And some fish populations have been hit even harder: tunas, mackerels, and bonitos have fallen by 74 percent.

According to the research, the primary cause of the massive die-off is overfishing. Climate change, which is causing the world’s oceans to acidify and change temperature, is also a major problem.

Commercial fishing indiscriminately kills billions and billions of aquatic animals each year and about 20 percent are “by-catch,” or animals considered undesirable for consumption. As a result, 20 billion fish are thrown away like trash each year.

As for climate change, the business of raising and killing animals for food produces more greenhouse gases than all the transportation in the world combined.

With harrowing predictions that all the world’s fisheries will collapse by 2048, we truly stand at a crossroads: either we can continue down this destructive path or begin to change course.

43 Comments on "There Are Half as Many Fish as There Were in 1970"

BC on Fri, 2nd Oct 2015 10:58 pm 



http://aquafind.com/seafoodprices.php

http://www.pfex.org/prices/?date=9/27/2015

http://www.seattlefish.com/market-report/

http://www.seafoodsource.com/market-reports/market-reports-salmon/wild-farmed-salmon-prices-still-strong

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/150730-el-nino-return-weather/

apneaman on Fri, 2nd Oct 2015 11:15 pm 



Apparently cannonball jellyfish, all jellyfish really, are an acquired taste.

Jellyfish: It’s What’s for Dinner

http://modernfarmer.com/2014/09/jellyfish-whats-dinner/

makati1 on Fri, 2nd Oct 2015 11:19 pm 



No news to the informed. The warmer water is killing the Salmon. Fish species are moving north and out of their historic habitats. ‘Maine lobsters’ will come from Newfoundland, if any survive. As stream warm up, trout will disappear and be replaced by ‘trash’ fish like suckers and carp. Etc.

BC on Fri, 2nd Oct 2015 11:22 pm 



apnea, when the word gets out, how long before those jellyballs attract the South Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Mexicans, and other US fishing fleets with tens of millions of dollars to invest to vacuum up those jellyballs to extinction?

apneaman on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 12:34 am 



BC, don’t count them out yet. Jellyfish have no brains, heart or blood and have been around for at least 600 million years. They have survived other extinction periods including the Permian – the mother of all extinctions and outlasted the mighty dinosaurs too. We climbed down 6 million years ago and have been in our present form for 200,000 years. This is our first experience with an extinction period/event. Place your bets folks;) I have one of those feeling, you know just a feeling, that jellies may still be around when we are gone. They are really quite amazing creatures.

Secrets of the Jellyfish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElvssZIwAWU

Truth Has A Liberal Bias on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 3:25 am 



“The proteins derived from fish, crustaceans and mollusss account for between 13.8% and 16.5% of the animal protein intake of the human population.”

http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/3_foodconsumption/en/index5.html

bug on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 5:58 am 



Same thing with the Horseshoe crab, living fossils. We will be long gone and
they will still be climbing onto previous resort beaches to lay eggs like nothing ever happened.

JuanP on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 7:38 am 



I am having both salmon and tuna this week, just like I do every week. I am also eating organic beef, including some imported Uruguayan cuts and Kirkland’s organic ground beef, which is made with Australian, Canadian, American, and Uruguayan. If you want some premium burgers, I highly recommend Costco’s Kirkland organic ground beef.

I went through a stage of not eating beef and top predator fish, just like I went through stages of recycling other people’s trash, planting trees, breeding oysters, and boycotting airplanes. I have grown up since then and I no longer make any sacrifices for the environment as I consider them pointless.

I do want to encourage all of you to please think of the environmental costs and the benefits of a vegetarian diet and stop eating tuna, salmon and organic beef, so there are more left for me and my wife. I’ve given up on my veggies diet for a while. Salmon for dinner! Burgers for lunch! Carpe diem!

