National Geographic: The Global Fish Crisis

Here are some key facts I noted from an Article titled "The Global Fish Crisis" in the recent edition of National Geographic.

• Nearly one third of the world's fish stocks are overfished--the Atlantic is the hardest hit
• Majority of the world's fishing fleet is concentrated in Asian waters
• Trawling, though banned in many countries, bulldozes the seabed and catches sea life indiscriminantely--more than 50% that are caught are discarded
• In Africa, only the carcasses of the NIle perch are affordable sources of protein for some Tanzanians living around Lake Victoria
• Perch fillets are stripped in 35 lakeside processing plants and shipped north, mainly to Europe, but also Israel
• With years of overfishing in Africa, perch stocks have fallen drastically--imperiling the livelihoods of more than 100,000 fisherman, and depriving local people of food
• To suply the world's sushi markets, the giant bluefin tuna is fished in the Mediterranean at four times the sustainable rate
• The bluefin tuna is being fattened off the coast of Spain--69 ranches have been created in the Mediterranean Sea in the last 10 years--this is demolishing the fish stocks
• In Europe, fisheries management is difficult, due to the number of countries bordering the seas
• Aquaculture now contributes to nearly 50% of the world's seafood--filling the void left by declining stocks in the wild

Turtles Enter the Sea

check out this video...

http://dsc.discovery.com/beyond/index.html?playerId=203711706&categoryId=210014204&lineupId=452340373

Tsunami in the Solomon Islands

A region-wide disaster and tsunami warnings were issued for the South Pacific states after the quake struck about 45 kilometres off the coast of the Solomon Islands at 7:39 a.m. local time on Monday (4:39 p.m. eastern time on Sunday).

The U.S. Geological Centre said the earthquake struck at 7:39 a.m. local time, Monday -- about 10 kms. beneath the sea floor. The epicenter was 345 kilometres from Honiara.

Police in the Solomon Islands capital, Honiara, say authorities in the western town of Gizo have reported that houses near the sea were flattened and buildings inundated when wave several metres high crashed ashore, shortly before communication lines with the region were cut.

New Zealand: Leading the Way

New Zealand implemented a "no take" position in a 2 mile stretch of sea (Goat Island) This meant that this stretch of sea needed to be completely free from human interference. This meant no line fishing, no spearfishing, no hooking a lobster out of its lair, no prying off a clump of rock oysters. The action was revolutionary not justbecause it was one of the world's first no-take reserves, but also because it protected an ordinary stretch of coastline. The legislation was enacted in 1971. New Zealand has a coastline greater in length than the US, and has the fourth largest EEZ recognized by the UN. High school classes have participated in the action to designate their local coastal community a reserve.

Today, New Zealand has 31 reserve sites, covering 8% of the country's coastal waters. 99% of this protected habitat lies within 2 reserves, each hundreds of miles from the mainland. The smallest of the country's 14 terrestrial national parks protects an area greater than all the coastal marine reserves combined.

No-take reserves have develped in other parts of the world, such as Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. California has recently established a network of 29 reserves, half of which ban all fishing along its central coast, covering nearly 200 square miles of state waters from Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz. The state plans to set up reserves along its entire coastline by 2011.

New Zealand's billion-dollar fishing industry recently proposed that 30% of the country's EEZ be set aside. Dredging and bottom trawling would be prohibited in these areas in recognition of of the destructiveness of these forms of fishing.

Despite the recent gains, only 0.01% of the world's oceans are closed to fishing. The World Wildlife Fund has called for 20% no-take protection by 2020. Some scientists have suggested that 40 to 50% closures may be necessary to prevent the commercial extinction of some species.

New ocean ethic needs to be developed. The ocean needs to be seen not as a commodity we own but as a community of which we are a part. The sea is worth saving for tis own sake.