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A comment on Cod Have Been Shrinking for Decades, Scientists Say They've Solved Mystery. Parent comment

Re:Cod Have Been Shrinking for Decades, Scientists Say They'... by ruined on Saturday July 05, 2025 @08:06PM (#44476576)
trawlers historically haven't really discriminated by size. development of decent selective trawling equipment, and introduction of a minimum size is fairly recent

as a data point, a recent change in regulations regarding eastern Baltic cod had no statistical effect on reported catch https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-03308-8_...

>Data quality for stock assessments has deteriorated, discarding of cod has not decreased despite a reduced minimum size and there are no indications of increased gear selectivity in the fishery

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Re:Cod Have Been Shrinking for Decades, Scientists Say They'... by kbutler on Saturday July 05, 2025 @08:47PM (#44476794)
...haven't /INTENTIONALLY/ discriminated by size...

The article says smaller fish could more easily escape the nets. Though it doesn't cite studies documenting that, it does seem reasonable.

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