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Wash Post on Ecological Value of Forage Fishes

1K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  buckshotgumbo 
#1 ·
http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...-say/2012/04/01/gIQAviKMpS_story.html?hpid=z4

Little fish are most valuable when left in the sea, researchers say

By Juliet Eilperin, Published: April 1

The smallest fish in the sea are more than twice as valuable when they're eaten by bigger fish than when they're caught by humans, according to a report released Sunday by a scientific task force.

The 120-page analysis by the Lenfest Forage Fish Task Force - a group of 13 scientists specializing in everything from fish ecology to marine mammals and seabirds - underscores the growing concern researchers have about the fate of forage fish, including anchovies, mehaden, herring and sardines that serve as food for bigger fish, sea birds and marine mammals....

Article continues at link above.
 
#2 ·
That was an interesting read.. Almost what would be considered common sense, but sinks in a little more when it's in print.

Especially;
"One company, Omega Protein, took 160,000 metric tons of menhaden — 80 percent of about 450 million fish harvested in 2010 — off the coast of Virginia, which is the only state that allows industrial fishing of menhaden."

I didn't know that about VA...

And the part about the birds having to go farther. Makes me wonder about the amazing number of gannets I've been seeing... But very few actually working.
 
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