
The worrying state of Mediterranean fish stocks (2017) - simonebrunozzi
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/news/saving-our-heritage-worrying-state-mediterranean-fish-stocks
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ourlordcaffeine
A lot of fishermen are in despair about the situation, but how many of them
acknowledge that they themselves collectively put themselves in this
situation?

In the UK there had been massive pushback against fishing quotas, but it seems
like none of them realised that without quotas the north sea would be quickly
depleted.

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lrem
You would think this to be shortsightedness or outright stupidity... Until you
realize, that depleting your fish stock quickly and putting the resulting
wealth into the stock market will yield higher total wealth than fishing
sustainably. While small time fishermen in question might not be thinking in
these terms, these conclusions do get reflected into their reality. E.g. via
observing what does the corporate fishing do.

~~~
mathieubordere
That's under the assumption that the economy continues to function normally
with a completely destroyed marine ecosystem.

~~~
lrem
And the kicker: even if economy goes bonkers, by depleting the seas and
causing the crisis you've put yourself in position where you're the one buying
all these deeply discounted properties.

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subhero
I know this is anecdotal, but... : I've been staying at a little fisher's
village in Pelion (Greece) during summer for the last 13 years and yes, it is
a dire situation, worsening year over year. Local fishermen are basically in
despair, because close to the coast everything's depleted and they cannot
reach the (already scarce) fishing grounds further off the coast with their
type of boats. Their livelihodd is pretty much destroyed. Saw the MedFish4Ever
initiative mentioned on the page, but clicking the link yields a "requested
page could not be found". Go figure...

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rblion
The entire biosphere is in a worrying state. I hope for the best but am
preparing for the worst.

~~~
mathieubordere
Yes, I feel the same way, sometimes I hope I'm just really pessimistic but I
wouldn't be surprised if humanity would be the first organism that could
predict it's own extinction without actually doing something about it.

~~~
rblion
We as a collective have the patterns of an addict. Most of us are catching on
the idea that something isn't right about our disconnection from nature, our
way of life, our sociopathic/exploitative treatment of other organisms. Yet,
we can't stop because we have gotten used to this way of life and more people
are wanting it because they are tired of being left out. I don't blame them
yet I wish I could show them that fulfillment doesn't come from money after a
certain basic threshold of health and comfort are achieved.

~~~
perfunctory
I don't agree with this assessment. Most of us are not natural born consumers.
In fact, excessive consumption is so against human nature that it takes a
massive constant propaganda campaign to keep the desire to consume alive.
Campaign that costs us about 1% of GDP. It's called marketing.

~~~
rblion
We, as a civilization, have become this way over time. We didn't enter the
Anthropocene overnight, it was a gradual transition fueled by exponential
growth on a finite planet.

We can transition back to a simpler way of life, people are already doing
that. I've spent a good amount of my youth around 'hippies' and they have been
about this since the 60s. Many people in third world countries already live
simple lives, I admire Bill Gates for the work he is doing to bring a higher
quality of life to them.

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jayess
Do any countries do fish stocking? My state (Michigan) stocks millions of fish
in the state's lakes every year, funded by fishing licenses.

~~~
LeifCarrotson
As a fellow Michigander involved with the West Michigan Walleye club and our
fish pond here in GR, fish stocking cannot fix overfishing and habitat
destruction. We stock cool and cold-water breeding species like walleye, pike,
trout, and salmon because their breeding areas have been destroyed.

The process turns a productive, diverse pond and stream system into a monocrop
so we can still have walleye for sportfishing in a select few lakes. It can
help the species survive until we can get our heads on straight; it's not
ecologically healthier than the natural state.

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watertom
When the planet has 6.5 Billion more people than it can sustain, why is any of
this shocking?

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elektor
I've cut down my fish consumption considerably after reading similar headlines
a few years ago. Luckily, there's a lot of plant-based options available.

[https://goodcatchfoods.com/](https://goodcatchfoods.com/)

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mathieubordere
Yet another wake-up call.

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herogreen
I wonder if the increased cost of fishing in depleted areas as any chance of
eventually "saving" the species from extinction ?

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HgonnaH
Can't wait until proper food gets too expensive for the working class scum.
They are the ones fighting all the climate change initiatives - it will be a
fair ending if they munch down on GMO corn and insect sandwiches while I'll be
able to afford fish, steaks, organic chicken, etc.

