Thriving Oceans

I came across a piece on Fish & Aquatic News this past Sunday in which authorities in Spain confiscated 11 tons of shark fins.  It simply reminded me that the Mediterranean Sea is a poster child for overfishing and already at the mercy of an irresponsible tuna industry. Yet, what I did not fully realize was that there has been an incredible decline in sharks over the last 200 years in this region alone.
In a 2008 publication in Conservation Biology, it was found that:

“Only 5 of the 20 large predatory sharks were detected at levels of abundance sufficient for analysis. Moreover, these 5 species showed rates of decline from >96 to >99.99%, which may classify them as critically endangered according to IUCN criteria.”

Even more disturbing is that the authors contend the depleted numbers may mean the large sharks are “functionally extinct” in the Northwestern Mediterranean. So, continued harvesting of sharks only for their fins is adding insult to injury on these cartilaginous ocean inhabitants.

After a rudimentary investigation on Spain’s fishing practices, I found that most of their longlines are actually set on the Atlantic ocean side, which may be compounding the dwindling Mediterranean shark populations. Because overharvesting (i.e. 11 tons of shark fins) is taking place, we are effectively limiting the ability for Atlantic and Mediterranean sharks to replenish falling populations and/or exchange individuals via the “critical migration corridor” in the Strait of Gibraltar.

With up to 2000+ pelagic longlining boats traversing the Mediterranean Sea, a considerable illegal fisheries industry continuing operations, and lackluster regulatory action, top predators responsible for structuring  ocean communities will continue to be at under threat of extinction.

photo credit: Erik Charlton

Reference:

Loss of Large Predatory Sharks from the Mediterranean Sea, Conservation Biology
Volume 22, Issue 4, Date: August 2008, Pages: 952-964

“Scientists have documented the first known migration of blue whales from the coast of California to areas off British Columbia and the Gulf of Alaska since the end of commercial whaling in 1965.”

Read the NOAA press release

A short video showcasing the biodiversity found in the Monterey Bay.  In love with the ocean, a close neighbor and frequent visitior to The Bay, and harboring a soft spot for Mola molas provided enough reasons for me to share…

With the decline of the economy an unlikely community is now facing starvation in the greater San Francisco Bay Area from Oakland, Marin County, San Mateo, to San Francisco.  If only these residents could pick up the art of panhandling from their gull-winged neighbors they would not be suffering from a bout of starvation.  Brandt’s cormorants and other sea birds have been washing up in the hundreds with signs of emaciation due to what experts believe is a lack of ocean available food.

“Because young rockfish were scarcer in the ocean during the warmer years of 2005, 2006 and 2007, species such as seabirds and humpback whales may have switched to anchovies, said biologist Bill Sydeman, director of the Farallon Institute of Advanced Ecosystem Research in Petaluma.”

I guess I could draw parallels to human influence on climate and oceans, such as overfishing, but instead of straining to generate some pithy comments just give the article a read.  It does a great job and even the quoted biologists points out how the environment is composed of interdependent communities.

And humans and their activities are not excluded by the way!

Hundreds of dead birds on Bay Area beaches (S.F. Chronicle, May 2, 2009)

“Killing too many loggerhead sea turtles” is the phrase that bent me out of shape once again. After a moment of Zen I did resort to just a shaking of my head in disbelief, but I am still reeling from catching red-handed a three person crew illegally dumping their trash in an open field.  License plate recovered, police informed, and wheels in motion for cleanup so enough said on that topic.

Every time I turn around there is yet another fisheries report or statistic that make its way to the surface and forces me to wonder why we have not yet mandated and end to destructive fisheries techniques.  OK, I know the big box fisheries can’t possibly have any legislative influence, so the blame must solely lie with…the consumers?  Tongue and cheek aside it is definitely a commercial and consumer issue as the circle of fisheries life wouldn’t be complete if restaurant and shelf demand did not exist for species harvested in an unsustainable manner. But, this is something worth repeating yet again as apparently the masses still haven’t downloaded the latest safe seafood lists.

As far as the loggerheads are concerned, appreciation would abound it our morality and diets came together in unison. A mandate;  well if JFK can set a moon directive that the entire country lines up in favor of reaching (and we do with flying colors of patriotism), I must say it is not 1960s rocket science but fisheries science with the backing of 5 decades of technological achievement.

But that technological achievement has instead delivered unprecedented catches of all that our oceans have to offer.  On April 29, NOAA established emergency protections for sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico as observers documented “the reef fish longline fleet was incidentally catching and killing too many loggerhead sea turtles.”  This ruling establishes a buffer zone for the threatened turtles by forcing longliners further out to sea and protecting feeding areas for the next 180 days. 

So, being the eternal optimist that I am it appears we have indeed set a mandate for permanent sea turtle protection solutions which by law is 180 days with a potential extension of an additional 186 days.  Let’s stay tuned and watch the launch of a new era in fisheries management, reduced bycatch, and sustainable fishing techniques.  I won’t hold my breath just yet, but a word of advice is that solutions are not in emergency rulings but in formal regulations, consumer action, and commercial responsibility as the future of their jobs depend on it as well.

The Great Auk

By Scott Artis (Nov. 19, 2003)

In the sixteenth, the year twenty four;
no one could foresee the danger in store.
Being black and white with a beak like a crow;
they’d fly through the water, beneath the surface they’d flow
Thriving in colonies this flightless, penguin-like bird;
a home in the New World, quite undisturbed.
Two decades since the onslaught ensued;
foods, fats and oils the crew they did use.

In the seventeenth, the year thirty four;
their importance to fleets had never been more.
The fishing of Grand Banks were all but unbound;
their continued exploitation came not close to sound.
Eye witness accounts, herded into the holds;
doomed in the bowels, the horrors unfold.
The discourse of time had shown few concerns;
the indiscriminate will of man, who did not discern.

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