Reading Comprehension

PT153 · S1 · P2 · Q8 Fish Farming

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A recent worldwide decline of ocean fishery stocks has stimulated rapid growth in cultivated production of fish and shellfish, usually known as fish farming.

Topic

The impact of fish farming on global ocean fishery stocks

Framework

Problem / Solution

Main Point

While fish farming has grown rapidly and seems like a solution to declining wild fish stocks, it is also part of the problem due to pollution, ecological disruption, and heavy reliance on wild fish as feed. So, fish farming is both potentially helpful and harmful for ocean fisheries. (The "Most Valuable Sentence" appears at the end of the first paragraph: )

P1: The Rise and Paradox of Fish Farming

Fish farming is booming as ocean fisheries decline and now supplies a large portion of seafood eaten by people. Some believe it could save wild fish stocks, but there’s not much proof—it might help, but could also make things worse.

P2: Environmental Impacts of Intensive Fish Farming

High-density fish farming can cause big problems: it pollutes waterways, spreads diseases, and lets non-native species escape, all of which can hurt wild fish populations and damage natural habitats.

P3: Reliance on Wild Fish as Feed

Many farmed fish, especially carnivores like salmon, need to eat a lot of wild fish to grow—often more than the resulting harvest. This means that farming some species puts even more pressure on wild fish stocks.

8.

There is information in the passage sufficient to answer which one of the following questions?

  1. How does the escape of

    Unsupported Causal Relationship: result in

    The only mention of habitat destruction comes at the end of the 2nd paragraph. We're told that habitat destruction can occur through the spread of untreated waste, through the escape of species not native to the farm's region, or through contamination by new pathogens. But it never dives into that 2nd detail to explain how the escape of non-native species can lead to habitat destruction. It only says that the escape of non-native species can lead to habitat destruction.

    16% picked this

  2. What sort of shellfish is

    Too Specific: sort of shellfish

    Shellfish is only covered in the 1st and 3rd sentences of the passage, but no specific types of shellfish are ever named. (Shellfish are like shrimp, crabs, lobsters, etc.)

    2% picked this

  3. Approximately how many kilograms of

    Buzzword Bait: kilograms

    The 3rd paragraph is the only time hear about kilograms of fish. We know that salmon has a very high input-to-output ratio (you have to feed salmon between 1.9 - 5 kg of wild fish for each 1 kg of salmon you produce). But we don't know how heavy the average salmon is, so we can't apply this ratio to anything in order to derive an answer to this question. If we produce a 10kg salmon, then it apparently consumed 19 - 50 kg of wild fish. If we produce 5kg salmon, then it consumes 10-25 kg of wild fish in its lifetime.

    8% picked this

  4. Correct

    What proportion of the fish

    Why this is right

    Shellfish is only mentioned in the 1st and 3rd sentences of the passage, and in the 3rd passage it says that, Fish farming produces a quarter of all fish and shellfish eaten by humans. So 1/4, or 25%, of the fish and shellfish eaten by humans is produced on fish farms.

    Skill tested: Five Questions · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

    72% picked this

  5. How long does it take

    Buzzword Bait: niche markets

    Niche markets are only discussed in the final sentence of the passage, and that sentence doesn't give us any way to derive how long it takes for niche markets to have an appreciable effect.

    2% picked this

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