Yikes, this one is kinda gross.
One difference we notice in the answer choices is that we either get a rule that tells you that a new method of food production SHOULD be employed (B and D), vs. rules that tell us that a new method of food production SHOULDN'T be employed (A, C, and E).
So I started this by thinking, "Was our author suggesting that a new method SHOULD or SHOULDN'T be employed?"
I felt like our author was mainly bringing up reasons why we SHOULDN'T be into the idea of more fish farming.
"Some experts" were pushing for more fish farming in lines 9-13, and then the Author's Pivot comes in with line 13-14, pushing back with some pessimism. The thesis sentence is lines 15-18 (the most common place to find the thesis: last sentence of the 1st paragraph).
The next two paragraphs flesh out that framing idea from lines 15-18.
P2 begins "in the first place ..."
P3 begins "even more important ..."
The last paragraph begins by acknowledging some positives about fish farming, but still ends with a "nonetheless" button of pessimism.
So if you know the author's thrust was closer to, "we SHOULDN'T do fish farming" than "we SHOULD do it", then B and D are gone.
So why was the author suggesting we shouldn't do fish farming?
A) fish farming results in major changes in consumer demand for foods produced using traditional methods?
C) fish farming ultimately results in a net decrease of fish?
E) fish farming does not replace some other method with undesirable ecological effects?
(C) seems to resonate the most to me, with the sort of stuff mentioned in P2 and P3, as well as the thesis
- lines 17-18 "a potential contributing factor to the continued decline of ocean fishery stocks worldwide"
- lines 19-22 "more fish farming would threaten the sustainability of ocean fisheries (through pollution and ecological disruption)"
- lines 30-31 "seriously damaging ocean resources and, ultimately, wild fishery stocks"
- lines 39-41 "7 of 10 species require more fish input than is eventually harvested"
- lines 45-47 "farming requires up to 5 kg of wild fish for every 1 kg of fish produced"
If we're going to pick E, we would need at least at many line references saying things to the effect of "fish farming wouldn't be replacing an older method that has undesirable ecological effects".
Hope this helps.
Here's a link to a thread for Q14:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/lsat/foru ... 19212.html