77% Of World’s Fisheries May Fully Recover Within A Decade

[John A Lewis]

Is this accurate, or wishful thinking? What do you think?


77% of World’s Fisheries May Fully Recover within a Decade • Council Chronicle

 

[Maverick17]

Thanks for the post. Never heard of that source, but the report comes from someone besides that Chronicle, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.

The report.

And another news version (albeit an opinion piece).

Washington Post

Potential for a lot of good. Key will be if it gets done though.

 

[NYCNaiad]

I think anything's possible...unfortunately, I don't know that people will follow the guidelines to make this actually possible.

But I hope they will.

 

[SeaHorse81]

I kind of wish you'd titled the thread differently, because it gives the false impression that things are getting better. The article goes on to explain that things could get better if significant changes were made, which are not at all in the process of being made. Given that it would involve long-term cooperation across multiple large population groups, I don't see how it's possible.

 

[Wookie]

I work very closely with fisheries scientists, specifically the snapper/grouper complex in Florida. With a number of significant closures, we have returned the population of grouper in the far western Keys and Pulley Ridge to the levels they were pre-fish trapping. Those closures are the Red grouper spawning areas of Madison-Swanson and Steamboat Lumps, the all use closure of Riley's hump, the Florida fish trap ban, The black grouper spawning season ban, and the habitat closure of the Dry Tortugas Ecological Reserve and Dry Tortugas National Park Research Natural Area. This system of closures ensured that black and red grouper and mutton snapper would have no fishing pressure during the spawn, when they aggregate in a single area, and that they would have protected habitat to live in the rest of the year.

You should have heard the fishermen squeal like little pleasure piggies.

But today is a far different story. The fishermen fish around the edge of the closures for healthy fish, healthy populations, and bigger fish. The closures allow the fish a chance to rest and spawn, and if you're trying to increase the populations, allowing them to spawn unmolested is kind of key to the whole process. Now, in the fisheries meetings, the fishermen say things like "Why didn't you do this 10 years ago". Well, they did do it 10 years ago, over the fisherman's strenuous objections. It's taken 10 years for the populations to start to recover.

Just like the article says.

 

[seeker242]

Here is the key statement in that article/study:

if proper measures are taken.

That's a pretty darn big IF!

We can do a lot of things IF PROPER MEASURES ARE TAKEN!

But a lot of the time, we don't take the proper measures....

 

[chrisch]

Given the acidification of oceans due to CO2 I doubt that any meaningful recovery in fish stocks is likely to happen. We all know that if the will is there to stop fishing and let stocks recover that part of the remedy works. Sadly in much of the world it is illegal fishing (often by developed countries hiding behind flags of convenience) that are the real culprits, rather than local small scale fishermen.

The fish processing industry now pretty much accepts that the future (such as it is) is in farmed fish. Sadly this often uses industrial fishing to get the food for the farmed fish.

We are simply pushing too hard for the ecosystem not to collapse. No one is much interested until it affects them. The upside is (if there is one) that the imminent collapse of commercial fishing might well provide the stimulus needed to start the recovery process. Might.

 

[drbill]

I think this is far too optimistic for me to buy. However, species can rebound fairly quickly if they are not targeted and have reasonable reproductive rates. Some of the recovery rates we've seen out here are on the order of several decades though.

 

[kelemvor]

Here is the key statement in that article/study:



That's a pretty darn big IF!

We can do a lot of things IF PROPER MEASURES ARE TAKEN!

But a lot of the time, we don't take the proper measures....

Exactly what I was thinking. How long has the world been working on whaling? I'm not optimistic.

 

[Hank49]

I think this is far too optimistic for me to buy. However, species can rebound fairly quickly if they are not targeted and have reasonable reproductive rates. Some of the recovery rates we've seen out here are on the order of several decades though.

It takes some time but I've seen one very good example in the Philippines. I started diving on the SW tip of Panay Island in the early 90s. It had been overfished as has much of the Philippines. But the locals there agreed to make a no take zone around Nogas Island, a small island about a mile offshore. And, as mentioned, by preserving that as a safe, no take zone, fish spawn unhindered and now, 20 years later, there are more fish in the surrounding waters. Not to mention great diving in the protected area. The locals are believers now.