Sea Holds 10 Times More Fish Than Previously Believed

Scientists say that all this time, they've been underestimating the number of fish in the sea.

Scientists say that all this time, they've been underestimating the number of fish in the sea.

How significantly? By about 10 times, according to recent research conducted at depths of 650 to 3000 feet below sea level.

As that's the sweet spot for population density and is home to about 95 percent of fish in general, that comes out to a lot of fish.

That news is, of course, little comfort to the ones that live near the surface and are most often caught as food by any number of predators including fishing nets.

Nonetheless, it does mean that there are about 9 billion more tons of fish out there than previously believed.

Researchers attribute their impressive rate of survival and proliferation to a number of factors.

One is that they're out of reach to many of the species interested in eating them.

Another is that many have developed natural defenses that keep them out of harm's way, including heightened pressure sensitivity and abilities to see in the dark.

Researchers covered about 32 thousand nautical miles of ocean, primarily between the north and south 40th parallels to gather this information.

To measure depths and fish densities they used an echo sounder.