Could we be the generation that runs out of fish?

[ensho]

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-could-we-be-the-generation-that-runs-out-of-fish-1697247.html


Johann Hari: Could we be the generation that runs out of fish?

The process of trawlering is an oceanic weapon of mass destruction


In the babbling Babel of 24/7 news – where elections, bailouts and beheadings blur into one long shriek – the slow-motion stories that will define our age are often lost. An extraordinary documentary released next week, The End of the Line, forces us to stop, and see. Its story is stark. In my parents' lifetime, we have killed 90 per cent of the world's fish. In my lifetime, we will finish off the rest – unless we change our ways, fast. We are on course to be the people who wiped fish from the earth.

-snip-

A growing number of scientists are warning that we could all be living in Newfoundland soon. Professor Boris Worm of Dalhousie University published a detailed study in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Nature saying that at the current rate, all global fish populations will have collapsed by 2048. He says: "This isn't some horror scenario, it's a real possibility. It's not rocket science if we're depleting species after species. It's a finite resource. We'll reach a point where we run out."

The species in the frontline is bluefin tuna, the pinnacle of the evolutionary chain for fish. This little creature can swim at 50mph, and accelerate faster than the swishest sports car. It has even developed warm blood. Yet every year, a third of the remaining population is ripped from the seas and slapped onto our plates. Soon, it will be gone.

-snip-

The voice of millions of people can drown out the concentrated power of the fishing industry – and all the other industries with a vested interest in trashing our planet – but not with the swipe of a credit card.

The alternative to collective action today is catastrophe tomorrow. As Charles Clover explains: "When the human population comes under pressure on land because of global warming, when we are running out of ways to feed ourselves, we have just squandered one of the greatest resources on the planet – wild fish." The epitaph for the human species would turn out to have been scripted by Douglas Adams: so long, and thanks for all the fish.
---------------------------


so long, its been good to know you

unless we chop the legs off of the Barons

seems we misplaced the ax

[Ernesto]

1. It already happened here (California delta) nt

[eppur_se_muova]

2. related thread --

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=198196&mesg_id=198204

[meow2u3]

3. How are Catholics going to survive on Fridays during Lent?

Eat cheese? or cake? :rofl:

note: this post is coming from a Catholic

[Ernesto]

4. Ted Danson speaks out..........

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/06/08/danson.oceans/index.html

[undeterred]

5. We still have plenty of carp.

But nobody likes em.

[lpbk2713]

6. I've heard there are catfish farms in the South that make good money.

Because the demand is so high.

[Junkdrawer]

15. Fish farms depend on wild fish for food for the farm fish...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B77bs2aploI&feature=channel

[brendan120678]

7. Mmm...bluefin tuna makes the best sushi!

Just saying.

And seriously..."ripped from the seas and slapped onto our plates"??

Hyperbolize much?

[Junkdrawer]

17. how about "lovingly coaxed from the sea and flash frozen"...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIJXJ0CCeJk&feature=related

"to be thawed and sold for tremendous profit once the Bluefin becomes extinct."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX4v8wyOcns&feature=related

[flvegan]

8. We could choose to stop eating them.

Just an observation.

[redqueen]

9. Mitsubishi Freezing Vanishing Bluefin Tuna For Later Sale

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x197986

[NickB79]

20. I''m glad to see someone post this article. It is worth reading. NT

[mimitabby]

10. is this the last tuna

every time I eat tuna now, I think "what if this is the last tuna?" Tuna fisheries all over are running out of fish.
Soon, very soon, a fish will be pulled out of the sea, and it will be the last one that they can find.
invertebrates like sponges, jelly fish, and crustaceans are so available, anyone wonder why? we've killed off their predators the fish.
I used to make fish a big part of my diet, now I rarely eat it. It makes me too sad.

[Romulox]

11. The human population simply cannot grow exponentially indefinitely... nt

[Rebubula]

13. Very true

There will come an event (most likely in our lifetime <40 years) that will significantly reduce the population.

[ContinentalOp]

29. Nobody thinks it's going to.

From what I read it's set to peak in the middle part of this century and start declining from there.

