The worrying state of Mediterranean fish stocks (2017) | Hacker News Reader

The worrying state of Mediterranean fish stocks (2017)

ec.europa.eu

A lot of fishermen are in despair about the situation, but how many of them acknowledge that they themselves collectively put themselves in this situation?

In the UK there had been massive pushback against fishing quotas, but it seems like none of them realised that without quotas the north sea would be quickly depleted.

You would think this to be shortsightedness or outright stupidity... Until you realize, that depleting your fish stock quickly and putting the resulting wealth into the stock market will yield higher total wealth than fishing sustainably. While small time fishermen in question might not be thinking in these terms, these conclusions do get reflected into their reality. E.g. via observing what does the corporate fishing do.

That's under the assumption that the economy continues to function normally with a completely destroyed marine ecosystem.

And the kicker: even if economy goes bonkers, by depleting the seas and causing the crisis you've put yourself in position where you're the one buying all these deeply discounted properties.

I know this is anecdotal, but... : I've been staying at a little fisher's village in Pelion (Greece) during summer for the last 13 years and yes, it is a dire situation, worsening year over year. Local fishermen are basically in despair, because close to the coast everything's depleted and they cannot reach the (already scarce) fishing grounds further off the coast with their type of boats. Their livelihodd is pretty much destroyed. Saw the MedFish4Ever initiative mentioned on the page, but clicking the link yields a "requested page could not be found". Go figure...

The entire biosphere is in a worrying state. I hope for the best but am preparing for the worst.

Yes, I feel the same way, sometimes I hope I'm just really pessimistic but I wouldn't be surprised if humanity would be the first organism that could predict it's own extinction without actually doing something about it.

You might be interested in what Extinction Rebellion is doing. If they're organizing in your area already, I strongly recommend you go see their "Heading for Extinction" talk in person, but their website covers it pretty well too. Their basic idea is 1) yes we are barreling towards extinction of humans and many other species, 2) nothing anyone has done so far has prevented this acceleration, and 3) non-violent direct action (aka civil disobedience) has the best chance of affecting the quick and drastic changes needed to avert the worst effects of the climate crisis.

https://rebellion.earth/the-truth/the-emergency/

We as a collective have the patterns of an addict. Most of us are catching on the idea that something isn't right about our disconnection from nature, our way of life, our sociopathic/exploitative treatment of other organisms. Yet, we can't stop because we have gotten used to this way of life and more people are wanting it because they are tired of being left out. I don't blame them yet I wish I could show them that fulfillment doesn't come from money after a certain basic threshold of health and comfort are achieved.

I don't agree with this assessment. Most of us are not natural born consumers. In fact, excessive consumption is so against human nature that it takes a massive constant propaganda campaign to keep the desire to consume alive. Campaign that costs us about 1% of GDP. It's called marketing.

We, as a civilization, have become this way over time. We didn't enter the Anthropocene overnight, it was a gradual transition fueled by exponential growth on a finite planet.

We can transition back to a simpler way of life, people are already doing that. I've spent a good amount of my youth around 'hippies' and they have been about this since the 60s. Many people in third world countries already live simple lives, I admire Bill Gates for the work he is doing to bring a higher quality of life to them.

Do any countries do fish stocking? My state (Michigan) stocks millions of fish in the state's lakes every year, funded by fishing licenses.

As a fellow Michigander involved with the West Michigan Walleye club and our fish pond here in GR, fish stocking cannot fix overfishing and habitat destruction. We stock cool and cold-water breeding species like walleye, pike, trout, and salmon because their breeding areas have been destroyed.

The process turns a productive, diverse pond and stream system into a monocrop so we can still have walleye for sportfishing in a select few lakes. It can help the species survive until we can get our heads on straight; it's not ecologically healthier than the natural state.

Some do but oceanic fish can be much harder to breed in captivity, than their fresh water relatives are. There have been some successes such as the striped sea bass hybrid:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_striped_bass

That being said, many oceanic fish such as the Snook, Snappers and Groupers are not as simple, there are some promising results from a few areas in concerns to these species but most of them center around farm pens in the ocean. so not really brooding and rearing them in on shore artificial salt ponds which would be far more cost effective.

Great for recreational "I'm going fishing this weekend", but I'd imagine it'd be a drop in the bucket where commercial fishing is concerned. A single ship might catch millions of fish in one go.

Yes. Many lakes around here (Alberta, Canada) have stocked lakes where fish didn't even naturally live. Many lakes are also home to commercial fish stocks. Then there's also actual closed system fish farms.

The main issue with fish farming is that in some parts of the world more desirable fish are fed fish meal from ocean-caught fish (SMH)...

When the planet has 6.5 Billion more people than it can sustain, why is any of this shocking?

I've cut down my fish consumption considerably after reading similar headlines a few years ago. Luckily, there's a lot of plant-based options available.

https://goodcatchfoods.com/

Yet another wake-up call.

I wonder if the increased cost of fishing in depleted areas as any chance of eventually "saving" the species from extinction ?

Can't wait until proper food gets too expensive for the working class scum. They are the ones fighting all the climate change initiatives - it will be a fair ending if they munch down on GMO corn and insect sandwiches while I'll be able to afford fish, steaks, organic chicken, etc.

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