Fish are shrinking around the world. The average body weight of nearly three-quarters of marine fish populations sampled dropped between 1960 and 2020, a recent study suggests. (www.washingtonpost.com)
from [email protected] to [email protected] on 08 May 2024 05:39
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[email protected] on 08 May 2024 05:40 next collapse

This is the best summary I could come up with:


There’s something fishy going on in the water.

Across Earth’s oceans, fish are shrinking — and no one can agree why.

It’s happening with salmon near the Arctic Circle and skate in the Atlantic.

Nearly three-fourths of marine fish populations sampled worldwide have seen their average body size dwindle between 1960 and 2020, according to a recent analysis.


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[email protected] on 08 May 2024 05:48 next collapse

no one can agree why

I think most people can agree it’s a combination of pollution, overfishing and climate change. Probably just unclear which one of those factors in the most.

[email protected] on 08 May 2024 06:00 collapse

Crazy idea, but what about fishing-driven evolutionary pressure. If all the biggest fish are getting caught and killed, won’t that give smaller fish an evolutionary advantage?

[email protected] on 08 May 2024 06:10 next collapse

Given nature’s survival of the fittest, you miiight be onto something.

[email protected] on 08 May 2024 10:58 collapse

He’s not. It’s the big fish that avoid getting caught.

[email protected] on 08 May 2024 06:11 next collapse

Very possible, but with all things happening it’s pretty hard to be sure it’s that and not fish growing less because they’re being poisoned by microplastics.

[email protected] on 08 May 2024 06:18 collapse

For sure. That’s probably just a +1 on to the factors you already listed.

[email protected] on 08 May 2024 09:14 collapse

I would list that under overfishing

[email protected] on 08 May 2024 10:57 next collapse

If all the biggest fish are getting caught and killed, won’t that give smaller fish an evolutionary advantage?

Fishing is a little bit different than that. It’s the big fish who are able to avoid getting caught, which is how they get to live to be so big.

[email protected] on 08 May 2024 12:20 next collapse

Maybe if we’re talking line fishing, but I’m pretty sure most commercial fishing is done with trawling nets, where everything above a certain size is caught.

[email protected] on 08 May 2024 19:05 collapse

Why is that?

[email protected] on 08 May 2024 19:22 collapse

Nailed it. Exactly the answer I read in an article way back when. Commented on it above.

Remove the big fish, only the smaller ones that came to maturity faster get to reproduce.

[email protected] on 08 May 2024 06:20 next collapse

Of course, spending so much time in the cold water. There will be significant shrinkage.

[email protected] on 08 May 2024 08:04 next collapse

Oh the water is getting warmer, do not worry about that

[email protected] on 08 May 2024 10:09 next collapse

I want a new Titanic movie, but instead of the Orchestra playing till the end, there should be a bunch of Lemmy jokesters making witty comments in the face of unavoidable doom.

[email protected] on 08 May 2024 10:11 next collapse

“They were in the pool!!”

[email protected] on 08 May 2024 10:59 collapse

🥱

reddit joke

[email protected] on 08 May 2024 10:10 next collapse

I toured the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, right before it moved to Toyosu. The guide mentioned that giant tuna being caught today, as big as they are, are smaller than they used to be.

[email protected] on 08 May 2024 11:38 next collapse

I suspect it’s probably because of stress.

Overfishing, temperature changes, medical substances, …

[email protected] on 08 May 2024 19:19 collapse

Nah, read about this in the 90’s (I think?). The article was about a specific Atlantic fish, I forget, been a long time. Scientists were puzzled as to why the fish were shrinking.

Fisherman are only allowed to keep the big ones, throw the little 'uns back. This creates evolutionary pressure for younger/smaller fish to come to maturity and start reproducing sooner.

[email protected] on 08 May 2024 19:21 collapse

ah yes, could also be.

And i also suspect that the average age of fish has gone down.

[email protected] on 08 May 2024 13:28 collapse

Don’t worry, we’re offsetting it with chicken sizes.