Scientists: Only 10 Percent of Big Ocean Fish Left

[Ithaca 37]

"Large predatory fish -- marlin, tuna and swordfish -- are disappearing from the world's oceans, with their numbers down by 90 percent in the past 50 years, Canadian scientists said on Wednesday.



"From giant blue marlin to mighty blue fin tuna, and from tropical groupers to Antarctic cod, industrial fishing has scoured the global ocean," said Ransom Myers, a biologist at Dalhousie University in Canada."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030514/sc_nm/science_fish_dc_1

What do you guys think about this? I'm sure it's OK with some of you if the big predator fish go extinct! After all, they're just wolves of the sea.

 

[Dick Reece]

If it's true,it's bad news.Is it a slanted story,or factual ? I don't care about ocean fishing,but I do care about the natural world around me.There has to be an ecological balance of some sort.

I think there is a big difference between ocean predators and terrain predators.We are top predator,on land,for the most part,and to a lesser extent on the ocean.

The wolf I think has a limited place,and doesn't need to be reintroduced everywhere. When and if they start decimating elk,moose,or other populations, something has to be done.There are enough human predators to do the job the wolf once did.I'm not advocating wolf extinction, just control.On the other side of the coin, it would appear to me,with my limited knowledge regarding marine life, that it'd be a bit harder to restore a balance to the ocean,once the predator fish are gone.So,we have to curb it once we see a shortage occuring.I don't believe predator fish are as feared and hated as the wolf once was in the past.

 

[Ten Bears]

Then fish aint feared or hated. Their ending up on the plates and fish markets of many asian counries. I would suspect we consume a fare number of them as well.

Trauler fleets, drift nets, and ocean going processors.

 

[Ithaca 37]

Sharks aren't feared or hated? How many people get killed by sharks every year? How many people do wolves kill?

 

[Oak]

This isn't even the half of it. We are screwing the oceans up so badly I wouldn't be surprised if we're already past the point we can turn it around. If folks who claim to care knew the truth about how a lot of that seafood in the supermarket is caught, they'd give it up.

Oak

 

[Dick Reece]

OK,granted,sharks are feared and hated,forgot about those guys

,but you can't hunt what you can't see,so I doubt there are as many people hell bent on killing sharks as there were people hell b ent on killing wolves years ago.

 

[BigHornyRam]

IT,

So there's too many people killing and eating fish on this planet. What's YOUR sollution? Go vegan?

Paul

 

[danr55]

OK guys, this is a topic I am extremely familiar with. For those of you who don't know, I owned and operated a 6 pack charter boat for several years. Among the things that are killing our oceans are nasty stuff like gill nets and long lines.

A gill net is a net designed to allow fish to swim part way through it and then when they try to back away, the net gets caught in thier gills. They lay there until they die. The use of gill nets has literally killed the kelp beds off of Point Loma and La Jolla, around the Coronado Islands and the 12 Mile Bank off the coast of Southern California. They have literally raped the ocean.

Long lines have been outlawed by most reasonable countries. A long line is a length of 1 inch rope as much as 3 miles long that has a baited hook on a leader every 30 to 50 yards. This line is strung between two marker bouys with floats every 200 yards or so. It's strung across a reef or other area where fish are known to swim and feed. It's left unattended for as long as 10 days.. These ships generally have a refrigerated storage hold that they fill and will stay out for months. Some of the newer ones are built with processing capabilities and they cook and can the fish on the spot. I've seen long liners captured in Mexico and unloaded, that contained as many as 2000 marlin, swordfish,sharks and other large predators. The Japanese and more lately the Chinese have become extremely active with long liners. No one seem to get excited enough to do anything proactive about it.

There are several sportsman's groups in California who have tried to get gill nets outlawed, but to little or no avail. Even after the demise of the White Sea Bass population at the Coronado Islands, no one seems interested enough to put a stop to it.

If anyone is interested, I have a lot of info about gill nets and long liners...

 

[Ten Bears]

IT, sharks are slow reproducers, and NO I aint afeared of them either. Yes, I am a diver also. Yes, they are ending up on the menu, fish market, and dinner plates around the world. What part of over fishing did you miss?

