ENWC314 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: New Bedford, Massachusetts, Cape May, New Jersey, Temperate Deciduous Forest

• School: University of Delaware
• Department: Entomology and Wildlife Conservation
• Course: ENWC314
• Professor: York Joanna

Document Summary

Overexploitation: removal of marine living resources to levels that can not sustain viable populations, overexploitation can lead to resource depletion, may put threatened and endangered species at risk for extinction. George"s bank cape cod area: shallow, highly productive (phytoplankton, historically supported large fishery of many species. Does(cid:374)"t allo(cid:449) phytoplankton to drop out of water column due to shallowness; very productive fishery due to high amt of phytoplankton: fishery here has collapsed. 20,000 metric tons: mid 1990s: by the mid-1990s, georges bank cod was on the brink of collapse; landings dropped to less than 10,000 metric tons. Current situation: most likely caused by overfishing. Estimates of stock were too high due to behavioral changes. Bycatch of young fish resulted in higher mortality than previously thought: some suggested environmental change, cod were top predator. Now, their prey have increased and exert pressure on cod eggs and larvae.