• gandalf_der_12te
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    7 months ago

    I suspect it’s probably because of stress.

    Overfishing, temperature changes, medical substances, …

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Nah, read about this in the 90’s (I think?). The article was about a specific Atlantic fish, I forget, been a long time. Scientists were puzzled as to why the fish were shrinking.

      Fisherman are only allowed to keep the big ones, throw the little 'uns back. This creates evolutionary pressure for younger/smaller fish to come to maturity and start reproducing sooner.

      • gandalf_der_12te
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        7 months ago

        ah yes, could also be.

        And i also suspect that the average age of fish has gone down.