Study: Almost all big ocean fish gone

[LUBOLD8431]

I dont eat ANY kind of fish... They are my friends...

 

[Boogie711]

What is the source of your "fact" that "In 99% of the cases, they're simply wrong." Sounds like you're doing the same thing that you claim Greenpeace is guilty of.

Thanks DrBill - I was wondering if anyone was going to notice that. It was just my little pathetic attempt at humour, honest.

Incidentally, however, I would be happy to send to anyone who asks audited statements from the American Institute of Philanthropy on how much Greenpeace actually spends on the environment, vs. fundraising costs. Depending on how you break down the numbers, I've seen some comparisons that say as little as 9 cents on the dollar actually goes towards the environment. The best case scenario says they spend about 38 cents.

Greenpeace is, in my opinion, a fear-mongering fundraising organization. They've lost their tax-exempt status here in Canada because they've been deemed a political organization, not an environmental group.

I'm not at my desk, but I believe this "study" was wholly funded by the Pew Charitable trust - a major funding organization for Greenpeace and other "environmental" organizations. Pardon me if I don't bite. I can show you documented, audited evidence that the Great Lakes, for example, are cleaner now than they were 50 years ago. You don't see anyone talking about that.

 

[Bomber]

In its annual fisheries report to Congress, released Tuesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association pointed to strides made last year in sustaining America's marine fish stocks. The report noted an additional fish stock was fully rebuilt, four species were taken off the overfished list and 70 overfished varieties continued to recover under federal rebuilding plans

Status of Stocks Report
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/

 

[PhotoTJ]

There is no good seafood news!

 

[drbill]

Thanks for your clarification.

I would certainly agree with your point that we have made good progress in some areas cleaning up our waters. I remember in the old days if I swam or dove near Avalon, I would often encounter these strange brown pelagic "sea cucumbers" that none of my field guides could ID.

However with growing populations and greatly improved fishing technologies, I would find it hard to dispute the findings that major pelagic species have declined. I can see it in the marlin catch boards over the past 35 years here. Don't even have to rigorously analyze the data.

There are fewer marlin being caught now and average weights have dropped. Why I've seen a number of sport "fishers" who have landed sub-100 pound marlin, even a 72 pounder. Of course the sport fishers say they aren't to blame, it's the commercial long liners that did it. Yet if they continue to fish these greatly reduced stocks, they are having an impact.

I prefer to catch my fish on film (yes, I do eat them, but I'm careful which species I consume).

Dr. Bill

 

[nquandt]

Scubaroo once bubbled...
Check out this link from the Monterey Bay Aquarium - they have a downloadable reference card to keep in your wallet that tells you what's okay to eat and what should be avoided, from an ecological perspective:

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_regional.asp

Excellent information. Thank you for this link.

 

[diatom]

Here is some information regarding aquaculture and salmon. Certainly this is only a sample of the literature available, but it does provide some insight into the relationship between aquaculture and wild populations. It should also be noted that these are peer-reviewed scientific journals, not publications of political organizations.

Youngson et al. 2001 Genetic interactions between marine finfish species in European aquacullture and wild conspecifics. Journal of Applied Ichtyology 17:153-162.

Paper discusses the escape of Atlantic salmon from aquaculture and mating of those individuals with wild fish, the consequences of such mating events (reduced genetic fitness) for the wild populations and the need to develop policy to prevent problems in Atlantic salmon, sea bass, and bream wild populations.

Heath et al. 2003 Evolution of egg size in captive salmon. Science 299:1738-1740.

Documents the increased presence of a trait for smaller egg sizes in hatchery-reared salmon that are released with the intent of sustaining wild salmon populations. In wild populations, egg size is smaller in pops. with greater supplementation from hatchery fish than pops. with little supplementation. The implication is that the trait for smaller eggs is spreading into wild populations. Smaller eggs means smaller juvenile fish at hatching. Smaller fish tend to exhibit greater mortality which may cause population declines.

Volpe et al. 2000 Evidence of natural reproduction of aquaculture-escaped Atlantic salmon in a coastal British Columbia river. Conservation Biology 14:899-903.

Documents the capture of young non-native Atlantic salmon that were spawned in a river. Suggests that a feral population of Atlantic salmon arising from escaped aquaculture fish may be established in the Northeast Pacific.

While aquaculture may indeed be a viable alternative to traditional fisheries practices for many species, it is certainly not without its problems. Some of these problems I consider rather serious, and I certainly think about that when I am at the market. Unfortunatetly, that has meant that I don't eat much in the way of tasty seafood.

Hope this info. is helpful. It's good to see people thinking about conservation.