Loved to death: Turks and Caicos' battle to save the queen conch

By Gemma Handy Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

From a staple food to its use as a musical instrument, few things epitomise the culture of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) like the queen conch.

And, for tourists, pulling up to a beachside restaurant to sample the freshly caught marine snail is a bucket list feature, the creature having been omnipresent in the islands' shallow translucent waters for centuries.

Except, for several days in January, there were none to be found.

Overfishing is being blamed for plummeting ocean stocks which saw conch off the menu at several restaurants across Providenciales.

Fears are now rife that the beloved mollusc, which even appears on the British territory's coat of arms, is being loved to death.

National symbol

"Conch is a national symbol and a huge part of our heritage," explains TCI's former culture director David Bowen.

Continued

Mediterranean sharks risk 'disappearing': conservationists

JULY 12, 2019

Sharks—the sea's top predators for millions of years—are at risk of disappearing from the Mediterranean as overfishing and plastic pollution choke populations of the endangered hunters, conservationists warned Friday.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said that more than half of shark and ray species in the Mediterranean were under threat, and that almost a third of them have been fished to the brink of extinction.

Its report, released ahead of Shark Awareness Day, singled out Libya and Tunisia as the worst culprits, with each country's fishery hauling in about 4,200 tonnes of sharks a year—three times that of the next biggest Mediterranean fisher, Italy.

While some species are targeted for food, many of the sharks fished in the Mediterranean are bycatch caught up in nets set for other fish.

The WWF said it had recorded more than 60 shark species entangled in fishing nets across the Mediterranean.

Continued

Bluefin tuna sells for £500,000 at Japan auction amid overfishing concerns

Huge fish sells for 74m yen as conservationists call for moratorium to help stabilise plunging Pacific stocks

 

Justin McCurry in Tokyo

Thursday 5 January 2017 05.57 GMT Last modified on Thursday 5 January 2017 22.00 GMT 

A bluefin tuna has fetched 74.2m yen (£517,000) at the first auction of the year at Tsukiji market in Tokyo, amid warnings that decades of overfishing by Japan and other countries is taking the species to the brink of extinction.

The 212kg fish, caught off the coast of Oma in northern Japan, was bought by Kiyomura, the operator of the Sushi Zanmai restaurant chain, after its president, Kiyoshi Kimura, outbid rivals for the sixth year in a row.

The first auction of the year at Tsukiji always attracts high bids from restaurants hoping to turn the publicity associated with the event into a marketing opportunity. Kimura’s bid, which works out at 350,000 yen per kilogram, is the second highest since the market started keeping records in 1999. The 155.4m yen Kimura paid for a bluefin in 2013 is the highest bid ever recorded.

At the price he paid on Thursday, a single piece of fatty tuna sushi would cost about 25 times the 400 yen his dozens of restaurants usually charge for the same cut.

Kimura, whose bids have earned him the nickname “tuna king”, said the fish was “a bit expensive, but I am happy that I was able to successfully win at auction a tuna of good shape and size”.

Read on 

Two-headed sharks are becoming more common and no one knows why

A large reduction of the gene pool caused by overfishing is blamed for the deformity 

A two-headed catfish shark embryo discovered in a Spanish laboratory

 
Matt Payton
Thursday 3 November 2016
 


An increasing number of two-headed sharks are being reported in the wild, leaving scientists unable to explain why.

Over the last few years, a growing number of these genetic aberrations have been discovered and examined by scientists.

Professor Valentín Sans Coma, from the University of Malaga, studied the embryo of a two-headed catfish shark in a laboratory condition alongside 800 other shark embryos.

He has claimed a genetic disorder is the most reasonable explanation for the mutation as the unborn fish were not exposed to any infection, chemicals or radiation, reports the National Geographic.

Regarding wild sharks, scientists have blamed the mutation on a cocktail of factors including viral infections, metabolic disorders and pollution.

After studying a two headed smalleye smooth-hound shark and a two-headed blue shark, marine scientist Nicolas Ehemann claimed overfishing was probably to blame.

