No More Fish

  • The sky is falling!.... I find it hard to believe any study can put a date on this, I remember 20 years ago when they said there will be no more fossil fuels by 2010, or extreme climate change and florida being wiped out by hurricanes every year.

  • Well the journalism is bad in this piece, simplified and alarmist... but the actual science paper this is based on is sound, it says if current trends continue by x date this is a possibility! And it brings to light the awful way we are destroying our oceans and the possibility of collapse... Our oceans life are a fragile eco system of interlinked food chains.

    A bad day at sea is better than a good day in the boatyard
    George Steele

  • I debated jumping in and just monitor the responses but thought what the hell - throw my 02 cents in for what's worth


    Yes climate is changing. Yes climate change is cyclic and has been going on for eons. Has mankind contributed? Of course, look at the science of climate change and the radical/rapd acceleration since the industrial revolution.


    Look at farming and look at the amount of nitrates and other fertilizers all run into streams and rivers eventually finding its way into our oceans.


    Both affect the ocean - warmer water = bleached dead coral


    Nitrates and fertilizers and other "stuff" algie blooms, red tide, etc.


    But based on my very short time on earth and only on short snap shots and what I've personally seen:


    From the late 40's into the late 50's I witnessed huge schools of Red snappers that would turn the ocean red in the Bay of Panama.


    Jewfish stacked like cars in the water column.


    So many Dorao, Mahi Mahi that you thought them pests.


    Schools of 50 pound Snook/Roballo


    Schools of Corvinas


    Big Broomtail groupers


    Etc, etc, etc.


    But no more!!!!!


    Sure you can find all of these and more but nothing like the past. The big question is why???


    I suspect climate change, pollution but IMHO it is the commercial fishing, long lines, nets, etc. because of population growth. We (humans) are slowly destroying our planet until it can't sustain life as we know it - I'm convinced of that but it is a long ways always in our measurement of time but not long in earth cycles.


    Population growth and trying to feed the masses along with carbon footprint from our way of life all contribute to the problem. Wildlife is disappearing just as fast as our fishery. I've spent a lot of time in Africa - population growth, feeding your family takes precedence over the health of wildlife or conservation areas. Population growth and farming to feed your family takes precedence over vast jungle/Forrest areas in South America, Indonesia, Southeast Asia - all places I've witnessed human growth affecting this planet. China - who here has been to India and Bangladesh? Haiti? Unreal - the list is endless.


    We are a short sighted species - it is all about now since our time on earth is sooooooooooo short.


    And no, this is not influenced by wine, single malt scotch, or too much coffee - :laughing3:


    Be interesting to read others' thoughts and opinions.

    Edited once, last by Oscar ().

  • Oscar wise reflections and insight from a gentleman who has seen a few summers all over the world from above and below the sea.

    A bad day at sea is better than a good day in the boatyard
    George Steele

  • Oscar wise reflections and insight from a gentleman who has seen a few summers all over the world from above and below the sea.


    Thanks Dude but "gentleman"? Might be a stretch. :laughing3:


    But having been everywhere and seen the masses of people scratching the dirt for food, chopping down Forrest's to plant a few feet of garden, burning large areas for farms, chopping down old trees for homes, dropping nets and long lines in all oceans so we can eat, bombing the seas for food, poisoning the seas so we can have our tropical aquariums - it IS scary and there is no turning back especially with our shortsightedness.


    Travel in Africa, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Asia, South America and Central America to name a few places I've seen to understand what population growth really means. In your back yard Dude - Haiti a disaster on half the island while D.R. Is much better. List is long.


    Damn - looks dreary doesn't it. We have to look everywhere not just our small environment to understand the complexity, size, and reality of what we humans are doing to planet earth :nono:


    Now it IS almost time for that Laugvalin 16 year old single malt from the Isle of Islay

    Edited 2 times, last by Oscar ().

  • Really?!! This is a general spearfishing discussion topic? Seems to me it belongs elsewhere. I don't believe that many on this board dispute the reduction of fish populations, we get to see it first hand while practicing the most selective method to fish...

  • Really?!! This is a general spearfishing discussion topic? Seems to me it belongs elsewhere. I don't believe that many on this board dispute the reduction of fish populations, we get to see it first hand while practicing the most selective method to fish...


    I would like to see all destructive fishing methods banned, Pachamama we are a fishing forum, where better to discuss the possible loss and or collapse of our fisheries that we all enjoy? Or you mean in another section on the forum :D We are not part of the problem, indeed we may be the solution. Sustainable harvesting of the sea. Commercial local fishing also is part of the solution, fishing by local fishermen to feed their communities. It's the greed and corruption stemming from the money in mass fishing methods that has led us here.
    "Ban methods with more than a .25:1 bycatch ratio and manage fishing pressure for sustaining ecosystems not just target species."

