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Fish Math

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IronNoggin:
Rather interesting read:

Fish math

A group of international fisheries scientists is now pointing out the simple, ecological reality of mathematics long ignored by Alaska salmon managers: addition matters as well as subtraction.

With the human-manipulated ecosystem of the North Pacific Ocean once again oscillating wildly, they are warning that fishery management isn’t just about the removals of salmon via human harvests; it is also about the additions of billions of the little fish now dumped into the ocean each year by industrial-scale salmon hatcheries in Alaska, Japan and Russia.

“The intentional release can have wider-ranging consequences than previously thought, as the impacts can propagate through a diversity of ecological interactions,” they warn in a peer-reviewed paper published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) last month.

https://craigmedred.news/2023/03/12/fish-math/

Fisherbob:
https://seawestnews.com/fact-checking-fin-on-alaskan-salmon-ranching/

jim:
Very interesting.

RalphH:
Intentional release of native species undermines ecological stability:


--- Quote ---The intentional release of captive-bred individuals is a common practice for conservation and natural resource management. However, we know little about its potential consequences for the whole ecological community. Here, we show that the intentional release undermines community stability with limited demographic benefit to the enhanced species. Theory and data agree that intentional release destabilizes community dynamics by facilitating competitive exclusion while suppressing the natural recruitment of the enhanced species. The effect size of the intentional release was striking in its magnitude, doubling temporal fluctuations of enhanced communities compared to those with no intentional release. Our findings point to major limitations of intentional release as a primary tool for conservation and sustainability.

--- End quote ---


https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.2218044120

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