 

Continued 

'Burnt Hot Dog' sea cucumbers raise red flags for threatened global fisheries

Sea cucumbers -- the floppy cousins of starfish and sea urchins -- are particularly vulnerable to pollution and overfishing

Date:March 22, 2016

Source:California Academy of Sciences

'Burnt Hot Dog' sea cucumbers take center stage in a new genetic study that digs into their valued spot in marine ecosystems across Japan's Okinawa Island as well as their extreme vulnerability to environmental stress and over-fishing. A team of researchers says their study's findings are an urgent call for increased fisheries management and protections for ecologically important sea cucumbers worldwide.

Holothuria edulis -- a type of slow-moving sea cucumber about the size of a classroom ruler -- boasts an important ocean role despite its uncanny resemblance to an overcooked sausage. This "Burnt Hot Dog" sea cucumber takes center stage in a new genetic study that digs into the animal's valued spot in marine ecosystems across Japan's Okinawa Island as well as its extreme vulnerability to environmental stress and overfishing. A team of researchers, including an expert from the California Academy of Sciences, says their study's findings are an urgent call for increased fisheries management and protections for ecologically important sea cucumbers, sometimes called the "vacuum cleaners of the ocean," worldwide. The study was recently published in the journal Conservation Genetics.

Continued ...

Striped marlin study may reduce overfishing

March 30, 2015

Eric Hopton for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online

The marlin’s beauty and strength make them the ultimate prize for many game fishermen, but the biggest threat to marlin populations is commercial overfishing. In particular, the Pacific striped marlin are being consistently overfished in the Western and Central North Pacific Ocean. However, a new study may help reduce this.

In 2010, Greenpeace International added the striped marlin to its seafood red list. The list includes “fish that are commonly sold in supermarkets around the world, and which have a very high risk of being sourced from unsustainable fisheries.”

To reduce the risks of overfishing, we need good scientific data, especially direct field observations of their vertical habitats. To date, there have been few worthwhile studies in this field. But a new study, the largest so far, tracked striped marlin in the Pacific Ocean. A team of marine ecologists has identified the preferred habitat of this valuable commercial and recreational fish by using direct observations collected by satellite tags. Their findings have been published in the journal Fisheries Research.

The team studied the striped marlin’s spatial and oceanographic associations across multiple regions in the Pacific (Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Southern California, Baja California, Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador) and analyzed behavioral data from pop-up satellite archival tags.

The findings

Lead author of the study, Chi Hin “Tim” Lam, said that the data revealed the vertical habitat of the fish. It’s defined by the light-penetrated, uppermost part of the ocean known as the epipelagic layer, within 8 degrees C of sea surface temperature.

Continued ...

Decades of overfishing causes swordfish decline

Overfishing has caused swordfish numbers to decline considerably since the 1980s and the population is now 70 percent lower than what is considered sustainable, the marine conservation charity Oceana has warned the EU.

They are asking the European Union to urgently adopt a Mediterranean swordfish management plan that will restore the stock to sustainable levels before it is too late. This the charity says should include the setting of a catch limit take measures that will ensure its recovery

“The European Union is blatantly ignoring its obligation to manage stocks at sustainable levels by 2015, or by 2020 at the very latest,” said Maria Jose Cornax, Fisheries Campaign Manager for Oceana Europe.

“By not adopting measures now, the EU would be duplicating the same costly mistake that brought bluefin tuna to the verge of collapse in the past.” 

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Snowball Effect of Overfishing Highlighted

Jan. 7, 2014 — Florida State University researchers have spearheaded a major review of fisheries research that examines the domino effect that occurs when too many fish are harvested from one habitat.

The loss of a major species from an ecosystem can have unintended consequences because of the connections between that species and others in the system. Moreover, these changes often occur rapidly and unexpectedly, and are difficult to reverse.

"You don't realize how interdependent species are until it all unravels," said Felicia Coleman, director of the Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory and a co-author on the study.

