Don't eat the Reef Fish!

Source.

Bingo!

Remember this post?

Now I discover that Palau is planning to build an offshore fleet in order to fish for Tuna and other pelagics within 20% of its EEZ - and that is a good thing, and this not only economically but also ecologically! 

With the Pacific Islands running out of Fish due to a combination of rampant overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change (read it - this is truly frightening shit!), reducing the consumption of coastal Fish in favor of pelagic species becomes increasingly important - and this by both locals and visitors.

Really interesting paper here.

Required reading!

White Teatfish in Fiji - brilliant Reportage!

Bravo Amy E. West!

This is as good as it gets.

Of interest, the bêche-de-mer traders are the very people that fuel the recent massive upsurge in fishing for our coastal Sharks. Whenever there is a moratorium for Sea Cucumbers or local fisheries collapse, they ask their suppliers to go and get them some Shark fins instead.

And yes, don't blame the fishermen - tho it's getting worse by the minute.

This is erudite, comprehensive, insightful.

Required reading!

Pacific Tuna - Impasse!

Source.

Bingo.

Did I say dirty business?

Read, or listen to this!

The problem is of course the very first sentence.

China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the United States, Europe and the Philippines have depleted their own stocks and now want to pillage ours - and thus, they continue to apply pressure by leveraging their fake development aid, and continue to block any sensible measures by abusing the stupid voting rules of the WCPFC.
And to top it off, the usual greedy suspects undermine the Pacific Islands solidarity because they want to line their pockets right now instead of acting in the long term interest of their people.

Same old same old.

And no improvements in sight.

Fishing in Indonesia!

Source.

I was of course totally wrong.

Those walking Sharks are very much at risk.

And I should have known better as I've been diving there since the mid-eighties and have witnessed the ravaging and gradual degradation of those reefs with my own eyes, from overfishing to cyanide poisoning to reef bombs. It's mostly "only" small-scale artisanal fishing - but by virtue of all those countless legions of people strip mining the ocean, the results are never-the-less devastating.

Check out Steve's pics from Lombok - appalling but by no means exceptional. This is happening everywhere throughout the archipelago

And how about the management?

Stock assessments, fishing quotas, monitoring, enforcement, prosecution?

Yeah, right.

Solutions?

Enforced MPAs and Sanctuaries flanked by education and possibly, the development of alternative livelihoods - practicable stuff, not lofty theories. Oh, and some bloody family planning or else, it's all for naught!

Q.e.d.!

We simply can't negotiate with Biology!

Source.

Check this out, great stuff!

Fact check here.

Worm or no Worm, not too sure about that 2048 deadline - but does anybody dispute that the whole situation stinks?

No?

To be continued!

Fishing and Conservation - incompatible?

Source - click for detail!

Not necessarily.

But it aint gonna be easy!

And I cite.

Are we on a collision course with biodiversity and the Earth’s restorative capabilities?
If these conflicts are not proactively addressed, we will lose fish, fisheries, and treasured traditions of interacting with them. But if the conflicts are addressed proactively, we might enter into an era of “savvy stewardship.”

Read this, it is really excellent.

The problem of course being, that zero, let alone negative population and economic growth are nowhere in sight. We will inevitably get to at least 9-10 billion (if you haven't yet, do invest 13 minutes to watch this - the amazing part starts at 10:00!), and postulating a global freeze of economic growth would equate to squashing the aspirations of the developing and especially, of the underdeveloped world and simply not be ethical.

And it would also not be smart.

Watch this, again by the incomparable Hans Rosling.

Long story short?

We might be able to stop population growth - but only once those poor people move to the right = once they, too, increase their individual ecological footprints!

There are no easy solutions here.

We have long passed the tipping point of where we could have invented some form of living in harmony with nature, or the like, and those who advocate such new-agesque utopias are either stupid or money grabbing quacks and charlatans.

Instead, we will have to engage in some form of compromise whereby whilst we will continue to grow economically, we will need to try to limit the worst impact, spread it as widely as possible in order to avoid accumulation of risk, and then engage in the mitigation of the consequences and where possible, in the restoration of affected biota.

