Eventually, however, the stress of the continual undermining of more and more supports results in the collapse of the entire structure. Then people will point at the last support removed as the one that caused the collapse, but anyone with common sense knows the collapse was imminent as soon as we began removing the original supports. In the marine environment, every species is a support for the entire ecosystem. We might be able to overfish one species without causing a dramatic change in others. However, once we begin to decimate the food stocks for species like striped bass or bluefish, we cannot help having a serious negative effect on that species' total population.
Some species are more adaptable and can find alternative forage sources to augment their diet.
Striped bass and bluefish, as juveniles, feed on similar prey. Striped bass are opportunistic feeders. Over the years, through personal experience, I have seen striped bass feeding on sand eels, American eels, winter flounder, and summer flounder. They will eat almost anything that swims in the ocean, bays and rivers. They eat their prey whole because they do not have cutting teeth.