12/12/05 Are there too many fish in the sea?

Having grown up in proximity of the coast I was always fascinated watching the fishing boats unload their catch especially considering that this bounty was being harvested in hundreds of ports daily throughout the world. How long can this harvest continue when fishing not only depletes commercial stock but noncommercial sea life as well? IN the US alone we kill one pound of non-commercial fish for every four pounds that are harvested. Scientists fear that this unintentionally killing sea life will destroy the oceans ecological balance. We can blame the huge trawling nets for much of the havoc. Shimpers in the Gulf of Mexico for example catch 114, 000 tons of shrimp a year while they throw out four times that amount of other fish and shell fish that die in their massive nets. Biologists hope new data highlighting these unintentional bycatches will prompt governments to enforce fishing restriction and smaller nets sizes. Our seas will remain renewable resources only as long we manage them& with respect. Source: ENN.com Scientists Say too many Fish Snared in Wrong Nets