Comments on: How do the environmentalists feel about fishing? Are they for or against it?

By: oikos

oikos — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 03:02:41 +0000

One of the Cousteaus came out against sportfishing. I’d tell you what I think of that but Y!A would reduce that opinion to blocks of asterisks. While certain populations could be overfished, they are a tiny minority. Often, the problem is underfishing. Many farm ponds are stocked with largemouth bass and bluegill sunfish. Unless there are a lot of children fishing the pond, the bluegills are badly underfished. If a small one is caught, it may even be tossed back to “grow up”. It won’t. Bluegills reproduce much faster than the bass do. The result is that, without population control, the pond gets out of balance and is loaded with undersized fish. If a pond can support 1000 pounds of fish, would you rather have 10000 tenth-of-a-pound fish or 100 ten-pounders? Keep on fishing; you’re doing your proper job as a predator in maintaining a proper balance.

By: Byderule Permaculture

Byderule Permaculture — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 07:01:46 +0000

Fishing with a rod and a hook is not what is affecting the fish populations .
so go right ahead ,enjoy Nature

What is highly destructive is removing gravel beds for construction for example ,because one destroys the breeding grounds of fish,shrimp and a whole range of aquatic life

And in the Ocean industrialized fishing by factory ships using drag nets is removing all of the aquatic life of whole eco systems ,including the factors that reproduce

Smaller fishing boats also use drag nets and they scoop everything out of the water ,fish turtles predators pregnant females ,everything .so regeneration is only possible by that what has escaped the drag nets .

this is affecting the underwater flora .,coral reefs become suffocated by algae ,and the whole eco system dies out ,because the fish eating the algae have gone ,the predators because there is no food for them ,and we end with desert situation devoid of life on the ocean floor

To fish extensively should include a part of the responsibility in the creation of more fish as well.

And if one fishes extensively in the streams and river .stick to the seasons and avoid damaging breeding areas so that the creation continues

If one wants to make a business out of selling fish treat the concept as a farmer ,Many fishing areas are doing so now
Only fishing in a certain manner and leaving certain areas unmolested ,either part of the year or always ,so that the production continues.

And on land or on lands edges practice Aquaculture ,breed fish in dams or in large tanks

and harvest them when the time calls for it .

When breeding your own go for Policultures,involving several species ,a diverse eco situation does not become naturally polluted

more relevant answers
making a pond
aquaculture
edge effect
fish food

By: leap_of_faith09

leap_of_faith09 — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 04:59:00 +0000

I am okay with fishing if it is done sustainably. However, since it is usually not sustainable, I don’t like most fishing. The reason that most fishing is not sustainable is because of something called the tragedy of the commons. Since oceans are unowned, there are very few limits on who can fish somewhere and how much they fish. Because of this, the fishing companies and people who fish take as much as will make them the most profit and they don’t care about the sustainability of future generations. So most fisheries are overfished.
Also, some fishing destroys ocean ecosystems. A form of fishing called bottom trawling involves the taking of a large net and dragging it across the bottom of the ocean. This picks up unwanted bycatch (fish and creatures not wanted and usually just thrown back into the ocean, dead) and it destroys the bottom of the ocean. Bycatch is a terrible problem because it causes a lot of unneeded death that is just wasted. Did you know that for every pound of shrimp, there is about five pounds of bycatch?
Fishing on your own from shore is definitely better than buying fish from commercial fisheries. It is more sustainable, produces less bycatch, and doesn’t destroy the ocean bottoms. So I say what you’re doing is better than commercial fishing, but it isn’t perfect because it produces a little bycatch.

By: pao d historian

pao d historian — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:45:12 +0000

it is just fine. most environmentalist are against the fishing of some endangered animals like whales, etc.

it depends on what fish people will catch.

By: s l

s l — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 19:56:03 +0000

fishing by individuals is ok. you dont make a difference.

the net fishing by commerical people is what needs to monitored closely.

By: Bridget S

Bridget S — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:05:46 +0000

Depending on which enviromentalist.
Overfishing ofcourse basically all enviromentalists are against but just fishing in general i don’t know

Personally I say fishing every now and then is fine, and when you are fishing just for fun you can throw them back in, but when you want to eat them don’t take to many.