http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140709100104.htm
Jack Oliver
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Too Many Fish, Not Enough Space!!
I recently read an article about the migration of tropical fish into temperate areas of the ocean. Now this is a problem because the main fish that are migrating are species that tend to eat plat life like kelp. The fish then overgraze and end up dramatically reducing the size of kelp forests and sea grass meadows. Temperate areas such as Sydney, Australia, Japan, the eastern Mediterranean, and the Gulf of Mexico have all seen a rapid increase in the numbers of parrotfish, rabbitfish, and unicornfish. These are the main culprits behind the decrease in kelp forests, and it is a result of ocean warming. Some possible solutions to this problem of the migrating fish would be to emphasize the capture or fishing of these animals for the pet trade, food, and for fishing bait/chum. The barriers to these solutions could be that the meat of these fish isn't very good or they don't sell we'll in the fish trade. I personally believe that we should control the populations of these fish to a certain extent, but I do not believe we should try to completely stop the migration. I believe this because this is something that happens naturally and something we have seen in the past. Habitats have completely changed in the past with the altering of temperatures. Even though humans have accelerated this temperature change it is something that can and will happen eventually and we can't stop it without slowing global warming.
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This maybe a stupid question, but does kelp and other sea grass benefit the ecosystem in anyway? Obviously it feeds fish, but it's not their only means of feeding, is it? I grew up swimming in lakes with grass growing off the bottom, and it was very annoying, and there were signs everywhere instructing on how to keep it from spreading. I always found sea grass to be pretty much the same as lake weed, but if there's a problem with it going away, then there's something different.
ReplyDeleteNo that doesn't sound stupid at all. The problem with lake weeds is that they are invasive. The sea grass and kelp are not. They are supposed to be there and they provide many habitats for life. They also help keep the ocean clean by processing bad nutrients like nitrates and ammonia. Sea grass and kelp are also important because they feed sea turtles and sea cows. I was in Saint Thomas last week and we went on a snorkeling tour to an area that was full of sea grass right next to a coral reef. We imiediatly saw 6 turtles after getting in. The were just grazing on the grass and I was able to swim down and touch its shell. It was amazing and I don't want that to disappear like it will with the decline of sea grass
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