A little too much tension here.
Do_U_Eat_Fish - I'm really glad to have you here, honest, and I really am impressed that you came back and responded to a number of members online (basically it tells me that you weren't spamming, actually do have an opinion and are prepared to debate it online, and are a valued member online). Heck, in the NZ Fishing Industry I can do with whatever friend I can find - and in all honesty I have no problem with commercial fishing - what I am against is bottom trawling!
You do say that ~ 90% of Earth is ocean. True. But different species live at different depths. If you have experience with fishing, and I believe you do, correct me if I am wrong - you're either fishing 350-650m, 650-1100m, or 1100-1500m. If you have trawled for scampi or hoki you will notice one type of bycatch (typically soft-sediment); if you have trawled for orange roughy you will have noticed another type of bycatch (hard ground, basically today); if you have trawled for dories you will notice yet another kind of bycatch. This is because different species occupy different depth ranges. Presently, to the best of my knowledge, there are no commercially viable fisheries stocks at depths greater than 1500m. If there were you would notice a completely different kind of bycatch.
An argument made by the fishing industry (in NZ) is that most of the ocean is not fished, because (by default) it is too deep. HOWEVER, it has a completely different type of bycatch (fauna), so in effect you are not conserving or protecting anything at shallower depth.
I sincerely do want you to stay online, and to contact anyone you know and to get them online too. I want to bounce ideas off you. I do not want to try and convert you to my way of thinking (but at the same time you'll not convert me to yours). Some of the things that you have said already have been very true; some, of course, might raise the hairs on the back of my neck .... but if you know me, or know of some of the things that I have said or done, that should not come as any surprise.
So, what I want to do now is send you a warm and sincere
, and request that you become a regular poster on this (and any) forum.
If you saved me squid or octopus, sure I'd be excited. I'd also be upset that the animals were killed, albeit inadvertently, and would probably have to say something to this effect. It is a double-edged sword, and this is what has landed me in hot water with the industry. I am passionate about conservation - you need to eek out a living however you can (or are experienced).
Aquaculture is the future!