And the fishing vs conservation dilemma?

The need to feed 9 to 10 billion people, most of which will demand more and better food will exert tremendous pressure on all biota including the ocean. 

We can try to address the problem of overfishing by advocating aqua-farming of less problematic species like, say, Tilapia - but the extraction of marine wildlife will continue, and from a conservation point of view, the only realistic solution there is to advocate strict sustainability whilst promoting the creation of vast protected areas where some of the marine biodiversity will at least be given the chance to ark into a hopefully better, albeit more distant future.

That is the hope.

But is it realistic?

Frankly, dunno - but it is at least a possibility and as such, certainly worth pursuing. 

As I said here, let's however be clear that whatever wilderness the next generations will inherit will be less biodiverse and require constant proactive management.

And that's the best case scenario.

And on this happy note!

 

Shark Sanctuaries: only Spin?

Polynesia Shark Sanctuary - the latest and biggest!

Oh for crying out loud!

Have a look at this shit.

Shark Sanctuaries: Substance or Spin? 

As Shark populations collapse and public concern rises, some national governments have established shark sanctuaries. 

These countries, such as Marshall Islands, Maldives, and Venezuela, have been touted to be “safeguarding” (1) and “protecting” (2) sharks. The Marshall Islands sanctuary was hailed as the “strongest legislation to protect sharks we have seen” (3). Fiji bucked the trend recently by deciding not to declare their national waters a sanctuary, thereby attracting press attention and criticism (4). 

This raises the question: What are shark sanctuaries, and does their creation result in effective shark conservation and management? 

Given that studies show shark populations are declining mainly as a result of overfishing (5, 6), no-take marine zones might seem like a logical and effective way to curb mortality and boost populations. However, what constitutes a sanctuary varies among countries, and often is not synonymous with no-take zones. For example, the Marshall Islands bans commercial fishing yet allows small-scale fishing of sharks (7). The Maldives has banned commercial fishing only in waters out to 12 nautical miles (8), and Venezuela has banned commercial shark fishing in less than 1% of their waters (9). 

Even with sufficiently protective bans, shark sanctuary creation is only the first step; the real challenge is ensuring effectiveness through strict monitoring and enforcement (10, 11), which requires sustainable financing. 

Indeed, Fiji’s offshore fisheries officer stressed difficulties with monitoring and enforcing a total ban on shark fishing (12). Alternatively, allocating capacity toward scientific data collection would allow experts to evaluate effectiveness of management measures and inform long-term regional and global population assessments. 

Shark sanctuaries provide hope, but there is no scientific evidence that they are effective—yet. Even worse, the positive press attention surrounding shark sanctuaries may preclude more effective conservation management. 

Sanctuaries should not substitute for rigorous, science-based management. 

LINDSAY N. K. DAVIDSON Earth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada. E-mail: ldavidso@sfu.ca

Even worse?????

Just great isn't it.

What a fucking disaster!

Local fisheries, of Sharks and otherwise, are at a fraction of 1960ies baselines, fisheries management in most developing countries is either non-existent  or severely lacking - and this stupid chit has the audacity to go sniping against Shark sanctuaries, playing right into the hands of the fishing industry?

What is this, the bloody uprising of the nerds?

Had the bloody fish management intelligentsia done their bloody job and bloody managed our fish stocks sustainably, there would be no bloody need for us conservationists to advocate sanctuaries and bans in the first place! 

How about you get off your fat arses, stop trying to cover up your own track record of dismal failures and for once go and do the job we all pay you for with our hard earned money! How about you come up with some results instead of wasting everybody's time with your stupid uhhming and aahing! How about no more expensive and useless committees and junkets, paper shuffling and procrastination but some actual field work, hard decisions and tangible progress instead! How about finally invoking the precautionary principle everybody agrees upon in theory but nobody has the guts to implement!

If I had it my way, each and everyone of you would have been kicked out of the door a long time ago - would have been real good fun to look at you trying to survive out there in the cold, with real timelines, deliverables and personal accountability!

Ain't gonna happen is it.

Instead, we the conservationists will continue to have to allocate our time and our resources to try and clean up the mess you have caused. 

