Since I really like this post, i'm going to list some quotes you said and improve a bit.
- "more fish types with varying hunger levels/poisonous fish that harm you when you eat them." I really like this. Later on in the game, getting to know the world that you are surviving in is going to be a key factor.
- "The more you advance, the more stuff should unlock. A more advanced cooking station/water purifier to harvest more at once from a singular station. A furnace to smelt the metal down to ingots for further advanced crafting recipes." I'm going to go for a long shot with this suggestion, but maybe a skill tree. The more you do a certain thing, you get experience or points for that subject and can make things less expensive, faster, or give more. For example, once you fish 3 fish, you gain a point you can use to increase the speed of how many you catch, or how big the fish is. So the better you get at a skill, you unlock different recipes for this, which may have a use for the leftover metal we all have laying around in chests.
- "As you progress through the game, more advanced materials start drifting in inside the barrels." I'v seen many posts about diving gear and snorkels and such, this could be a way you can go from making thatch and wood walls to survive, to being underwater without a shark to worry about.
- "Adding durability to items should also be a must since once you create a tool, you can use it indefinitely." This is needed.
- "Weather with hot and cold affects the character requiring you to find shade so the reason to have walls and a roof is useful. Bad rain and storms that damage your structures." Also it could affect how much you need to eat/drink.
- "Add a cooldown to the annoying starving/dehydrating sound." I don't think any sane person can go any longer than 2 minutes listening to that sound.
- "From what I have seen from this game, it has a HUGE potential. I honestly can't wait to see what future updates hold." Keep up the great work :)