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Save the big fish

Targeting of larger fish makes populations prone to collapse.

Fishing makes fish populations more variable from year to year, and so more vulnerable to complete collapse, says a study in Nature this week.

Read the story here.

Posted by Nicola Jones on October 18, 2006
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Havent we known for years that smaller populations are more vulnerable to extiction through stocastic events? Surely the affect of fishing is to drive down numbers in a fairly non-selective manner. Why has it taken so long to figure this out!?

[Editor's note: the issue has been separating the effects of fishing from the effects of changing environmental conditions. This data set has allowed that to happen in a very thorough way.]

Posted by: Culum Brown | October 24, 2006 12:54 AM

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