Having lived in SE Asia for a few years and returning to the USA late last year, I can confidently tell you that the deaths caused by slamming on the economic brakes has killed more people than COVID-19 has even with the inflated numbers left in.
While many Americans enjoyed a huge increase in EBT and Unemployment benifits, along with the stimulus money, most citizens of poor countries got little aid.
The amount of aid and the percentage of people being excluded, ensured many people have literaly starved to death. In poor countries they have fewer animals of any sort in populated areas because they were already consumed years or even decades ago.
Over 7 years of visiting then 3 years of living in the Philippines I saw no one fishing from the shore of any lake, nor river, nor ocean. The pump boats never have a big haul.
Same thing with hunting. Anything besides feral dogs and cats are hard to find. Here in the USA there are still animals that survive in large numbers because being hit by a car is less devastating on the population than hungry bellies.
Fish and game management probably has a lot to do with it too. 3rd world countries aren’t as organized or well-funded to allow for programs that ensure sustainable fishing and hunting.
The rivers and lakes have no fish and no one fishes them because they were dynamited long ago in the Philippines. The pump boat fishermen come back with a meager catch most days thats why they are among the poorest people. The big fishing boats have and are scooping up what fish they can with HUGE nets.
As for hunting, there are not very many hunting guns there. Military, Police, Security, Thugs, have guns, the common man not so much...
Rice runs just under a dollar a kilo and is the main food source. Fish I'd estimate at about half US prices, but wages are low. There are also many people living in the family home who depend on the often 1 wage earner. Imagine feeding yourself, the wife, three kids, and the parents, when you make 5 dollars a day....
You are describing scenes from the novel 'Stand on Zanzibar', where the ecological disasters happen because of mismanagement...
My point exactly