The fear of extinction of fishes has largely been an intriguing subject of research for perhaps a decade. Among the most intriguing areas throughout the world, Europe and its surrounding zones have been under the threat of massive fish extinction. A group of scientists from the University of Aberdeen has evolved a study which might be considered as a superlative take in this regard.
According to Science Daily, the fish population in the European regions have changed over time rapidly. Mostly, the disappearance of various fishes has mostly been driven by several key factors. The team of researchers has pointed that the threat of extinction majorly lies on the big fishes of the regions, including sharks, rays, and skates. The study was published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. The reason behind the least survival chance of bigger fishes in Europe has been accounted due to multiple abnormalities, such as overfishing due to growing slower, being less prone to water ecosystem evolution etc.
Phys Org pointed that the team consisting 44 researchers were jointly funded by the European Commission (DG Environment) and the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTS) for this deep study. The bigger fishes are considered to be essential soldiers of the water ecosystem. Therefore, dense extinction of such species can even harm the balance of the underwater world. Dr. Paul Fernandes from the University of Aberdeen's School of Biological Sciences said: "In the northeast Atlantic in 2014, almost twice as many stocks were sustainably fished as overfished, 8 stocks were recovering (the fishing rate is not high, but their populations are small); and 19 were declining..."
The study has been considered as an alarming fact of the water ecosystem. The researchers' team has also pointed out their expectation to see more research based on the findings, which can bring better measures for safeguarding the fishery culture of Europe.