Read on

Why bluefin tuna have no 'fair' price

Each January for the last several, we have celebrated the New Year with unlimited excess—not only the gluttonous, gammony kind, but the excess which heralds the year's first auction of a gargantuan bluefin tuna at the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, Japan. Each time, one fish, whose flesh is prized as an expensive delicacy in sushi restaurants, becomes a symbol of the New Year in this way.

Last January's tuna sold for a record-breaking £1.1 million (155.4 million yen), more than double the price it claimed in 2012, upholding a tradition that has seen that initial coveted bluefin growing increasingly expensive each year.

Continued

Boom in Jellyfish: Overfishing Called Into Question

May 3, 2013 — Will we soon be forced to eat jellyfish? Since the beginning of the 2000s, these gelatinous creatures have invaded many of the world's seas, like the Japan Sea, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, etc. Is it a cyclic phenomenon, caused by changes in marine currents or even global warming? Until now, the causes remained unknown. A new study conducted by IRD researchers and its partners, published in Bulletin of Marine Science, exposes overfishing as the main factor. 

Jellyfish have free rein 

Jellyfish predators, such as tuna and sea turtles, are disappearing due to overfishing. However, jellyfish are primarily taking advantage of the overfishing of small pelagic fish. Just like these cnidarians, sardines, herring, anchovies and more feed off zooplankton. Thus, they represent their main competition for food. In areas where too many of these fish are caught, they free up an ecological niche. Jellyfish now have free rein and can thrive. Furthermore, small fish eat the eggs and larvae of jellyfish. Therefore, under normal conditions, they regulate the population. In their absence, there is nothing to stop the proliferation of these gelatinous creatures. 

Comparison as proof 

In order to demonstrate the major role played by overfishing, researchers compared two ecosystems belonging to the same ocean current, the Benguela, which flows along the south of Africa. The first ecosystem is located off the coast of Namibia. Here, fish stock management measures are not very restrictive. The stocks are barely restored before fishing activities start up again. Jellyfish are currently colonising these coastal waters. The second ecosystem is located 1,000 km further south, off the coast of South Africa. Here, the opposite is true: fishing has been tightly controlled for 60 years. The jellyfish population has not increased. 

Continued: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130503094700.htm

Pacific Bluefin Tuna in Trouble, Scientists Say

Populations of bluefin tuna in the western Pacific Ocean are down by nearly 97 percent from pre-fishing levels, according to a stock assessment by researchers.

"We found the Pacific bluefin stock is being overfished," said Steve Teo, a fisheries biologist at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, Calif., who was involved in the assessment.

The news comes a few days after an enormous, 489-pound (222-kilogram) tuna fetched $1.76 million at a Japanese auction, the Associated Press reported. Strong demand for tuna, primarily for use in sushi, has driven increased harvesting of the fish. Over the past 15 years, its population in the western Pacific has steadily declined and is now at or near an all-time low, Teo told LiveScience.

Continued: http://www.livescience.com/26215-pacific-bluefin-tuna-in-decline.html

Bankrupting our oceans: Fisheries Ministers ignore 87% scientific advice

Fishing quotas on average 45% higher than scientists advise.

December 2102. An analysis by WWF shows that over the past nine years fisheries ministers have only followed scientific advice in 13 per cent of their decisions; and set fishing quotas on average 45 per cent higher than the recommended scientific advice. This means that ministers have approved fishing of 6.2 million extra tons of fish, in addition to the scientifically proposed catch levels - this is legalised overfishing.

WWF's analysis, developed ahead of the PECH committee (the specialist committee on fisheries in the European Parliament) vote taking place on the 18th of December as part of the EU fisheries reform process currently in progress, paints a worrying picture of legalised overfishing by EU governments.

Fisheries ministers doing a bad job
"The European Parliament needs to see what a bad job fisheries ministers have been doing over the past decade. One extraordinary example of this is a deviation of 264 per cent above scientific advice for sole in 2008! MEPs now have a unique opportunity and the power to right a wrong and the answer is simple - listen to science and let fish stocks recover", says Tony Long, Director of WWF's European Policy Office.

