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Oceans 
Thu Nov 25, 2010 at 06:00:00 AM PST
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Originally published on Alternet November 22. Crossposted at Jill's request...
Bluefin Tuna's High Price Tag (up to $100,000) Means They've Been Fished to the Brink -- Can We Save Them?, by Jill Richardson
This week an international commission is meeting to determine the fate of the Atlantic bluefin.
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Thu Mar 25, 2010 at 10:31:12 AM PDT
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There's been a LOT going on in the shark conservation world lately. Some good, and a lot not. As you might know, the health of an apex predator is crucial to the health of an entire ecosystem. Which means we need to take care of sharks. And we haven't. Thus, the Shark Alliance (a coalition of NGOs dedicated to saving sharks) has been calling for adding eight shark species to CITES Appendix II. That may sound wonky and boring but all it means is that these eight sharks get international protection. The shark species proposed for protection are porbeagle, spiny dogfish, oceanic whitetip, great hammerhead, smooth hammerhead, sandbar, and dusky sharks. And Maldives has gone so far as to declare a shark sanctuary in its waters. (See more here: http://www.pewtrusts.org/news_room_detail.aspx?id=57664)
This week, the votes took place on whether or not to protect these sharks. And every single one went down in defeat. To gain protection, a shark must get a 2/3 majority of the vote.
Below, I've included more information about the sharks as well as reactions from the experts to the votes.
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Thu Jan 14, 2010 at 22:44:28 PM PST
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As of today, Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch put out new recommendations on seafood to eat and avoid. They also have a 60-page report on the state of the oceans (PDF). From their research, the best seafood choices as of October 2009 are as follows:
Albacore Tuna (Troll or pole-caught)
Mussels (farmed)
Oysters (farmed)
Pacific sardines (wild-caught)
Pink shrimp (wild caught from Oregon)
Salmon (wild-caught from Alaska)
Spot Prawns (wild-caught from British Columbia)
Rainbow Trout (farmed)
As you can tell, even when you're buying the right species, it's also important to know where your fish was caught or raised, and whether it was farmed or not.
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Thu Jul 23, 2009 at 09:19:08 AM PDT
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The Pew Environment Group released a report today (available at http://www.endoverfishing.org ) called "Investing in Our Future: The Economic Case for Rebuilding Mid-Atlantic Fish Populations." It compares what DID happen and what COULD HAVE happened if we had rebuilt the populations of four mid-Atlantic fish species by 2007 (summer flounder, black sea bass, butterfish, and bluefish). Long story short, rebuilding these fish populations would have generated at least $570 million per year in "direct economic benefits." In other words, our extractive management of fish populations isn't even helping us out financially. And it certainly isn't helping us ecologically. So with no real benefits for poor management of fish populations, what the heck are we doing?
From their press release:
Delays in rebuilding translate to lost opportunities for commercial and recreational fishermen to catch the maximum amount of fish that can sustainably be taken from a population. Failing to quickly address overfishing and allow populations to rebuild as quickly as possible forgoes current financial benefits and may result in more costly regulations in the long-term.
Key findings from the report show that:
- Commercial landings would have increased by 48%, if the four populations had been rebuilt by 2007. The financial value would be approximately $33.6 million per year in perpetuity.
- Rebuilding would bring an increase in recreational landings of 24% more per year than the status quo management. The economic value would be approximately $536 million per year in perpetuity.
- These direct economic benefits would also likely generate secondary financial benefits in the Mid-Atlantic region through increased income, sales and jobs from businesses associated with commercial and recreational fishing, including bait and tackle shops.
While this report concludes that we need to take action, it seems that Congress has already done so. In 2006, Congress reauthorized the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, strengthening it to hopefully rebuild fish populations within 10 years. So, in other words, what we've done is too little, too late.
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Mon Jun 08, 2009 at 12:00:00 PM PDT
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Today (World Oceans Day), Grist has an article up about the rise in jellyfish, a problem for both fishermen and swimmers. The article postulates that the increase is due to both overfishing and climate change. As we make the oceans less hospitable for a number of species - and overfish many other species - the jellyfish have less predators and less competition for resources. The author calls them the "cockroaches of the sea."
I've got a simple solution to this problem: more Chinese people.
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Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 08:00:00 AM PDT
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The headlines I see about ocean life are all sad.
There's just not any good news out there about fish, unless you count the articles by chefs talking about how good they taste (as well as this exchange about saving the oceans between Tom Philpott and Mark Bittman). And you know what else gets me? The Smithsonian talk is framed as saving "seafood" supplies - as if the residents of our oceans have only one purpose and that is being our dinners.
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