Want us to start pointing fingers and calling names?

So here's the deal.

We're all sick and tired of the continued lack of support by some quarters within the scientific community. Either become part of the solution or at least have the grace to finally shut the f up and stop trying to derail the process you have been too stupid and/or lazy and/or corrupt and/or cowardly to implement in the first place!

And start bloody earning the money you keep asking us for!

.

End of rant - Merry Xmas!

Zombie Ecosystems!

Painting of intact coral reef - increasingly becoming science fiction.

Please read this.

Not much to add is there.
I know that Rick the Mac and others are attending, so expect more informed analyses to hit the blogosphere soon.

After the folly of Ipanema the question remains.
Where is the f&%@ing leadership?

PS great post by RTSea here!
PS2 dissenting opinion here!

And talking about fishing the Commons...

The current solution to avoid a Tragedy of the Commons where both the eco-system and consequently the fishing industry collapses, is a total ban on all fishing of sharks and any sale of shark products regardless of whether they are accidentally fished or not.

Read this!

OCEAN2012 - great Stuff!

Check this out.

This is great - the initiative but also the animation!



Like in all good projects, Pew are behind this.
More info and resources here.

Kudos!

Marine Conservation - the principal Issues!

Just in case we lose sight of the context here.
Barring cataclysmic cosmic or geological events, these are the biggest threats to marine biodiversity - once again, very simplified.

First and foremost: there are too many people!
We are seven billion now and probably we will get as high as 9 billion, both of which is just not sustainable.
Moreover, billions of people are attempting to attain what they consider to be better life conditions, meaning that their ecological footprints are increasing as they progressively consume more resources and produce more waste. Even if we managed to stabilize or even turn around population growth, this will continue to exert tremendous pressure on biodiversity.
Those are monumental challenges indeed - solutions???
These are the root causes of all that follows.

The biggest anthropogenic threats to marine biodiversity are.

• Global Warming
• Ocean Acidification
• Pollution
• Habitat Degradation
• Overfishing including Bycatch & Discards

When it comes to Overfishing.
As far as can be ascertained, anthropogenic extinction rates so far have been substantially lower in the oceans than in terrestrial ecosystems. In fact and despite of our best efforts, there is probably not a single documented case of us having fished a marine Fish to extinction - and should there be one, it would be the exception and not the rule.
This is cause for hope.

But that's of course not the whole story.
Several Fishes have become locally extinct and the populations of many marine Fishes that have been targeted commercially are severely depleted and but a shadow of what they used to be.
There is a line of thought stipulating that those populations have accumulated extinction debt and that they could be driven into extinction by an environmental catastrophe.
That environmental catastrophe could be Global Warming.

Sharks?
They are obviously subjected to the same pressures.
In particular, several larger species are being severely overfished and although to my knowledge this has not been specifically documented, it also stands to reason that Shark populations will be affected by the overfishing of their direct prey or of even lower trophic levels like forage Fishes.
Some of those larger Sharks are also apex predators and keystone species and there is research documenting that their removal can ripple down through the trophic levels via cascading effects, hence exacerbating the ecological consequences of their demise.

This as far as I can see are the principal issues.
The problems are enormous and eminently intractable as documented by the frustratingly slow progress of conservation and above all, by the many conservation setbacks and defeats. Yes there have been many successes - but alas, everything points to the fact that in the big scheme of things, those successes are simply too small and the pace, simply too slow. Especially if we don't get a handle on Global Warming, the future for marine biodiversity looks very bleak indeed.

Solutions?
If we so wish, there is a role for each of us to play - the most basic one being that it behooves all of us who live in relative opulence to reduce our ecological footprint, including limiting our carbon emissions! And those of us who want to do more and get involved in advocacy will find unlimited opportunities to make a difference as e.g. discussed here in the case of Shark conservation.

Orgs I personally like: Shark Foundation and Save our Seas Foundation for sponsoring research; Shark Trust, Shark Savers and Shark Defenders for advocacy; Pew Environment for all of the above.

But please, let us be rational and credible.
Let's please stop the esoteric balderdash and the pseudoscience.

