5 ms·
it's not the point of the article, but i find it fascinating that this industry has managed to figure out how to capture >400k wild animals per year and return
by aoki 8y ago
it's not the point of the article, but i find it fascinating that this industry has managed to figure out how to capture >400k wild animals per year and return ~90% of them alive to the ocean after harvesting their blood with a giant needle.
there must be an interesting story here about how they figured out that they needed to do this with a sustainable take rate (unlike most commercial fishing industries).
- stevenwoo 8y agoThere was an older article in the Atlantic that showed we aren't actually sure if the horseshoe crabs are unharmed by being taken out of the water and draining a lot of their blood. The declining numbers says we might be harming them or it might be some other factor. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/02/the-blood-harvest/284078/ https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/02/the-b...
- jessaustin 8y agoI'm similarly suspicious of "catch & release" fishing...
- reificator 8y agoI just literally don't understand catch and release. Your entertainment is to embed a hook in a fish so you can then remove it from the water, remove the hook, and throw it back in the water? Why?
- 9935c101ab17a66 8y agoI don't think you understand what literally means. Also, anything can seem absurd if you are extremely reductionist and present it in an uncharitable fashion. (I've never fished before, just some remarks)
- reificator 8y ago> I don't think you understand what literally means. > I just literally don't understand [how] catch and release [is entertaining] Is that better? I know the meaning and used the word appropriately. I just left out a few other words because I thought my intent would be clear. But you know, it's trendy to complain about "literally" now so have at it.
- PakG1 8y agoYou're literally that guy. :D https://xkcd.com/725/ https://xkcd.com/725/
- peteretep 8y agoI don't fish, but: Presumably it's enjoyable to sit in nature, far from distractions, with a variable reward that something happens every hour or so, and occasionally the thing that happens warrants a photo and something you can tell your friends about? A bit like watching cricket, actually.
- taneq 8y agoTorturing fish for fun seems distinctly suspect to me as well.
- reificator 8y agoI was careful to not use words related to pain, because whenever you mention that people are quick to claim that fish don't feel pain. Probably because so many people catch & release. I still have yet to see a study on the topic, so maybe they're right. But I doubt it to be honest.
- taneq 8y agoYeah, I've heard those arguments before and I find them pretty specious. We humans are always super quick to claim that it's ok to do <thing that inflicts pain> on <thing that we want to do it to> because <some reason that thing doesn't actually feel pain anyway>. It's been applied to fish, human infants, black people, and all manner of other creatures that someone wants to inflict something nasty upon.
- imglorp 8y agoRight. I don't think it's about the fish in particular, but that we're training ourselves--practicing even--to be uncompassionate to all things, human or not. We're supposed to be the better species here.
- codeulike 8y agoNever done it but I've always assumed fishing is just about sitting and doing not much in a pleasant place, a form of meditation. Sucks for the fish though.
- cturner 8y agoYou set aside your responsibilities, shift into a different mental pattern, and do that for a few hours. There are species of trout and salmon that are savvy at distinguishing between a piece of food and a hook disguised as one. Catching one can be a game over several hours. Once you have caught a fish, you put it back for your mates later on. The reason for putting the fish back is that - often - more work goes into stocking the fisheries than than into fishing them. It is a bit like owning a boat. Courses of fish populations are repopulated through dedicated hatcheries, run by the fishing groups. Also, there is a pokemon dynamic to creating your library of lures.
- specialist 8y agoPokemon analogy is terrific.
- eksu 8y agocommercial fishing industries have a vested interest in achieving the maximum sustainable yield. furthermore, legislation like quota systems are generally supported because it gives companies a golden ticket to harvest while denying newcomers from entering the space.
- aoki 8y agoyet in practice overfishing occurs in species after species; individual interests do not always align with the macro interests. that's why i think there's an interesting story lurking here. there were probably a small number of technocratic players involved (maybe even one) who were able to specify how the chain should work.
- specialist 8y agoMonitoring and enforcement have been tough (infeasible). I’ve been away from conservation for a while now, but I’d hope it’s gotten better with satelites, drones.
- OrganicMSG 8y agoThe cod wars between the UK and Iceland would suggest that fisheries policy is often not exactly the most calmly rational of human endeavours.
- toomanybeersies 8y agoUnfortunately overfishing is super common. Tragedy of the commons and all that. Quota systems and overfishing aren't mutually exclusive either. There's plenty of fisheries quotas that are still higher than a sustainable quota should be.
- chrisweekly 8y agoThat sounds logical, but in my experience as a coastal New Englander, boat owner and former Seafood.com employee, (albeit 20 years ago), commercial fishing _communities_ (possibly critically distinct from the "industries" you noted) skew heavily towards anti-fisheries management. Think "NMFS destroys families" bumper stickers.