Reading Comprehension

PT153 · S1 · P2 · Q9 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.

9.

Which one of the following is closest to the meaning of the phrase "relieving pressure on ocean fisheries" as used in the middle of the first paragraph?

  1. making up for the scarcity

    Wrong Match

    This answer is referring to the first half of the sentence. The #1 thing we listed above. Making up for the scarcity of wild-caught fish is saying, "the world, in 2021, demands 50,000 tons of fish per year, but because there aren't as many wild fish to catch, we only caught 40,000 tons. How are we going to make up for that missing 10,000 tons of fish so that we can meet the seafood demand of the world in 2021?" This is a short-term problem that fish farming can help. When the passage is talking about "restoring wild populations by relieving pressure on ocean fisheries", it's referring to a long term problem where fish farming can help. If we do a lot more fish farming for the next ten years, then maybe by 2030, the fishery stocks in the ocean will have built back their numbers to where they used to be.

    17% picked this

  2. supplementing the incomes of people

    Out of Scope: incomes

    This phrase has nothing to do with the incomes of people who do ocean fishing. It's just saying, "we won't be grabbing as many fish out of the ocean (thus they'll have some time to build back up their population to old numbers)."

    1% picked this

  3. Correct

    causing fewer wild fish to

    Why this is right

    This phrase meant something like, "we won't be grabbing as many fish out of the ocean (thus they'll have some time to build back up their population to old numbers)." By using fish farming more and more, we'll use ocean-fishing less and less, causing fewer wild fish to be caught, thereby relieving pressure on depleted ocean fisheries.

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

    74% picked this

  4. reducing the amount of income

    Out of Scope: income

    This phrase is not referring to the income of people who do ocean fishing. It's just saying, "we won't be grabbing as many fish out of the ocean (thus they'll have some time to build back up their population to old numbers)." Yes, it's true that if we're doing less ocean fishing, then the amount of income earned from ocean fishing will probably be reduced. But the meaning of "relieving pressure on ocean fisheries" is not "reducing the amount of money that ocean fishermen make".

    1% picked this

  5. reducing overall demand for fish

    Bad Match

    The phrase "relieving pressure on ocean fisheries" is not referring to an attempt to reduce overall demand for fish. We're redirecting where we get our supply of fish. We're not changing demand. But getting more of our supply from fish farms, we need to acquire less fish from the ocean, which will put less pressure on depleted ocean fisheries. This answer would be fine if it said, "reducing demand for fishing fleets to catch fish from the ocean".

    8% picked this

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