The sooner we do that, the sooner we will be able to effect real, positive change.
Yes?

The Demise of the marine Predators - Paper!

Poached Sharks in the Galapagos - click for detail.

From the Conclusions.

By using a modelling approach, our study outlined and confirmed 3 main trends about the impact of global fishing on ecosystems:

• the impacts are considerably greater for predators,
• are concentrated in coastal areas
• and have gradually expanded from northern to equatorial and southern waters.
  

We showed that the long-term operations of fisheries have severely reduced the biomass of predators in their historical fishing grounds, and that this trend is spreading rapidly to areas developed more recently.

To conclude, in the last decade many studies have reported the effects of fishing at multiple scales, through field studies, metrics, models and the analysis of time-series.
The one trend consistently observed is that fishing truncates a considerable portion of the biomass pyramid of ecosystems. Although the current global modelling approach focused on the effects of fishing only from the standpoint of direct biomass removal, the prediction of generalized predator decline implies widespread and fundamental changes to both the structure and the functioning of global marine communities.

Modelling the effects of fishing on the biomass of the world’s oceans from 1950 to 2006
Laura Tremblay-Boyer, Didier Gascue, Reg Watson, Villy Christensen, Daniel Pauly

Synopsis here, Abstract here and full open-source paper here.

Sushi: The Global Catch

Whilst I'm waiting for some more GNS info from Oz, check this out.
It's an upcoming movie about the depletion of marine apex predators, foremost of which the Bluefin.

How did sushi become a global cuisine? What began as a simple but elegant food sold by Tokyo street vendors has become a worldwide phenomenon in the past 30 years.

Sushi: The Global Catch is a feature-length documentary shot in five nations that explores the tradition, growth and future of this popular cuisine. Beautiful raw pieces of fish and rice now appear from Warsaw and New York to football games in Texas towns.

Sushi, a cuisine formerly found only in Japan, has grown exponentially in other nations, and an industry has been created to support it. In a rush to please a hungry public, the expensive delicacy has become common and affordable, appearing in restaurants, supermarkets and even fast food trailers. The traditions requiring 7 years of apprenticeship in Japan have given way to quick training and mass-manufactured solutions elsewhere.

This hunger for sushi has led to the depletion of apex predators in the ocean, including bluefin tuna, to such a degree that it has the potential to upset the ecological balance of the world’s oceans, leading to a collapse of all fish species.

Can this growth continue without consequence?

Atlantic Fisheries - mixed News!

The good news first.

I remain a huge fan of ex freedom fighter Maria Damanaki and her unshakeable commitment to tackle the various afflictions of the European fishing industry.
She has declared war on overfishing, the completely ineffective and economically nonviable subsidies, poaching and discards. What I also totally like is her idea of automatically reducing the fishing quotas of those members who fail to report their catches, very much along the lines of the precautionary principle.
Her proposals are now going to enter a consultation process and undoubtedly get watered down - but something will survive even the fiercest lobbying and thus, there will be progress.
I say, well done - as so often!

Now, once again, about those poor Tuna.
NOAA in its wisdom has decided not to accord the Northern Bluefin Tuna protection under the Endangered Species Act. Not good, tho I can somehow sympathize, as the Western stocks are certainly more robust and way better managed (read it, it's a great resource!) than the eastern stocks, especially in the Med.
The Tuna however remain a "species of concern" and a new assessment will be made by early 2013.

NOAA is also imposing new weak hooks.
It's about trying to reduce the Bluefin mortality in the Gulf where spawning Bluefins are protected but where they are never the less killed as bycatch of the important commercial Yellowfin and Swordfish longline fisheries.
But as always, things are complicated and reviews have been mixed, especially by the Pew who proposes to ban surface longlining instead.

Here is what the Pew folks have to say.



Long story short?
I do see progress, albeit frustratingly slow, and remain hopeful.
And Patric - do not forget my fine bottle!

Almadraba!

Are those Bluefin Tuna?

What a joke - one picture truly IS worth a thousand words!