Quotas don't include discards
To add to the problem of not following scientific advice, the setting of quotas does not include the quantity of fish that is thrown overboard and wasted and not registered as catch. For example between 2003 and 2005, fishing of North Sea cod alone resulted in 18,000 tons of fish being discarded, equivalent to filling around 1,300 average sized rubbish trucks.

80% Mediterranean fish stocks are overfished
In Europe almost half the stocks in the northeast Atlantic are overfished and in the Mediterranean this figure is as high as 80 per cent. EU fishing fleets have been plundering European waters for too long, resulting in two-thirds of assessed fish stocks being overfished in total. Continuing this way will prove devastating not only to Europe's fish stocks but also to the fishing industry in the long-term, where we will see a decline in profits and income for fishermen, unless the upcoming EU fisheries reform ensures that fish stocks are recovered and managed at sustainable levels.

€7.5 million spent on ignored advice
"To add insult to injury, by disregarding scientific advice, fisheries ministers are effectively not only making decisions that are depleting a ‘public good' such as fish, but they are also wasting fish through discarding and wasting EU citizens' money. Between 2003 and 2012, the European Union paid around €7.5 million to ICES for a scientific service which the fisheries ministers are simply not taking into account when making their decisions. Something has got to change," continues Mr Long.

Positive trends in fish stocks recovering have been seen in recent years, however all too often they are an exception rather than a rule. The current situation needs to be reversed and legal overfishing needs to be stopped - fish stocks will only be able to recover when the right political decisions are made which follow scientific advice.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/fisheries-advice.html

Iconic reef fish in danger of local extinctions due to overfishing

Latest IUCN Red List assessment finds parrotfish and surgeonfish facing heightened risk of localized extinction

July 2012. A recent study conducted for The IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM found that 86% of the populations of parrotfish and surgeonfish face a low risk of extinction globally, but they do face a heightened risk of extinction regionally-especially in areas like the Coral Triangle.

Of the species considered threatened, the Greenback Parrotfish (Scarus trispinosus) listed as Endangered, and the Bumphead Parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum), listed as Vulnerable, are both large-bodied, long-lived species that are experiencing significant population declines from intense fishing pressure. The Kapingamarangi Surgeonfish (Acanthurus chronixis), provisionally listed as Vulnerable, is only found in the Kapingamarangi Atoll, Caroline Islands, and is also exploited by subsistence fishers.

Globally safe 
"The good news is that globally these iconic reef fishes are doing well, despite the fact that they are facing intense fishing pressure and destruction of their coral reef habitat," says Mia Theresa Comeros, the study's lead author and Research Associate, IUCN Global Species Programme Marine Biodiversity Unit. "We need to be concerned, however, for the large-bodied groups of these fishes that perform important ecological roles on coral reef systems and highlight the importance of regional assessments in quantifying local threats to populations." 

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/parrot-fish-endangered.html

Environmentalists worry about shark overfishing

ROME -- A pro-environment group says the world's shark populations are in worse trouble than previously thought.

The Pew Environment Group is cautioning in a report that the actual global catch of sharks might be up to four times higher than official U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization statistics.

The report says Hong Kong's shark fin market accounts for about half of the global trade. The report's official release is timed for Monday, when representatives of many governments will be attending a fisheries committee meeting at the Rome-based U.N. food agency. AP obtained a copy of the report Sunday.

Pew Environment Group says one-third of about 200 countries whose practices were reviewed ban the ''wasteful practice of shark finning" and that very few countries have catch limits on shark species including endangered ones.

