March 3, 2009
The world's waters were once seen as a boundless source of fish for humans to eat, but over-fishing and aquaculture have depleted some species and left others famished and weak, two reports said on Monday.
Climate change is expected to add more stress for fish populations, forcing warm-water species further toward the poles, changing marine and freshwater food webs and habitats, the reports said.
The big fish most likely to appear on rich countries' dinner plates -- like salmon and tuna -- have already been over-fished, the nonprofit environmental group Oceana reported, adding that now the smaller fish that these fish eat are under pressure... More...
(March 3, 2009. Source: Reuters, PlanetArk. Story by: Deborah Zabarenko. http://planetark.org/wen/51850)
Human Factor Suspected in Mass Beaching of Whales in Australia
Conservationists are demanding an immediate and thorough inquiry into what they say is the suspicious stranding of 200 whales and dolphins.
Fears that the mass stranding on an Australian beach on Sunday was caused by human disturbance were raised because two species of cetacean came ashore simultaneously.
Most of the animals were pilot whales, but a number of bottlenose dolphins were also among the pod... More...
Click here for video of rescue efforts.
(March 3, 2009. Source: The Times Online, UK. Story by: Lewis Smith. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article5834714.ece)
The Big Question: Are Shark Attacks on the Rise, and Can Anything be Done About Them?
Why are we asking this now?
There has been a spate of shark attacks on bathers swimming in Sydney, the most recent occurring on Sunday when a 15-year-old boy was badly injured. He became the third shark-attack victim in as many weeks. In one of the previous attacks a navy diver in Sydney harbour lost an arm and a leg after being savaged by a bull shark. The other attack was on a surfer using the city's Bondi Beach whose badly severed hand had to be surgically re-attached. Local fishermen claimed that shark attacks are on the increase, aided by anti-pollution measures that have brought shoals of fish - and their natural predators - closer to shore.
Has there been an increase in shark attacks globally?
There is very little data to support the idea of a statistically significant increase in shark attacks. The recent instances from Australia get widely reported but there is no obvious trend which suggests that shark attacks are getting more common. In 2001, for instance, there was a wave of media reports about shark attacks around the world - it became known as the "summer of the shark". There did appear to be a cluster of attacks at that time. However, when experts came to examine the figures at the end of 2001, the actual number of shark attacks and deaths for the year were down slightly on previous years... More...
(March 3, 2009. Source: The Independent, UK. Story by: Steve Connor. http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/the-big-question-are-shark-attacks-on-the-rise-and-can-anything-be-done-about-them-1635921.html)
Interview - EU Must Make Good on Pledge to Protect Sharks
The European Union must make good on pledges to tighten hunting limits for sharks, which are increasingly threatened by overfishing and the practice of slicing off their prized fins, a campaigner said on Monday.
Around a third of the shark and ray species found in European waters are at risk of extinction, conservationists say.
Sharks may have a reputation as the sea's most ferocious predators but they grow slowly, mature late and produce few young over long lifetimes, meaning their population tends to increase at extremely low rates... More...
(March 3, 2009. Source: Reuters, PlanetArk. Story by: Silvia Aloisi. http://planetark.org/wen/51851)
Row Over UN's Call for Increased Fish Farming
Campaign groups criticise as "simplistic" the UN's call for a big expansion in fish farming to protect wild stocks
Seafood-lovers are being urged to eat more "vegetarian" species, including tilapia and carp, as the United Nations calls for a big expansion in fish farming to protect wild stocks.
A boom in fish farming in the past three decades has already led to the industry supplying nearly 52m tonnes a year, or nearly half of all fish eaten in the world. Now the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has called for aquaculture to nearly double again to stop the growing world population putting any more pressure on devastated wild stocks.
However, in response to criticism from environmental groups, particularly about harvesting smaller species to feed fish farms, the FAO said today that all aquaculture businesses should be "sustainable" in their use of water, land and feed. This should include encouraging more people to eat fish, which can feed on a vegetarian diet of water plants and seeds, rather than on other fish, said a spokesman... More...
(March 2, 2009. Source: The Guardian, UK. Story by: Juliette Jowitt. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/02/un-fish-farming)
Study: Combining Pesticides Makes Them More Deadly
Common agricultural pesticides that attack the nervous systems of salmon can turn more deadly when they combine with other pesticides, researchers have found.
Scientists from the NOAA Fisheries Service and Washington State University were expecting that the harmful effects would add up as they accumulated in the water. They were surprised to find a deadly synergy occurred with some combinations, which made the mix more harmful and at lower levels of exposure than the sum of the parts.
The study looked at five common pesticides: diazinon, malathion, chlorpyrifos, carbaryl and carbofuran, all of which suppress an enzyme necessary for nerves to function properly... More...
(March 2, 2009. Source: The Seattle Times. Story by: Jeff Barnard, Associated Press Environmental Writer. Link.)
Groups Say Oceans Need Protection from Overfishing and Coastal Development
The nation's love affair with seafood and coastal living continues to take a heavy toll on ocean resources, two environmental groups reported Monday, calling on federal and state governments to do more to preserve fisheries and coastal areas.
Florida's coast faces many threats and doesn't get enough protection, said Paul Johnson with Reef Relief, one of seven environmental groups that make up the Florida Coastal and Ocean Coalition. The coalition concluded the state continues to allow too much development on the coast and fails to protect important wetlands along its 8,500 miles of coastline.
"We shouldn't allow coastal construction in inappropriate areas," Johnson said, such as along critically eroded beaches. That includes about half the beaches in Volusia County and some 25 percent of the beaches in Flagler County... More...
(March 2, 2009. Source: The News Journal Online. Story by: Dina Voyles Pulver. Link.)
Farmed Fish and Shrimps Need Sustainability Boost
Aquaculture, revealed in a key UN analysis today to be the basis of all future growth in global seafood production, desparately needs to be put on a more sustainable basis, leading global environment organization WWF said today.
State of the World's Fisheries and Aquaculture 2008 (SOFIA 2008), released this morning by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said that food supplies from aquaculture now equal those from ocean and freshwater capture fisheries. The report also documents a continuing drop-off in yields from the world's marine capture fisheries, with FAO saying "more closely controlled approaches to fisheries management" are needed.
"The dramatic growth in aquaculture makes it more and more urgent to ensure that aquaculture becomes more sustainable and that supplying the stock and the feed for fish farming becomes less of a burden on traditional fisheries," said Miguel Jorge, Director of WWF's Global Marine Programme... More...
(March 2, 2009. Source: WWF, ENN. Story by: Phil Dickie. http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/39397)
UN Report Warns Fishing Industry on Climate Change
The fishing industry must do more to confront the effects of climate change as well as get a grip on the perennial problem of overfishing, said a UN report to be published Monday.
The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) report said responsible fishing practices must be more widely implemented and called for new strategies to cope with climate change.
"Climate change is already modifying the distribution of both marine and freshwater species. Warmer-water species are being pushed towards the poles and experiencing changes in habitat size and productivity... More...
(March 1, 2009. Source: Agence France-Presse, TerraDaily. Link.)
