Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are not showing the same trends of overfishing that some claim could help lead to the demise of ocean seafood by as early as 2048. The major concerns in the Great Lakes are more ecological, the total biomass of the Great Lakes is not showing any downward trend that you would attribute to fishing.
One of the biggest problems with Great Lakes commercial fishing is low demand and the ensuing low prices. If the quantity of ocean seafood diminishes rapidly, it could have a positive effect on Great Lakes fishing, and business in the short term. The Great Lakes simply could not support the world markets as a major supplier of fish. If other sources of seafood disappeared, it wouldn't be long before the Great Lakes faced the same problems as those in other parts of the world.
Overfishing isn't a big problem in the Great Lakes now, but it has been in the past. In the 1940s and 1950s, whitefish, lake trout and lake herring all but disappeared in many parts of the lakes.
November 9, 2006 7:34 AM | Category: Fish, Great Lakes