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4 Comments
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September 22, 2018
I support the legitimacy of the different interesrs here.
Reality changes are dictating restrictions to life extractive business. When the living natural systems are in general catastrophic collapse as is the case now, a reasonable position would be resist any further human meddling with the overall ecosystem.
Perhaps it is instinctive distrust that our attempt to overthrow and replace the current apex predators in nature should give us pause. How’s it going for us so far? The data says 90% of food fish are gone.
We are the only species of predator that selectively hunt and kill the largest trophies among our prey species. Unfortunately these are the very individuals that account for the great majority of a population’s reproduction.
Continually removing the largest individuals is a selective pressure towards dwarfism, where the high capacity to reproduce is gone from the species, a step down the slippery slope to extinction.
The reality is that the diversity of life here has arisen from need, where each individual is filling a conected role with a finely tuned ecosystem that can be seen as balanced and stable when the environment permits and stressed when it is unbalanced.
Food fish in decline with ornamentals increasing is not a sustainable ecosystem as Carlson knows, which he why he conditions his faux conclusion with an imaginary definition of sustainabilty that obviously serves the collectors.
Tropical marine species exist in especially complex networks of nutrient and gene flow in a sustainable ecosystem. Each part relies on an equilibrium state with the other component life forms, ultimately within a state of biocontrol by the apex predator functions, generally culling less “fit” individuals.
This is where we fail miserably. We need to think and act much more pro-habitat and ecosystem stability if we are to survive. Meantime let’s rear some amazing ornamentals in hatcheries and find ways to improve and increase habitat where natural processes have respite from our incompetence. -
October 08, 2018
Bravo Dr Carlson. From by reading, your opinions are shared by many highly qualified researchers in this matter … sans commercial interests.
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February 10, 2019
We thank you Mr Carlson for your unending truith about our fishery here in Hawaii nae. It has been a Very Sustainable fishery for the whole time I have been here,27 years. The numbers of fish counted every year,just goes up,even with the collecters taking 2 millon small fish a year. Well now that we have had no take in west hawaii for 2 years the population will be allmost to many for the reef to sustain since there is no human take.
Just like the fishery in southern California the take of sea urchins must coincide with the growth of the kelp. We now see sea urchins devastating the kelp beds there. We can live in a clean harmony with nature. First we must study and understand her ,and then make informed choices about ,what ,when and size and how many is sustainable to harvest. This has been well thought out in Hawaii. It is still one of the most studdied and Sustainable resources we have here in Hawaii. We have lived in harmony with the tourist dive industry here for 20 years. Making sure the industry makes no impact in the areas the divers go to. Thats why 30% of the west cost is off limits to all fropical fish collecting. The rest of the Big Island is to rough and remote to harvest for tropical fish, so it stands as an almost untouched area supporting many super large adult breading pairs of all kinds of fish. We will have plenty of fish on the Big Island for many generations ,as long as we continue to fish it the way we have in the past.
Many of the deeper fish like the bandit angel are a 140 ft + and deeper fish. These fish have been seen in huge schools in 200- 300 ft of water, we see only the population pushed shallower do to overcrowding in the depths.
We face many challenges to help save our corals from heat death here as well as many reefs worldwide. Please support our ongoing coral saving efforts.
Aloha