 

[Ithaca 37]

Ten, Remember I said I wouldn't be responding to your idiotic posts?

 

[Ten Bears]

Must be a knee JERK reaction you suffer from.

You seem to be responding regularly. Maybe you should have that checked out, possibly some more medications will help you there.

 

[Lostagain]

That report was in NATURE. pretty scary that the oceans are that bad off b/c of too many people on earth.
Del? another little factoid told to me from the AK fishing outfit; most of the catch was sent to US catfood processors.

 

[BigHornyRam]

I think I'll borrow a chapter out of elkgunner's book entitled "Me, Me, Me". Why should I care? The house is paid for, theres money in the bank, no kids to feed or put through school. Got my health, live in paradise. So while I'm here I'll just use it up to my hearts content, and let elkgunners kids and grand kids fight over whats left. Dang that swordfish is tasty!

Paul

 

[JoseCuervo]

Paul,

Please don't misquote me, the book is called Me, Myself, and I...

Actually, I am not sure how I got drug into this one. I don't have a take on this, and I don't feel compelled to post on topics I have no interest in. I do not enjoy reading posts from people who just post smiley faces, or LOL, and don't add "value".

Hopefully all my posts have a bit of humour and a reasonable point of view. I don't think I am an extremist on most issues, and I try not to call names nor do I tell people to "prove it". All opinions are my own, and are generally well thought out

.

I have asked for education on mining issues, and asked for the "Montana" view of mining. I am more than willing to be educated. But things like this topic, I don't care.

I eat Whale more often than I eat Swordfish, and I think the Whales are more threatend. They are both pretty tasty. But to be honest, I don't give a flyin' flip about Manatees in Florida, Bass in San Diego, or Lobsters in Maine, Swordfish here, or Whales there. I hope there are people closer to the issues that care, and hopefully they work the solutions to the problems.

Hopefully I can bring a different view point to these topics, and one that makes people think. As someone who runs cattle on private pastures, I think Welfare Ranchers are leeches to the economy. Private ranchers do not necessarily think Welfare Ranchers need to be protected. Just my point of view.

If you want me to support your position on this one, fine, I'll sell you my two cents for just a penny. Give me a little eduction on this, and I'll tell the other side (not sure on this thread) that they are wrong.

er

 

[Oak]

This story is going to be on the NBC Nightly News Friday evening.

Oak

 

[cjcj]

it has been my observation that just about every problem in this world can be directly linked to OVERPOPULATION! so why don`t the tree-huggiing so called enviro`s concentrait their effort`s in this area? less people = more fish, etc. why do gov`t alway`s promote growth as a good thing? more job`s bigger budget`s more taxes,everything get`s worse as the population grow`s.

 

[MarlandS]

I wonder how complete the study was, the oceans are an awfully big area. If parts of the study were based on actual catches it would seem that the study could be flawed since many of the foreign ships would be hard to get a factual report from either way. If it was based on surveys of reefs and other fisheries, how long would it have taken to get enough data for a fair representation?

It seems like we have seen reports on different populations of critters in much smaller areas like Yellowstone that were flawed or highly disputed by different camps of true experts.

All in all, I'd say hedge on the side of caution, make the different gov'ts accountable and work towards protection until more studies have been done for crossreference.

 

[JoseCuervo]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>This story is going to be on the NBC Nightly News Friday evening.

Oak <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wow!!! My story is going to be on NBC? I wonder if I can get Soledad off the Weekend Today Show to interview me

It is a pretty simple story. I was born a poor kid without any clothes. I used to have to walk 6 miles uphill to school in the snow.... And out of all that, I rose to become what I am....

 

[Ten Bears]

You forgot the "both ways" part.

That should read:
It is a pretty simple story. I was born a poor kid without any clothes. I used to have to walk 6 miles uphill, both ways, to and from school in the snow.... And out of all that, I rose to become what I am....

 

[Oak]

Thanks, Grinner. Now I won't have to plan around the news tonight.

I'm going to try to look up some facts about what we're doing to the oceans (not that any of us care). I'll post them in the next day or two. I just had a class that spent a lot of time on this, so I could throw some numbers out there, but I better have sources before I go posting around here.

Oak