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/07/08/3695757/environmentalists-worry-about.html#storylink=rss

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/07/08/3695757/environmentalists-worry-about.html#storylink=rss#storylink=cpyhttp://www.kansascity.com/2012/07/08/3695757/environmentalists-worry-about.html#storylink=rshttp://www.kansascity.com/2012/07/08/3695757/environmentalists-worry-about.html#storylink=rss

One-Quarter of Grouper Species Being Fished to Extinction

ScienceDaily (May 9, 2012) — Groupers, a family of fishes often found in coral reefs and prized for their quality of flesh, are facing critical threats to their survival. As part of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission, a team of scientists has spent the past ten years assessing the status of 163 grouper species worldwide. They report that 20 species (12%) are at risk of extinction if current overfishing trends continue, and an additional 22 species (13%) are Near Threatened.

These findings were published online on April 28 in the journal Fish and Fisheries.

"Fish are one of the last animal resources commercially harvested from the wild by humans, and groupers are among the most desirable fishes," said Dr. Luiz Rocha, Curator of Ichthyology at the California Academy of Sciences, and one of the paper's authors. "Unfortunately, the false perception that marine resources are infinite is still common in our society, and in order to preserve groupers and other marine resources we need to reverse this old mentality."

The team estimates that at least 90,000,000 groupers were captured in 2009. This represents more than 275,000 metric tonnes of fish, an increase of 25% from 1999, and 1600% greater than 1950 figures. The Caribbean Sea, coastal Brazil, and Southeast Asia are home to a disproportionately high number of the 20 Threatened grouper species. (A species is considered "Threatened" if it is Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable under IUCN criteria.)

Read on:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120509154240.htm

IUCN proposes new tactics to prevent overfishing.

Major rethink is neededMarch 2012: A major rethinking of fisheries management could increase food security and minimize the negative impacts of fishing on the environment according to the IUCN.

The new approach, put forward by a group of fisheries and conservation scientists of the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM), introduces a fundamental change to the way fisheries have been managed so far. 

‘For centuries, it has been believed that selective fishing that avoids young, rare and charismatic species and focuses on older and larger individuals, is key to increased harvest and reduced impacts on the environment,' says Francois Simard, IUCN's Senior Adviser for Fisheries. ‘But old individuals largely contribute to reproduction and removing them distorts the environment's structure and functioning. It can also have serious ecological and evolutionary side effects.'

On the Eastern Scotian Shelf for example, the use of conventional, selective fishing practices has altered the food chain structure of the environment and in the North Sea it has led to a shift from large to smaller species.

Read on:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/fishing-IUCN.html

Twelve per cent of marine species in tropical eastern Pacific threatened

Overfishing and habitat loss to blame
February 2012: Twelve per cent of marine species surveyed in the Gulf of California, the coasts of Panama and Costa Rica and the five offshore oceanic islands and archipelagos in the tropical eastern Pacific are threatened with extinction, according to a study by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). Main threats to the region's marine flora and fauna include overfishing, habitat loss and increasing impacts from the El Nino Southern Oscillation.

Released this week, the study is the first IUCN Red List of Threatened Species assessment available for all known species of marine shore-fish, marine mammals, sea turtles, sea birds, corals, mangroves and seagrasses in a major marine biogeographic region.

Drastic declines for many speciesThe analysis identifies specific geographic zones where conservation efforts are needed most, including around the mouth of the Gulf of California and the coastlines of Panama and Costa Rica , while also identifying the nature and location of the greatest dangers to marine life. 

‘Understanding species vulnerability to major threats is paramount for determining how species and marine environments are likely to respond to one or more simultaneous threats,' says Beth Polidoro, lead author of the study.

Read on:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/marine-extinctions.html

Peru's vanishing fish stocks 'devastated' by corruption and growing fishmeal demand

Soaring global demand for fishmeal primarily for animal feed or fish farms, including salmon, is wrecking havoc on the once abundant fish stocks of the southern Pacific

The fish stocks of the southern Pacific and in particular Peru are being plundered by widespread cheating and overfishing, according to a new investigation.

Peru is the world’s second largest fishing nation after China, with the majority of its catch converted into fishmeal, a feed for farmed fish and pigs. More than a million tons a year exported mostly to Asia, in a trade worth $1.6 billion.

