Monterey Bay used to have a lot of sardines. They were over-fished. Can't we re-introduce the species to the bay?
Posted September 2nd, 2007Question from James Symanski:
I was just watching a show on Discovery, which said that an abundance of sardines in Monterey Bay created a huge fishing & canning industry years ago. Then, the sardine population disappeared, due to over-fishing. Does that mean no more sardines exist in Monterey Bay? If so, can't we just re-introduce sardines into the Bay, which is now a marine sanctuary, to bring back this important species? James Symanski, Monterey, CA
Answered by BarbaraBlockWhile overfishing played a role in the collapse of the sardine fishery, environmental conditions also affected the species. This is like a CSI mystery. In warm periods of the eastern Pacific, sardines increase and during cold periods they often decrease. If you add fishing pressure at a time when abundance is low, you can get collapse of the population. Luckily, sardines have not completely disappeared and they have been making a comeback. So for sure, we have sardines in Monterey Bay.