Davy on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 8:00 am 



Well said Juan. Carpe Diem. I will say I find it rewarding to practice stoicism, Spartan living, and humility. I recommend this in a relative sense. Each of you have a unique life but every one of us can sacrifice for preparation in a relative sense. My message is carpe diem within the enjoyment of relative sacrifice.

Davy on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 8:06 am 



Truth less and Biased, you just admitted how bad things will be in places like the P’s when the ocean dies. Truth less and biased you should have mentioned how much higher a percentage some of those places are that have significant reliance on the ocean for an economy and food supply. That is the real tragedy of a dying ecosystem

BC on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 10:03 am 



apnea, right! I’d bet on the jellies and horseshoe crabs, but I won’t be around to collect. 🙂

Kenz300 on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 10:26 am 



Too many people and too few resources…..

Yet the world adds 80 million more people to feed, clothe, house, and provide energy and water for every year.

Birth Control Permanent Methods: Learn About Effectiveness

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/birth_control_permanent_methods/article_em.htm

James Tipper on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 10:28 am 



@JuanP

I really agree with you on this one, I really don’t consider personal sacrifice to be that worthwhile. Sounds bad? Too bad, I’ve been driving around and meeting friends more. I’ve been eating the same amount of meat that I always do. Because hey I might as well enjoy these luxuries while they’re still here. Even if I stopped tomorrow and became a minimalist it wouldn’t change the tide. It’s like democracy, your vote doesn’t matter so why vote.

SilentRunning on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 10:45 am 



THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS “PEAK FISH!”

There are an infinite number of fish in the infinitely large ocean, and human numbers can go on swelling forever!!!!

And even if there aren’t an infinite number of fish, with better and better fishing technology, we will keep getting better and better extracting more and more fish from the oceans — FOREVER!

No worries.. Everything is fine as long as you keep up the cornicopian bluster reality/fact shield…

Boat on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 11:32 am 



The future of fish.

http://www.luxresearchinc.com/news-and-events/press-releases/read/aquaculture-boom-creates-133-billion-water-treatment-market-2030

Davy on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 11:46 am 



Boat, aquaculture is threatened by a collpase in wild fish stocks used as feed. Your linked article talked about growth out until 2030. That seems hard to believe if wild fish stocks are collapsing.

GregT on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 12:50 pm 



Poor Boat,

Grasping at anything at all to make yourself feel better. If you weren’t so obviously pathetic, it would be laughable.

apneaman on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 1:49 pm 



James Tipper, I became something of a minimalist and discovered many benefits I never thought of. Like no debt – zero zippo zilch. No one owns me like that now. I’m not as hard core as I was before, but I ain’t going back to the rat race just for some goodies that I’ve had in abundance all of my life. I am my own boss too and that is only sporadic (odd jobs). I never have to deal with an asshole boss or fuck head co-workers bullshit or commuter traffic – priceless. If I was rich, sure I would eat more expensive food and all that, but I really enjoy my somewhat spartan life (Canadian style) of doomer leisure. As long as I remain frugal, I may never need to seek full time employment again. The biggest benefit of all came after a time when one day I realized I just don’t care what anyone thinks anymore, not in a fuck you sort of way, but more like how you would view retarded children judging you and defining success and life goals and the rest of that made up shit. My people think I’m fucked in the head or something, but that’s ok. You really cannot change anyone’s mind or make them understand things they do not want to understand. Most apes who ever lived spent their entire life seeking approval of others and trying to “fit in” trying to be “normal”. Who gets to define that? Corporate/gov socially conditioned homogenized apes is what this society is. I’m still attached to the system and will be untill it crashes, but I’m like an invisible ghost ethnographer on the fringes watching and taking notes. Which I share here sometimes.

Plantagenet on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 2:22 pm 



The world hit peak fish in 1970, but Salmon runs were strong again this year on the Copper River here in Alaska. I took about 30 Red Salmon with my subsistence dip net permit.

