Fish shrinkage reversible, but better hurry
Study suggests fisheries managers need to consider evolutionary changes created by the selective harvesting of larger fish
By Susan Milius
People can reverse evolution when it comes to the effects of fishing on sea creatures, researchers say. Just don’t hold your breath.
The common practice of catching only the bigger fish in a population becomes an evolutionary pressure for later generations to stay small and grow slow, says fisheries scientist David Conover of Stony Brook University in New York.