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marlene ladd's List: essay 2
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The world's oceans have lost more than 90 percent of large predatory fish — such as tuna, swordfish and grouper — over the past half-century, prompting fishermen to hunt smaller species. Scientists and environmentalists blame the loss of ocean biodiversity on overfishing, pollution and climate change.
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Each year 7 million metric tons of seabirds, juvenile fish, sea turtles, dolphins, sharks, crabs, starfish, anemones, sponges and other creatures are caught, killed and discarded by mechanized fishing. On average, this “bycatch” accounts for 8 percent of fishermen's catches; but among shrimp fishermen in the tropics, bycatch represents 56 percent of the haul.
- This article talks alot about actual species numbers and loss. It should help with that information and also information on trawling and those not opposed to it. - marlene ladd on 2009-02-15
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New: Additions to calculations on the nutrient flows show that shrimp bottom trawlers in the gulf could put 10 time more phosphorus in the water column per day than comes from the Mississippi River. Check it out. Trawlers may help cause the hypoxic zone -- “dead zone”.
- If I can get this to open, it may help with actually numbers. I could include information on why excess phosphorus is bad and what impact it can have. - marlene ladd on 2009-02-15
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If bottom trawling happened on land instead of at sea, someplace where we could see it and where cameras could film it, perhaps it would provoke the same sort of public outcry that strip-mining does. But unlike the raw, torn earth laid bare by strip-mining, the similar devastation of the ocean floor caused by bottom trawling is hidden beneath thousands of feet of water. In some cases, the damage could be irreparable.
- has good wording for quotes and will give information on habitat destruction. Also, the ladder affect of species extinction. - marlene ladd on 2009-02-15
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- I will need the definition and description to help people understand what I'm talking about. There also are some good links to other information for revision. - marlene ladd on 2009-02-15
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- use for laws that have been added. Which one s worked. more numbers and ways to change . - marlene ladd on 2009-02-15
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- discussion of dead zones would show progression and potential outcome of trawling. Impacts on whole system. Outlook? - marlene ladd on 2009-02-15
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- May use to compare what we see to what we don't under the ocean. Laws may be cross referenced. Extinction rates, talk about animals they know - marlene ladd on 2009-02-15
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- might use to discuss species that we haven't discovered yet , their potential contributions and the fact that many of these creatures exist in the ocean that we may extinguish before we even know them - marlene ladd on 2009-02-15
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Bottom trawling involves dragging huge, heavy nets along the sea floor. Large metal plates and rubber wheels attached to these nets move along the bottom and crush nearly everything in their path.
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Government subsidies to the fishing sector, totaling approximately $20 billion annually, represent one of the principal forces behind the overfishing crisis.
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Populations of top predators, a key indicator of ecosystem health, are disappearing at a frightening rate, and 90 percent of the large fish that many of us love to eat, such as tuna, swordfish, marlin, cod, halibut, skate, and flounder - have been fished out since large scale industrial fishing began in the 1950s.
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Overfishing destroyed the industry.
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But others argue that market forces can be harnessed in the cause of conservation. The theory is that development of a U.S. aquaculture market will take pressure off the endangered Caspian resource by increasing the supply. Zaslavsky says there are ongoing efforts to preserve the Caspian stock and that farming will help. He says many of the fish in the Caspian are artificially reproduced. "Aquafarming is the future," he says. "We can't avoid it." -
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Fishing operations must also compete with unregulated fishing entities. A growth in illegal fishing is taxing the fish populations as well as the resources of agencies that enforce fishing operations. In addition, American fishing operations are frustrated by the competition from Japanese, Russian, and Scandinavian fishing boats competing for fish in the same areas. These countries do not have the overfishing restrictions placed on American fishing operations and contribute to fish population depletions. American fisheries must spend more time to catch fish as they compete with these competitors.
As if competition with other fishing operations is not enough of a problem, American commercial fisheries are limited in their ability to compete with otters, seals, and sea birds for fish. Federal laws protecting marine mammals, sea turtles, large predatory fish, and many birds prohibit fishing boats from interfering with these animals. Many of the laws require that fishing boats have expensive modifications that protect seafood predators. Many fisheries are protesting the protection of these animals in fishing waters, claiming that the animals are exacerbating fish population declines. Again, most foreign fishing operations do not have to comply with these regulations, giving them advantages over American fisheries.
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Apr 22, 09
rosenberg quote
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Andrew Rosenberg, professor of natural resources at the University of New Hampshire and a former deputy director of NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency that oversees ocean fishing.
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