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quack quack · 06-28-2007, 04:19 PM

Actually the decline in stripers was mostly due to overfishing and poor management, not pollution. As soon as commercial fishing was halted for stripers, the population bounced back enormously and now stripers are everywhere

QQ You are wrong on this one.If not for the pollution and better manegment the bass stocks could have handled the fishing preasure.

Go read the book Striper by John Cole.

Now to the issue of mercury. While mercury has always been present, it is increasing due to pollution. Mercury is not coming from "used batteries" on the bottom. Mercury itself is not the entire problem, it is when it is methylated and becomes methylmercury that it finds its way into the food chain and becomes toxic. Here is what happens:

QQ I was using the batt's as an example of pollution in gen not mercury per say.

The issues of overfishing and pollution/habitat destruction are intertwined and are very complex. You cannot make the general statement such as "Most of the decline in fish stocks around the world have a direct relation to pollution (Quack Quack)." It is way too general and neglects important factors in an extremely complex issue. While the above statement may be true for a certain species in one area, it may not be true for the same species in another part of its range. Even if it is true for a single species, it almost certainly is not for others. Overfishing will definately have an effect on commercially valuable species, but pollution may be a bigger issue with species not targeted commercially. In fact, when talking about fisheries you are typically talking about species that have commercial value, not those that don't.

QQ Yes one species in a certain area may only be efeccted directly by a certain polutant but everything in that speices environment gets effected.Just because a fish is not commercialy harvested it does have it's place in the eco system.

06-28-2007, 04:19 PM	#58 (permalink)
quack quack Old Salt Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: lake worth Best Catch: 25lb codfish 5 yrs old first hanger Posts: 5,205	Actually the decline in stripers was mostly due to overfishing and poor management, not pollution. As soon as commercial fishing was halted for stripers, the population bounced back enormously and now stripers are everywhere QQ You are wrong on this one.If not for the pollution and better manegment the bass stocks could have handled the fishing preasure.Go read the book Striper by John Cole. Now to the issue of mercury. While mercury has always been present, it is increasing due to pollution. Mercury is not coming from "used batteries" on the bottom. Mercury itself is not the entire problem, it is when it is methylated and becomes methylmercury that it finds its way into the food chain and becomes toxic. Here is what happens: QQ I was using the batt's as an example of pollution in gen not mercury per say. The issues of overfishing and pollution/habitat destruction are intertwined and are very complex. You cannot make the general statement such as "Most of the decline in fish stocks around the world have a direct relation to pollution (Quack Quack)." It is way too general and neglects important factors in an extremely complex issue. While the above statement may be true for a certain species in one area, it may not be true for the same species in another part of its range. Even if it is true for a single species, it almost certainly is not for others. Overfishing will definately have an effect on commercially valuable species, but pollution may be a bigger issue with species not targeted commercially. In fact, when talking about fisheries you are typically talking about species that have commercial value, not those that don't. QQ Yes one species in a certain area may only be efeccted directly by a certain polutant but everything in that speices environment gets effected.Just because a fish is not commercialy harvested it does have it's place in the eco system. __________________ Amagansett means “place of good water” in one American Indian tongue, and for generations of Lesters who have lived here, it’s been true in the most literal way.