"Actually, they aren't "extinct", they are "commercially extinct" -- "
That is true. my bad, I hadn't looked at the issue in some years. The last time I checked, the prognosis was grim. But, apparently, there has been some recovery in recent years.
Good. That brings the total to two.
"A few years down the road, or a couple of decades, however long it takes, they'll be back."
You ever read Cannery Row?
The collapse occurred in the 1940s. So, here we are more than 60 years since the collapse occurred and, despite a total ban on fishing them over much of that time, they still haven't recovered fully.
And this is for a fish that is fast growing and a rapid breeder. In addition, they were in an area where a fishing ban can actually be enforced.
Most fish stocks aren't that way. In general, the larger the fish, the slower it breeds. Combine that with the fact that humans aren't the only thing exploiting fish stocks and most of the fisheries are in international waters so it is difficult to have effective bans.
If this was a problem for only a few fish stocks, it wouldn't be a huge problem. But, it stretches across all commercial species. Factor in that most of the world depends on their fisheries for animal protein, and there is a looming problem. |
