafood harvests by midcentury, according to a team of international researchers who pored through historical data, catch records and studies to document the decline of marine species all over the world.
The researchers found that harvests of nearly 30 percent of commercial seafood species already have collapsed. Without major changes in fisheries management, they say, the trend will accelerate.
"It looks grim, and the projections into the future are even grimmer," said Boris Worm, a marine biologist and a lead author in the peer-reviewed study.
Is this true? Accurate? Alarmist? Regardless, the people who did the study are credible people in their field and collected a vast amount of data which points to serious possibility of problems. What if their projection is off by a factor of half? Is it less disturbing to think that there might be no "fish in the sea" in our grandchildren's lifetimes instead of ours? I don't know....I find myself concerned either way.
I think the article is at least worth a read.
The researchers found that harvests of nearly 30 percent of commercial seafood species already have collapsed. Without major changes in fisheries management, they say, the trend will accelerate.
"It looks grim, and the projections into the future are even grimmer," said Boris Worm, a marine biologist and a lead author in the peer-reviewed study.
Is this true? Accurate? Alarmist? Regardless, the people who did the study are credible people in their field and collected a vast amount of data which points to serious possibility of problems. What if their projection is off by a factor of half? Is it less disturbing to think that there might be no "fish in the sea" in our grandchildren's lifetimes instead of ours? I don't know....I find myself concerned either way.
I think the article is at least worth a read.
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