11 votes

Big fish are found deep not because of age, climate, or prey, but because of us

Posted by lordpipe
Tags: biology.marine, environment, ecology, climate, climate change, holocene, fisheries, fish, humans, ecosystems, author.robert krulwich
https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2014/02/05/257046530/big-fish-stories-getting-littler

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Title
Big Fish Stories Getting Littler
Authors
Robert Krulwich
Published
Feb 5 2014
Word count
1006 words

2 comments

  1. Cloberella
    Link
    I read an article a while back that's somewhat related to this. It postulated that humans are causing marine life to shrink because we actively seek out the largest fish, leaving the smaller ones...

    I read an article a while back that's somewhat related to this. It postulated that humans are causing marine life to shrink because we actively seek out the largest fish, leaving the smaller ones to breed and repopulate the schools. Predators don't usually go after the largest prey, but the smaller and the weaker. Humans, however, deliberately do the opposite, especially when fishing. Unnatural selection.

    Then again, we are part of nature as well, so perhaps it's just regular ol' natural selection after all.

    2 votes
  2. Archimedes
    Link
    Wow, that's a pretty stunning change. I'd argue that it is because of prey though. They are our prey.

    Wow, that's a pretty stunning change. I'd argue that it is because of prey though. They are our prey.