[Romulox]

30. LOL. Are you being funny?

"From what I read it's set to peak in the middle part of this century and start declining from there."

From the OP:

Professor Boris Worm of Dalhousie University published a detailed study in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Nature saying that at the current rate, all global fish populations will have collapsed by 2048.

Any causal relationship between these two data points? :shrug:

[redqueen]

12. kick

:kick:

[Junkdrawer]

14. If the usual DU pattern is followed....

About a day or two from now, a group of industry apologists will appear and endeavor to make it seem that anyone who agrees with said documentary is a loonytoon conspiracy theorist who believes in "junk science".

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

26. Shills for Big Trawla, eh?

[Touchdown]

16. Well, we are at the end of the age of Pisces, with only about a hundred or so

years to go until Aquarius. Anything's possible.:crazy:

[JVS]

18. IIRC a collapsed population is not the same as extinction.

Collapsed population means that it is no longer economically feasible to fish for those particular fish. There would still be some fish, just not enough that someone can make a reliable living by sailing out to and dropping a net for them. Still, people should probably try to find a way to farm fish efficiently. Less chance of contaminants too.

[Junkdrawer]

19. Canada is still waiting for the cod to recover....

The story begins in the sleepy Canadian resort of Newfoundland. It was the global capital of cod, a fishing town where the scaly creatures of the sea were so abundant they could be caught with your hands. But in the 1980s, something strange happened. The catches started to wane. The fish grew smaller. And then, in 1991, they disappeared.

It turned out the cod had been hoovered out of the sea at such a rapid rate that they couldn't reproduce themselves. But the postscript is spookier still. The Canadian government banned any attempts at fishing there, on the assumption that the few remaining fish would slowly repopulate the waters. But 15 years on, they haven't. The population was so destroyed that it could never recover.

...


And as for Fish Farming:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B77bs2aploI&feature=channel

[JVS]

22. Wow. That reminds me of Mr. Burns' fish slurry. They need to find a way to feed them plants.

[earth mom]

21. So long and thanks for all the fish

So long and thanks for all the fish
So sad that it should come to this
We tried to warn you all but oh dear?

You may not share our intellect
Which might explain your disrespect
For all the natural wonders that
grow around you

So long, so long and thanks
for all the fish

The world's about to be destroyed
There's no point getting all annoyed
Lie back and let the planet dissolve

Despite those nets of tuna fleets
We thought that most of you were sweet
Especially tiny tots and your
pregnant women

So long, so long, so long, so long, so long
So long, so long, so long, so long, so long

So long, so long and thanks
for all the fish

(yeah)

So long and thanks for all the fish
So sad that it should come to this
We tried to warn you all but oh dear?

(oh dear)

Despite those nets of tuna fleets
We thought that most of you were sweet
Especially tiny tots and your
pregnant women

So long, so long, so long, so long, so long
So long, so long, so long, so long, so long

So long, so long and thanks
for all the fish


:cry:

Watch it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojydNb3Lrrs

[XemaSab]

23. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has pocket seafood guides

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/download.aspx

[Ezlivin]

24. The fish stocks are collapsing naturally just like WTC7 did

There is no conspiracy. Move along...

[cali]

28. lol this may be the silliest post of the week. hell, could be the silliest post of

the year.

[ensho]

32. the poster was being sarcastic but truthful

nt

[taterguy]

25. There's no shortage. It's a scam by the fish speculators

Just part of a plot to jack the price up

[anigbrowl]

27. Please tell me you are joking.

[Annces]

31. Captain Watson of Sea Shepherd talks about this a lot

"In the United States alone more than 85,000 fishing boats ravage the oceans, stripping life from the bottom, from the surface, and from mid-water levels, turning over rocks, smashing coral, wreaking the structures that provide shelter to younger fish. Life in our oceans cannot survive this onslaught of heavy gear, long lines, traps, drift nets, drag trawlers, purse seine nets and poisons."


Also cat food is a big use of ocean fish

http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/editorial-080828-1.html