I found the one on top here, and you can read more about what's going on in this short article.
The big commercial purse seiners are fishing the Tuna to extinction, and one of the symptoms is the fact that the big Fish are gone and that the fishermen are now killing mere minnows, barely sexually mature animals that are thus removed from the breeding stock long before having made any meaningful contribution.

This is how Bluefin Tuna look like!

And this is a Spanish Almadraba, or Mattanza in Sicily, in the old days.
Just look at the size of those beasts!



Shocked by the blood?
No, this is not The Cove for the Bluefin Tuna.
Apart from being a millenarian tradition, this is fully sustainable - and if this and other artisanal fisheries were the only harvesting techniques, and if they could finally stop the poachers, and if those subsidies were to be finally cut and if they would finally shut down those horrible Tuna farms, the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna would have a real chance of rebounding, even now at this very late stage.
Yes, I know I know - but I remain hopeful.

Of course, this is merely one example.
Everywhere, we are emptying the Ocean, catching ever smaller Fish and fishing down the food web. Here's an excellent PSA by Shifting Baselines depicting the result - and no, that's a 2 foot Blue, not a Mako.



Anyway, food for thought.
Back to the Sharks!

Tuna Recap!

Whilst I'm trying to make time for a post, watch this.
It's basically a visual recap of the situation of the Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna fisheries - overfishing, poaching, subsidies and all the other pathetic shenanigans.

Some good news here: Maria Damanaki is flexing some muscle - as anticipated!
Go girl!

Hat tip: Blogfish.

One more Big One!

Yes: there's yet another 800 lb conservation Gorilla out there!

This is the immediate consequence of population growth and even more than that, of the fact that everybody wants to increase his ecological footprint. Specifically, all those people in the emerging economies want a "better life", including more and better food - and although this video is about Agriculture, the same obviously applies to Fisheries!

Awesome Video!

Forget the detractors - this is what is happening!

Once again, excellent work by the BBC!

This, I believe, is a must-see.
It is about the recently completed Census of Marine Life, Climate Change and Ocean Acidification, and Overfishing - all the stuff anybody interested in marine conservation needs to know about.
This could have very easily precipitated into utter gloom and doom but as always with the BBC, it is a compelling presentation featuring the usual amazing footage and fantastic editing.

Lean back, relax and enjoy!

David on Shark Conservation

Not much going on in Sharksville.

Luckily, David aka WhySharksMatter has stepped in and once again written a brilliant post, this time about Shark conservation.
I actually agree with 99% of what he says - which is highly unusual! :)

But: some of those NGOs...

Gone

I've followed my own advice and browsed the Website of The End of the Line.
Kudos to the authors for having followed up by posting a lot of pertinent information.

There's a really interesting News section and that's where I learned that the Atlantic , or Northern Bluefin Tuna is all but gone. Roberto Mielgo Bregazzi has researched the topic and I invite everybody to read this shocking synopsis of his findings. Nothing new really, but what had been depicted as imminent in 2006, 2007 and 2008 has apparently eventuated - basically, it's over.

Barring a miracle that is - but alas, I'm not hopeful.
The very much not aptly named International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) has only one track record - and that is, to continue applying unsustainable quotas despite all evidence pointing to the imminent catastrophe. It's the bloody same farce every time they meet: politicians and functionaries trying to "negotiate" against scientific facts - last time in November where they didn't adopt the recommendations by their own scientists and then managed to congratulate themselves for the fiasco!

Want to know the full extent of the debacle - involving mismanagement, fraud and piracy?
Read this!

Like in the case of Sharks, we are faced with a supply limited fisheries with zero price elasticity where the Tragedy of the Commons is preventing any useful consensus about applying sustainable quotas, let alone a fishing moratorium where stocks would be allowed to replenish. Contrary to Sharks which are extremely slow breeders, Tuna reach sexual maturity between 3 and 5 years and such a strategy could really lead to positive results within a comparatively short period of time.

Alas, it's not likely to happen.
The policy makers will continue to drag their feet and Bluefin Tuna will become a prized delicacy for the rich, then the very rich and finally, only the select few.
And then, it'll be gone for good. Forever.

Oh well.
Back to the Sharks.