Cod, the fish that has fueled New England seaport economies for nearly four centuries, have all but disappeared from the Gulf of Maine, and recent stock surveys indicate that even with tightened catch limits, their numbers are not rebounding as hoped., There are a variety of reasons for the ongoing decline, not the least of which is a changing marine ecosystem driven by climate change. According to the region’s leading scientists, Read the rest here 07:46
NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?
While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here
Matt Mullin, of EDF wrote this. It covers a lot of territory while avoiding the contribution of EDFs Catch Share scheme, which has allowed the effort controls to be abandoned that were conserving cod.
I have to ask though, can a specie that is abandoning an eco system they find un acceptable, be conserved? I doubt it.
Just take away their passports!