Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Apocalyptic fishing

As Yves noted at the tail end of the link (see hat tip) “These stories will pop up with ever more frequency in the future. Considering that over 1 billion people strictly depend on fisheries for most of their protein intake, this could turn very ugly in the not-so-long run.”
 
Jess Bridgood, New York Times, 31 December 2013 (hat tip: NC)
Shrimping in the Gulf of Maine was so bad last season that Randy Cushman, a longtime fisherman, wondered if there was any point in going out at all.
“I can honestly say it was the worst catch that I’ve ever seen in my career,” said Mr. Cushman, 51, who has captained a boat for more than 30 years. “I was calling people and saying, ‘Let’s shut this fishery down, this is stupid.’ ”
Regulators recently did just that, closing the 2014 Gulf of Maine shrimping season — which, in a normal year, might have run from December through the spring — to give the supply time to recover.
Catastrophic fishing events are no longer big news.  Ouch!

4 comments:

PioneerPreppy said...

Makes one wonder if the seas are no longer producing just how long until famines really ramp up.

russell1200 said...

Pioneer: The price of a variety of food crops appears to be dropping. So it doesn't look like all is not in sync for that sort of disaster.

PioneerPreppy said...

Well I have read a lot about seafood grown in vats in China and other Asian countries that would make your stomach turn. That might bring the price down.

russell1200 said...

Pioneer: I don't disagree with your point: but we are idiots. If someone is making money off of it, it may not get much traction.