Ocean Issues: Overfishing

Overexploitation of the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna continues in the Mediterranean Sea. A report commissioned by the Pew Environment Group concludes that Bluefin tuna boats in the Mediterranean Sea harvest many more fish than they report. The BBC reports findings of the study that show "last year 140% more bluefin meat from the Med entered the market than was reported as caught".

Under-reporting of catch is an issue, as evidenced by the gap between reported catch and total catch; as is a lack of information on illegal fishing operations. 

Another part of the problem is overcapitalization of the fishery - boats have far more capacity to catch tuna than the quotas allow. "Many Mediterranean fleets acquired new, more powerful purse seine boats in 2005-6; and having invested in them, owners now need to catch above quota to break even".


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Follow up with an earlier story on the Atlantic bluefin tuna here.

Ocean Issues: Seafood sustainability

California State University, Channel Islands ESRM 462: Coastal and Marine Management - Fisheries Biology


The Monterey Bay Aquaruim Seafood Watch Program provides tools to help everyone choose more sustainable sources of seafood. Here's a link to their great website.





As we discussed in class, recent studies have quantified the global economic contribution of fisheries and examined the negative social and economic impacts of overfishing. Here's the link to some studies of the importance of global fisheries. You'll also find links there to excellent summaries of this work in the Pew Ocean Science Series.

In class we'll mostly be discussing wild capture fisheries, but if you're interested in aquaculture, here is a link to a recent article that discusses recent advances in aquaculture. You might also want to check out links to books and articles found on the suggested reading page.


Amazing predator-prey interactions here:

Ocean Issues: Illegal fishing

From Dr John Bruno, a sad story of illegal fishing in the Galapagos Islands:

Link to the story "What a marine massacre looks like".

 

Photo: J. Bruno via

Ocean Issues: Bycatch

Ocean Issues: Bycatch