Read more:  http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1218644/perus_vanishing_fish_stocks_devastated_by_corruption_and_growing_fishmeal_demand.html

Prince of Wales launches fight to save overexploited oceans from overfishing

A report to be published this week by one of the Prince's charities, theInternational Sustainability Unit (ISU), will say that fisheries around the world could be pulled back from the brink of collapse by tackling wasteful fishing practices.

In a speech at the report's launch, the Prince will warn of "dire" long-term consequences unless action is taken to manage fish stocks more effectively.

He will use the opportunity to encourage governments, retailers and the fishing industry to adopt more sustainable practices, pointing to evidence that it could allow more fish to be taken from the seas rather than fewer.

The move comes on the back of the Prince's campaign save the rainforests, which has been credited with having played a significant role in getting the international community to sign up to initiatives to tackle deforestation.

Campaigners fighting to stop overfishing and end destructive policies such as discards, where fishermen throw dead fish back into the sea to avoid exceeding quotas, have backed the Prince's move.

While the Prince will not mention the European Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in his speech, environmentalists who blame the policy for encouraging discards have welcomed his decision to speak out on the wider issues.

A Clarence House spokesman said: "The Prince of Wales has been concerned about the marine environment for many years.

"He wants to focus on the fishing industry and how to promote a more sustainable approach to managing the marine environment.

"The work of the Prince's Charities' ISU's Marine Programme is about promoting sustainable approaches towards fisheries to preserve a long-term livelihood for the communities and industries that rely on them, to preserve the fish stocks, and to protect biodiversity and ecosystems in the sea."

Twenty five per cent of the world's fish stocks are now believed to be overexploited, depleted or recovering from depletion. Half of the world's fish stocks are already suffering catches at or close to the limit that allows them to be sustainable.

The report by the ISU will be launched at an event hosted by the Prince at Fishmongers' Hall in London on Friday, attended by 250 industry representatives and officials.

It will argue that the solution lies in readdressing the economics of fishing so governments and the industry recognise the benefits of preserving stocks.

It will highlight research that shows the oceans are capable of providing $50 billion (£31 billion) per year more value than they currently do if managed in an optimal manner.

Tony Juniper, special adviser to the ISU, said: "The automatic preconception that most people have is that sustainability is about taking less.

"What we have found, in fact, is that if fisheries were managed optimally then we could be taking more. The key to it is how you get the economics lined up.

"Then you can deliver value for the consumer, value for conservation and value for the fishing communities themselves to ensure they are rewarded for a hard job under tough conditions."

The report will analyse ways to keep fish stocks healthy while also providing more fish for consumers. It will argue that reducing supply for certain species would raise market prices, allowing fish stocks to recover while giving fishermen the ability to continue making a living.

Fishing a more diverse range of species could also help to reduce pressure, while new technology could be used to reduce by-catch – unwanted fish that are caught up in nets – and return them to the ocean alive.

It will also suggest removing subsidies for building new fishing vessels and fuel, which could help to control the number of fishing vessels operating. Currently the EU provides £2 billion a year in subsidies.

The Prince, who has a long record of environmental campaigning, has previously backed attempts to reform the CFP and has described the issue of by-catch and discards as "immoral".

Campaigners now hope that his international influence will persaude governments, regulating bodies, fishermen, seafood processors and retailers to adopt more sustainable fishing practices.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, the chef who led a campaign to change the CFP and is set to begin filming a third instalment of his Hugh's Fish Fight programmes for Channel 4, welcomed the Prince's involvement.

He said: "This is absolutely the right approach. If the world's fish stocks were sustainably fished they could be more productive, not less.

"The Prince's involvement in environmental issues has the ability to rouse political will and business commitment. It is extremely welcome that he is to continue to turn the spotlight on the problems and the solutions."

A spokesman for the Marine Conservation Society said: "We welcome this approach of tackling the economics to incentivise sustainable fishing. It is something that will work and should appeal to governments no matter what their political persuasion."

By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-charles/9046430/Prince-of-Wales-launches-fight-to-save-overexploited-oceans-from-overfishing.html