J
John Jones
The article also said this, so no, it wasn't a rogue "one-off." The prevailing species were chum that time (and I can pretty much guarantee you there were other species in that 80 tons), but this isn't an uncommon practice, and we first noticed declining king stocks about the same time these trawlers came under our radar. You can't really blame Alaska commercial fishermen for this, or the sports fishermen, for that matter, when the kings aren't reaching Alaska waters in the first place. Keep in mind that one pass from one of these huge trawlers can equal the amount an average fishing boat catches in a year.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-30/china-super-trawlers-overfishing-world-oceans/10317394
https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-chinas-expanding-fishing-fleet-is-depleting-worlds-oceans
And as I mentioned before, there are likely multiple causes, ocean acidification among them. There's probably more bycatch than there should be in the Bering Sea and even in the gulf by pollock/whitefish factory vessels. But the giant trawlers are out there, and whatever's happening to the majority of the king salmon is happening somewhere in the deep waters between here and Asia.
No condemnation of the Chinese illegal fishing that is rampant on the high seas.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-30/china-super-trawlers-overfishing-world-oceans/10317394
China's super trawlers are targeting the seas in North West Pacific, South America and Western Africa.
https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-chinas-expanding-fishing-fleet-is-depleting-worlds-oceans
And as I mentioned before, there are likely multiple causes, ocean acidification among them. There's probably more bycatch than there should be in the Bering Sea and even in the gulf by pollock/whitefish factory vessels. But the giant trawlers are out there, and whatever's happening to the majority of the king salmon is happening somewhere in the deep waters between here and Asia.
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