The freezer is full of nice salmon and I’m ready for another Alaska winter

Cheers

Davy on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 2:39 pm 



Planter did you remember to pack that Geiger counter and test those delicious salmon for additives from Japan?

apneaman on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 3:01 pm 



Good one Davy. Planty, wow I did not know they named a net after you.

BC on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 3:29 pm 



http://www.theoildrum.com/node/2592

Go Speed Racer on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 5:12 pm 



There is a solution to every problem. Take all the fat Americans, throw them into the ocean, and then we would have plenty of whales again.
:O)

Davy on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 5:58 pm 



Speedie, how fit are you? Do you work out and eat right? I am curious if you are a model example of manhood.

noobtube on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 6:58 pm 



But, won’t American whales just eat more fish?

Davy on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 7:05 pm 



Wow, look at the noober!!!! he told a funny. Noober are showing some humanity instead of your usual ISIL propaganda tune?

makati1 on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 9:01 pm 



The consumers have spoken! LMAO

The excuse “My consumption doesn’t make a difference” is the slogan of the West.

I guess the people of Donner’s Pass* thought the same as they carved up the first human roast.

*Donner’s Pass – The pass was named after a later group of California-bound emigrants. In early November 1846 the Donner Party found the route blocked by snow and was forced to spend the winter on the east side of the mountains. Of the 81 emigrants, only 45 survived to reach California; some of them resorted to cannibalism to survive. When in extreme conditions, humans always turn to ‘long pig’.

To be fair, I have not become a vegetarian, but I have cut my consumption of meat and fish considerably. More dairy, like cheese and milk, for protein.

GregT on Sat, 3rd Oct 2015 9:39 pm 



@Davy,

The noob is what I would consider to be an ugly anti-American. Nothing to contribute but vitriol and sheer stupidity.

Please don’t lump me in with the noob. I actually like most Americans. 🙂

Go Speed Racer on Sun, 4th Oct 2015 12:08 am 



Sorry Davy, did not realize I hit you where it hurts. Try eating salads and Gold’s Gym.

dooma on Sun, 4th Oct 2015 5:26 am 



When you consider the shear size of the world’s oceans it is undeniable proof that the world cannot sustain it’s current population.

We are strip-mining the sea and as other people have mentioned-jellyfish is about the only species thriving.

What really pisses me off are those fishermen who hook sharks, cut their fins off and then toss them back in the water to drown on the ocean floor.

Someone should cut their mother-loving extremities off and throw them into a pool of sharks.

How can man be so cruel.

onlooker on Sun, 4th Oct 2015 2:16 pm 



Good point about the oceans. The oceans are a good barometer of the entire Earth ecosystem and their decline heralds the decline of all life on this planet.

Apneaman on Sun, 4th Oct 2015 3:22 pm 



Paul Chefurka – The Weight of the World

“A well-chosen graphic is therefore probably the best way to communicate the visceral significance of what I discovered as I probed three interconnected questions: How much of the world’s biomass consists of land animals? How is that animal biomass apportioned between wild animals, domesticated animals and human beings? And how have this biomass and its proportions changed over the last 12,000 years?

The graph tells that enormous story with great economy, and does so with as much certainty as an amateur like me can achieve using publicly available information. I find its message and implications to be absolutely breathtaking.”

“Even more serious is the implication that if the world’s fossil fuel supplies were to falter even slightly (hello, Peak Oil!) then livestock and human populations could fall rapidly as a result.

But perhaps the most serious implication is the damage that has been done to the web of life itself. In just 12,000 years, we have reduced the wild animal biomass by close to 95%. In its place we have overrun the planet with enormous quantities of less than 20 species of domesticated animals – including ourselves. The loss of biodiversity that this radical shift represents should be causing the ecologically-minded to wake up at night in a cold sweat. We have no way of knowing when some species that is critical to our survival (hello, honeybees?) might succumb to the relentless pressure of human competition, and blink out of existence.

