Evolution in Reaction

No surprise.  Fish populations are not just smaller because we have removed the larger members, they are smaller because those larger members are no longer contributing their genes to fish populations.  Only small fish are reproducing and now fish populations are naturally smaller and slower growing than they used to be.  We have known this for awhile.  Fish are evolving under the intense selective pressure of human fisheries.

David Conover and colleagues from Stony Brook University in New York, however, has discovered that by changing the way we harvest fish, we can reverse this trend and return large bodied fish to our oceans and lakes.  

But:

-It may take at least 80 years (probably longer) and

-All countries harvesting fish would have to agree to new harvesting methods.

Therefore:  fish are going to continue to get smaller.  

Photo Credit: me (Bluefin Travally, Cook Islands, 2004)