You won’t see stats showing any recovery because there wasn’t a recovery. There was no recovery necessary as the population has remained stable from “back in the day” until now.
Well said and the correct take. I wish more people from all he trade side would do a better job explaining how this all works because I see so many false narratives being tossed around that will ultimately be our undoing as a hobby and industry
again, another wise take. Appreciate informed people!
You got it! The truth is the size fish we take doesn’t even show up in the results whether we fish or not. The reason for this is the life history and reproductive strategies of these fish. They’re highly reproductive and have spawning seasons for up to 10 months of the year. When you add all the factors up you will realize how inconsequential the fisheries impact is upon the resource. The scientists and the fishermen aren’t lying
Reptile industry is largely captive bred, as reptiles are not delicate, and breed quite easily. For instance, some people are just giving normal ball pythons away at reptile shows, and you can usually get most reptiles for a more than reasonable price, as most of them are CB. Even exotics like crocodile monitors are still available captive bred.
For freshwater a lot are not that hard to breed in captivity and a lot are bred. But there are still some that are caught using less than shall we say humane ways. Cyanide and soaping the water are a couple way certain fish are caught both of which will cause harm to fish and environment.
Maybe a little education from you both could be helpful then, instead of just stating the opposite from a position of authority. For example, why do you both seem to think providing incentives (through high sell value fish) to aquaculture them isn't helpful longterm?
I do know that. So for just the West coast of the Big Island of Hawaii where most of the yellow tang is harvested, the fishery would land on average, over a 20 year period, 275k fish. There were years where it went as high as 350k and as low as 200k. During this 20 year period the overall yellow tang population increased. For the five years the fishery has been closed, the scientist tasked with monitoring have came to the conclusion that the population dynamics haven’t changed in a way their survey methods can see meaning that whether the fishery is open or closed it has little to no effect on the overall population. This is because the fishery harvest juvenile size class that has massive flux in abundance and most get absorbed and replaced by cohorts and subsequent waves of recruitment. The fishers are there and take from this pool of fish in flux and we never mess with the subadults or adults in any significant numbers. Hope that answers your question
Are you familiar with the term biomass?
Statewide the numbers are even higher. Probably in the neighborhood of 350k per year for yellow tang spread across the entire island chain. But keep in mind this number services the entire planet. There’s a lot of aquarium keepers out there. Asia in particular absorbs a lot of fish as China has grown into a economic powerhouse
That’s the reported landings. The real number is anyone’s guess but in West Hawaii, the fishers seem to follow the rules and report their catch. Much stiffer penalties than anywhere else so guys don’t play around for the most part. There’s always a few bad apples in anything tho
Nothing is set in stone. Kole will be available in the future in some form or fashion