    A bad day at sea is better than a good day in the boatyard
    George Steele

  • Exactly, another section of the forum... Note that not one post above mentions spearfishing and how it relates to no more fish.. It's an issue that needs to be discussed but I turn to the general spearfishing forum for spearfishing topics rather than discussions of ecology and conservation. Maybe others don't share my opinion, but that's fine. :)

  • Really?!! This is a general spearfishing discussion topic? Seems to me it belongs elsewhere. I don't believe that many on this board dispute the reduction of fish populations, we get to see it first hand while practicing the most selective method to fish...


    This forum is more than "look at my big fish" and Frank's great non spearfishing underwater videos emphasizes that with how many likes and positive comments


    But you are may be right - maybe better in another more appropriate section - Dan is the decider - Cheers :toast:

    Edited 2 times, last by Oscar ().

  • I think man will be wiped out long before the ocean critters are. They've survived much longer than we've been around.
    And I've seen a few cases where pressure on fishing was relaxed and in a very short time, there is noticeable recovery. Nogas Island in the Philippines and right here in Belize. Shortening the conch season created a huge comeback in two years. I was amazed.


    I would guess that yes, stocks will continue to decline but at some point, it won't be cost effective to continue fishing from the wild. Boats won't be able to recover fuel and labor costs.etc.


    I mentioned this with George on Facebook. This has happened with shrimp. Aquacultured shrimp is cheaper to produce than wild caught now. In 2001 it almost drove the Gulf trawlers out of business when world prices dropped really low. But thank the US government for stepping in and subsidizing them to continue raping the sea bottom. :crazy:

  • I think man will be wiped out long before the ocean critters are. They've survived much longer than we've been around.
    And I've seen a few cases where pressure on fishing was relaxed and in a very short time, there is noticeable recovery. Nogas Island in the Philippines and right here in Belize. Shortening the conch season created a huge comeback in two years. I was amazed.


    I would guess that yes, stocks will continue to decline but at some point, it won't be cost effective to continue fishing from the wild. Boats won't be able to recover fuel and labor costs.etc.


    I mentioned this with George on Facebook. This has happened with shrimp. Aquacultured shrimp is cheaper to produce than wild caught now. In 2001 it almost drove the Gulf trawlers out of business when world prices dropped really low. But thank the US government for stepping in and subsidizing them to continue raping the sea bottom. :crazy:


    Im all for aquaculture :thumbsup2: but now we have the push to purchase only "wild caught" fish in the US :rolleyes1:

  • Im all for aquaculture :thumbsup2: but now we have the push to purchase only "wild caught" fish in the US :rolleyes1:


    Look at the sources. Follow the money.


    I see a lot of posts on Facebook about how bad tilapia is. I've grown tilapia in pristine seawater in Hawaii and the Philippines. Fed feeds from the same grains that feed your cattle, chickens etc in the US. Why would that not be healthy?
    They do survive in very rough conditions also. Tough fish….like a lot of animals from Africa….but it's all about how they are grown. It's not the animal that's bad, it's the method of culture.
    Don't know if you've ever been close to a feed lot for cattle…I remember one in Greeling CO. You could smell it for miles away.


    But for sure…and I think about this a lot when I look at my 5 year old son and one month old daughter….we have to figure out how to intensively grow food in integrated systems that reuse the waste of one, for the benefit of the other. Hydroponics is a good start. It's coming. And, best of all, it's a fun job. :thumbsup2:

  • Look at the sources. Follow the money.


    I see a lot of posts on Facebook about how bad tilapia is. I've grown tilapia in pristine seawater in Hawaii and the Philippines. Fed feeds from the same grains that feed your cattle, chickens etc in the US. Why would that not be healthy?
    They do survive in very rough conditions also. Tough fish….like a lot of animals from Africa….but it's all about how they are grown. It's not the animal that's bad, it's the method of culture.
    Don't know if you've ever been close to a feed lot for cattle…I remember one in Greeling CO. You could smell it for miles away.


    But for sure…and I think about this a lot when I look at my 5 year old son and one month old daughter….we have to figure out how to intensively grow food in integrated systems that reuse the waste of one, for the benefit of the other. Hydroponics is a good start. It's coming. And, best of all, it's a fun job. :thumbsup2:


    I stocked my pond with 100 pounds of tilapia and guess what they eat? table scraps, horse and cattle feed (as well as the inevitable manure when they drink from pond), dog food, etc.. and they taste mighty good :thumbsup2: they have also multiplied incredibly, survive the frost and keep algae and hydrilla down

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