Humans have always eaten fish for food because many fish taste good and are a good source of nutrients. Consumption of nutritious fish requires that some parts of the population be harvested (commercially and/ or recreationally). But, most fish are easily caught by smart people, even more easily with modern electronic fish finding sonar.

People that fish commercially for market tend to catch fish faster than fish can produce and grow replacements. Numerous fishing rules and regulations are in place striving to manage fishing to reach a sustainable level of catch of important fish species as a balance between numbers and sizes caught and the biological ability of the species to replace those members removed by fishing.

Most fish catching regulations and laws were developed based upon underestimating the harvest capabilities resulting in too many fish being caught. Unlimited catches often lead to a nearly complete depletion of the fish population. Yet, with a continuing demand for food fish, we will always need to catch some part of the fish populations, like groupers, to provide food for your dinner.

Regulatory decisions need to be based upon a balance between fish population production (juveniles and growth) and harvest (numbers and sizes), which could be considered “conservation” of the fish population working toward a healthy and sustainable yields.