Stock market bubbles have nothing on this bubble of human and animal life we have created in the biosphere. We are now in an extremely precarious situation – any slight ecological hiccup could easily knock the pins out from under the whole gigantic, fragile edifice.”

http://www.democraticunderground.com/112791869

BC on Sun, 4th Oct 2015 9:45 pm 



http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-08-03/star-trek-economy-and-life-after-the-dismal-science

The rise of new technology means that all the economic questions will change. Instead of a world defined by scarcity, we will live in a world defined by self-expression. We will be able to decide the kind of people that we want to be, and the kind of lives we want to live, instead of having the world decide for us. The Star Trek utopia will free us from the fetters of the dismal science.

No worries, space cadet dudes! Scotty is going to beam us up to a world without scarcity and one in which we can be whatever we choose to be (like the winner-take-all, narcissistic celebrity culture today?).

But wasn’t Star Trek’s “federation” based on a galactic big gov’t with a military command-and-control structure with a primary objective to search the galaxy at the speed of light for scarce dilithium crystals? 🙂

http://tinyurl.com/px7xygo

http://tinyurl.com/pygt65n

http://tinyurl.com/pwtndon

Mr. Spock for POTUS. 🙂

BC on Sun, 4th Oct 2015 10:34 pm 



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-Qj_LCae8A

makati1 on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 6:44 am 



Americans: People who go into debt to impress people who don’t give a shit.

zoidberg on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 9:18 am 



Finally an environmental issues actually caused by people. I hope a solution is found.

makati1 on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 10:00 am 



zoid, it will be the final one. The end of humanity and most life on earth. Nothing else will stop it from happening. We are locusts, not rational beings.

GregT on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 11:14 am 



“I hope a solution is found.”

A solution is being found, and you aren’t going to like it.

zoidberg on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 11:22 am 



Yes the elites are planning to massacre people in the name of the planet. And some deluded fools will be running the ovens, true believers in the propaganda.

I would hope for some fish farms and some artificial food sources to replace a sustainable catch, but why waste an crisis right?

BobInget on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 6:26 pm 



http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/05/us/south-carolina-east-coast-rain-flood/

Once in a ‘thousand year flood’.

One hundred years, never enough is this era of climate changes. Because few will admit to Climate Changes in South Carolina we’ve run out of descriptive verbs.

I don’t think we need to wait the full thousand years.

apneaman on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 6:40 pm 



zoid, there are plenty of aquaculture outfits. Try using your google to see how things are going for them. Not so well.

The Impact of Costal Acidification to the Aquaculture Industry
23 February 2015
The aquaculture industry is undergoing a significant change, and one that presents a tough challenge to overcome. In Canada, fisheries along the west coast have been losing millions of pounds worth of stock and revenue due to the rising acidity of the coastal water, writes Georgina Starmer for TheFishSite.com.

The aquaculture industries that are particularly affected are the ones that specialise in farming shellfish such as such as mussels, oysters, scallops, clams, crabs and lobsters, with some having reported losing up to 95 per cent of their stock.

The cause of the rising acidity levels in the water is thought to be from pollution, in particular the burning of fossil fuels used in heavy industry. Since the start of the industrial revolution, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has steadily increased to its highest level yet, around 380 parts per billion, with the effects now showing in coastal waters.

– See more at: http://www.thefishsite.com/articles/2032/the-impact-of-costal-acidification-to-the-aquaculture-industry/#sthash.xHa998mN.dpuf

apneaman on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 6:47 pm 



Ocean acidification from CO2 blamed for world’s worst mass extinction
CO2 spewed from colossal volcanic eruptions in Siberia 252 million years ago

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/ocean-acidification-from-co2-blamed-for-world-s-worst-mass-extinction-1.3027938

apneaman on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 7:48 pm 



Bob, a Once in a ‘thousand year flood’ actually means that there is a 0.1% chance of a flood of that magnitude occurring in any year.