Trophic Cascade
Member’s Post.
A recent study involving Sheila Heymans from the Scottish Association for Marine Sciences may help explain why the Canadian North East cod fisheries have not recovered despite the literal cessation of the commercial fishery.
In four areas studied, the excessive commercial removal of cod, the top predator, has produced signs in all areas, of what is called a “Trophic Cascade”. This basically means that the Newfoundland balanced marine ecosystem has been critically damaged by commercial over-fishing.
The results are sobering, Cod have failed to recover as expected. The Newfoundland stocks “may not be reversible in the short term”.
The conclusion is that once a link is destroyed in an ecosystem chain, it’s very, very difficult to repair it.
The research was funded as part of the CDEENA project: www.osl.gc.ca/cdeena/en/programme.shtml
Category: SSACN Announcements
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