overfishing
20 Years of Depressing but True Stories About the Oceans
A very happy birthday to E, the Environmental Magazine, which recently turned 20 years old. A lot has happened in the environmental world in those two decades, and a lot has also stayed the same.
This excerpt of their article retrospective brings to mind some all-too-familiar ocean threats. (Oh, and thanks for the shout-out):
"A fish in a net was the cover model for E’s July/August 1996 feature on overfishing. With the headline “Vacuuming the Sea,” the article reported that 70% of the world’s marine fish stocks had been heavily exploited.
Mike Hirshfield: 'All we'll have left is jellyfish'
Oceana's chief scientist Mike Hirshfield spoke to Talk Planet in Copenhagen today about ocean acidification and overfishing. Check out the video of the short interview with Oceana's "Professor."
Hirshfield says, “The scientific consensus is unless we change how we manage our fish, we’re looking at potential collapses around the world later this century... It might only be a slight exaggeration to say that in 2100, unless we change how we manage our oceans, all we’ll have left is jellyfish.”
Stay tuned for more Copenhagen updates as the conference progresses.
ICCAT Disappoints Again
To the surprise of no one, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) failed again this year to adequately protect Atlantic bluefin tuna. Last week, ICCAT met in Brazil to set the 2010 quotas for the critically endangered bluefin tuna, and several of Oceana's scientists and campaigners were present.
Daniel Pauly Talks Fish on 'Fresh Air'
On the heels of his piece in The New Republic, Aquacalypse Now, fisheries guru and Oceana board member Dr. Daniel Pauly has a two-part interview on NPR's "Fresh Air" yesterday and today.
Here he is talking with host Terry Gross about orange roughy:
GROSS: But I have to say the fish that you mentioned, orange roughy, Chilean sea bass, monkfish, they're very tasty.
Prof. PAULY: Oh, no problem with that. In fact, the flesh of very old animal in the water is strangely - is firm and it's white, beautiful fillet. And it's richly fat. Yeah, this is good fish. The problem is that this fish are long-lived. If you take orange roughy, they reach up to 150 years. And they...
GROSS: Wow, really?
Prof. PAULY: ...yeah. The oldest has been aged that old. And they mature at 30 years.
GROSS: Wait, wait. I just want to make sure I understand you correctly. You mean, each fish lives 150 years?
Prof. PAULY: The one that survive can live up to 150 years. And they become mature, they become adult at 30 years, older than us, twice older than us. So you are eating something that is older than your grandmother when you're eating one.
The Scanner
Happy fall Friday, everyone! Here’s your weekly ocean news roundup…
...The House of Representatives’ vote of 29-14 moved the Mercury Pollution Reduction Act out of committee and brings the U.S. closer to reducing mercury pollution. We’ve been working tirelessly, lobbying on the Hill and asking our Wavemakers to contact their Representatives. There is more work ahead but this is a solid step forward.
...Climate change remains a hot topic, but a lot of Americans are cooling off. According to a recent study, only 57 percent believe there is solid evidence that the Earth is getting hotter. This is a drop from 77 percent in 2006. And only a third believe global warming is tied to human activities. Perhaps a milder summer has people thinking we aren’t warming up, but don’t mix up weather with climate – snow falls on a warming planet.
...As the lowest lying nation, the Maldives have vested interest in rising sea levels due to climate change. Maldivian government officials figured they should get used to a watery world and held a meeting underwater, asking all countries to reduce their carbon emissions.
