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

The S.F. Chronicle broke a story today in which the headline exclaims that the ‘U.S. extends disaster order for chinook salmon’, and I must say it is about time!  The writing on the wall has graced our oceans and rivers for the past few years so I think it is appropriate to start this off with a quote from JournOwl (‘Salmon by the numbers’) as it attests to the fact that chinook salmon are in trouble:

“At one time California’s Central Valley witnessed the return of adult Chinook salmon 3/4 of a million strong. By 2007, the returning population making the trek from the Pacific Ocean through the San Francisco Bay and spawning in the Sacramento River had declined to 90,000. And with the season ending in 2008, the numbers had managed to only reach 8.8% of their former number. Did I mention the Chinook salmon population of 750,000 I am referring to was a mere 6 years ago in 2002?”

Read the rest of this entry »

[Atlantic bluefin tuna]…the adult breeding population had declined to 10% of what it had been twenty years ago, when regulation of the taking of these great ocean rangers began.  The population as a whole had been reduced by more than half, and most of of what remained were immature.  Stunned, I blurted out, ‘Are we trying to exterminate them? If so, congratulations!  We’re making great progress.’

Sylvia Earle, NOAA’s Chief Scientist 1990-1992 (in Sea Change, 1995)

Just happened to be thumbing through an April 2007 NatGeo and came across a few stats about our fisheries that caught my eye:

• Estimated 40 million sharks killed annually for their fins
• Global fish catch ~100 million tons (as of 2004)
• Bluefin tuna fished at 4x sustainable rate in the Mediterranean for sushi markets
• In longline fishing, discarded bycatch makes up nearly 30% of the take
• 12 species of shark are commercially extinct in the Mediterranean
• Catches in the northwest Pacific have been declining by more than 3% per year since 1998
• Closed since the early 1990s, the Grand Banks cod fishery shows few signs of recovery
• More than 33% of the world’s fish stocks are overfished
• World tuna catch in 2004 reached 6 million metric tons

It’s unfortunate that administrations and politics have such heavy and far reaching hands when it comes to directing government departments (Does that make any sense?) as I would like to believe in a eco-utopian setting by which they always acted in the best interest of the nation’s natural resources.

Now since we clearly know this is not the case, it is still unfathomable that at the end of an 8 year reign the outgoing Administration is diligently working to slash fisheries protections. In a move that is clearly no treat (blatant Halloween pun intended), a National Marine Fisheries Service rule is undergoing final review that would eliminate the current SOP involving environmental impact statements for certain commercial fisheries operations. In fact, according to the Washington Post, the rule would “give review authority to regional councils dominated by commercial and recreational fishing interests.”

Has not history taught us leaving management of our fisheries to commercial organizations a dire move? Plus, it was only 4 years ago, mind you the midpoint in the term of same Administration, that The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy warned of the deleterious state of our fisheries.

Experts estimate that 25 to 30 percent of the world’s major fish stocks are overexploited, and a recent report indicates that U.S. fisheries are experiencing similar difficulties. Of our nation’s 259 major fish stocks—representing 99 percent of total commercial landings—roughly 25 percent are either already overfished or experiencing overfishing (Ocean Commission, 2004).