Seafood collapse

There is always the artificial breeding, Pisciculture.

I really hope not.

C'mon people,
Wake up!!!!!! This is happening!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I see it every year. I make many saltwater fishing trips .
The trawlers are out there (many not from our country, trust me I have personally seen hundreds) scouring the floor for anything that moves.
We don't even fish red snapper for the season is right after everything has been taken and there are set limits on take. This has happened in my sons lifetime of 15yrs. We use to go and catch hundreds(not saying we kept all), now people are really working to get limits (7 fish).
I'm hard pressed to even eat catch from the Gulf o Mex. I keep in touch with many captains all over the country, trust me, This is happening. We are LOSING this resource.
I challenge all to call someone they know on any coast and ask them.
There isn't a lot that we can do except follow and elect the right people.
Nick and I do go to the coast 4 days in the summer to plant shrimp grass. Small fisheries are being polluted and eroded by new construct...Sorry, rant, I'll stop.
This is more serious then most think.
Farming is not the solution. People, go to your grocery store and look at where you seafood is coming from. Your salmon is being dyed red!!

BTW Those foriegn trawlers are not fishing our waters to save their fish, it's because they have already turned their fisheries into underwater parking lots.
One of the more popular so called sport catch is SHARK!! If that doesn't tell you something!!

So what can we do about it? Not eat fish? Cripes. Sometimes I feel terrible after hitting the sushi bar. I'm just fueling demand for overpriced fish.

I don't think that anything can be done about it, unless of course laws are put into place to curb over fishing of certain species.

It's not hopeless but we are a species that have changed from being driven by hunger to being driven by profit and greed. It's all around us, not just in sea creatures, but that is the topic at hand. I also have seen the dwindling in a body of water as small as the Chesapeake bay. Pan is right, and Kuan you're safe, but if the people of the world don't help a little bit there will come a time that the earth will not be able to support us. And no farming is not the answer because what happens when there is no clean water or space available to do that either? The world has been around for millions of years, but species come and go, and that includes us. Much of it is inevitable, but perhaps we can stave it off before it becomes insurmountable.

Tougher fishing laws and tougher enforcement of those laws... Unfortunately I don't think theres much that can be done realistically :cry:

Mikeb
I respectfully disagree.
We can certaily fund a stronger presence in the waters. One of the biggest problems is not only over fishing, the problem is, we are not monitoring what is being done to cycle the waters. There would be plenty of fish if we allow fish to breed. A lot of these fish have been fished to extinction. That is criminal!
We do this with our forests and other living enviornments, there is no reason for us not to be doing this with our fisheries.
If we started to over process beef and not replace, and the sources were drying up, I bet people would move into action.
We are currently spending trillions on protecting our land. Well?, there is land under our water.
It kills me when I see all the actors and professional standing up for things that they feel are important, when something like this issue is just as important if not more.
pan

I don't know about the situation down south, but up north here illegal fishing is a HUGE problem. People fishing out of season, foreign vessels (won't name names) illegally fishing our waters, etc...

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...eafood03m.html

Like most things, the truth most likely lies somwhere in the middle. Proper management is a must, but the oceans have proven they can replenish themselves if given the chance.

Kevin

I like muskies, and they have come back quite nicely.

and it is not only the overfishing...

.. it is also that 'byproducts' are thrown overboard. and they can make , when only catching certain fish, up to 50% or more of the catch. they do not even keep the fish to make 'kitekat' or fishmeal, they are just being thrown back into the sea. what a COLLOSAL waste!!!!!

I think this is a very important discussion for chefs. I feel yhe problem is two-fold, first, there is no doubt that we are overfishing (and using poor methids to do it, re-ocean floor trawling) and not managing the harvest or breeding enviroments, second we are over poluting our waters. We direct millions of gallons of runoff directly to the waterways (because we have drained the wetlands for commerce, flood controll or to reduce the mosqueto population) and this untreated water contains tons of oil, pesticides, fertilizer...........the list is endless. Humans have basically distroyed florida bay, one of the largest estuaries and natural hatcheries in the world. By diverting and drying up the everglades (sea of grass) we have been killing off the reefs of the florids keys and the entire fish population there. Same with the chesapeak bay. The cod are all but gone from the Northeast, etc.

What can we do? Good question, suply and demand dictate price and people want seafood and don't care how they get it. Enforced conservation is the key and reguilation of the enviroment to insure healthy waterways, oceans, etc. as well as protecting "open waters" from overfishing - somehow I do not think that the UN will be able to regulate that.

Utimately we need less humans. we are becoming and infestation on the planet and we product to much waste or use up all the resources.

Who here makes compost from there vegetable trimings? Not me, that is somewhere to start. Instead of letting it rot in a dumptry to use it. Leaves in the fall, great for compost......it just requires effort and yes, sacrafice.

indeed why ME?

..we all know that something has to be done, but why should I be the first one? let OTHERS do it, unfortunately to many of us think like that. this might be on a personal level, or on government level
it is the OTHERS who should start...

Blueschef if right about this being an important discussion. Years ago here in Fla catching Redfish was easy. Then Paul Prudholm blackened a redfish. Before you new it redfish were darn near wiped out and it was all restaurant driven. People don't tend to make blackened redfish at home, at least not more than once. (think smoke alarm) Well, they changed the laws, protected the redfish, the fad waned and now a few years later there are plenty redfish again. It's good to see such a good rebound, but scary to thing a restaurant fad can nearly wipe out a fisherie.

Tony

It's a Growing Problem

It is estimated that, within the next fifteen years, the world population will increase by 1 billion souls. How many loaves and fishes will be required to feed them?