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Fish stock collapse and ecosystem change in Northwest Atlantic ecosystems
Cod fisheries collapsed in the North West Atlantic in the late 1980s due to overfishing, and have never recovered. A new study reveals that the changes in top-predator abundance were driven by human over-exploitation of large, piscivorous fish species. This led to a major perturbation of the structure and functioning of four Northwest Atlantic ecosystems.
Each represents a case of fishery-induced regime shift, to alternate states that may not be reversible in the short term.