Impacts of Fishing Practices on Atlantic Shark Populations

Oceanic white tip shark, one of 21 shark species found in the Atlantic Ocean. (Source: Encyclopedia of Life, http://www.eol.org/pages/213834)

-       Over 1.3 million sharks are killed every year in the Atlantic due to fishing practices and poor management at the international level; many of these sharks are also endangered species.

-       These findings were released at a meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), which sets catch limits and focuses on maintaining sustainable fisheries.

-       According to the International Union for the conservation of Nature (IUCN), populations of the oceanic white tip shark have gone down 70%; the hammerhead shark population, perhaps even worse off, has decreased by over 99%. 75% of Atlantic shark species are said to be “threatened with extinction”.

-       Global concerns have primarily been about the Atlantic bluefin tuna, thus leaving shark populations relatively unmanaged.

-       Some of the sharks are caught, get their fins cut off (often for Chinese culinary uses, where it is a delicacy), and then thrown back dead into the ocean; despite this practice being banned, loopholes have been found and fishermen continue to harvest shark fins. To reinforce the finning ban, the US suggested that sharks must be brought back to the shore whole if they are fished; this would also help monitor shark population levels better.

-       Because sharks produce few offspring and take a long time to mature into adults, they can be hurt significantly by overfishing.

-       Sharks are at the top of the food chain, so decreasing their numbers leaves organisms lower on the food chain unchecked, resulting in an unbalanced and unhealthy ecosystem.

Source:
Hood, Marlowe. "More than a million Atlantic sharks killed yearly: study." 22 Nov 2010. PhysOrg.com. <http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-11-million-atlantic-sharks-yearly.html>.

-- Erika Najarro

Decision Delayed on AquAdvantage Salmon

• The FDA has not yet made their decision whether to approve a new genetically modified fish called the AquAdvantage Salmon.
• These fish are intended for human consumption.
• Scientists from the AquaBounty company modified a natural Atlantic salmon.  They added a growth-regulating gene from a quick-growing fish, the Ocean Pout.  They also added a gene from Chinook salmon (from the Pacific Ocean) that also controls growth. As a result of these two genes, the new GM salmon grows to the same size as a normal salmon in half the time.
• In their presentation to the FDA, AquaBounty scientists argued that their fish would not disrupt the ecosystem. They plan to grow the AquAdvantage salmon only in inland tanks, not in outdoor enclosures.
• But what if, at some point, these salmon were raised in outdoor enclosures and some escaped?  Would wild salmon populations be genetically contaminated?  The answer is not known.
• All four species of Atlantic salmon are currently endangered.  If GM salmon escaped to the Atlantic Ocean, they might outcompete the natural species to make them extinct.
• The risk of allergic reactions to GM salmon is not well understood.  Some scientists say there is probably no risk.  Professor Kevin Wells from the University of Missouri said, “This fish contains nothing that isn’t already in the human diet.”  But others speculate there may be a slight risk of allergy for some people.  Little is known about how to measure the potential risk.
• Besides the physical risks of human allergies and possible contamination of wild salmon populations, what could approving these GM fish mean for our species?  It appears that our species will be developing a lot of biotechnology this century.  Should humankind continue to pursue biotechnology?  Will the benefits outweigh the risks? These are questions only philosophers and future generations could answer.

AquAdvantage salmon (above), normal salmon (below)

Sources:

“FDA Committee Punts on question of biotech fish.” http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/09/21/fda-committee-punts-on-question-of-biotech-fish/ Discover Magazine. 21 Sept 2010

“GM food battle moves to fish as super-salmon nears FDA approval.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/sep/26/gm-food-battle-salmon Jamie Doward, The Guardian. 26 September 2010

Briefing Packet on AquAdvantage Salmon. Food and Drug Committee on Veterinary Medicine. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMeetingMaterials/VeterinaryMedicineAdvisoryCommittee/UCM224762.pdf  September 20 2010. Accessed on Nov 22, 2010.

Posted by: Anne Accettullo

Damage to Vietnam Aquaculture

Highest tides in 23 years damage crops, aquaculture ponds

CA MAU — The highest tides in 23 years have damaged crops and aqua culture ponds on the southernmost Ca Mau Peninsula.

Ca Mau Province's Hydro-meteorological Forecasting Centre director Tran Tien Dung said high tides and heavy rain had swollen waters in coastal Nam Can District to 1.54 metres and 86 cm in Ca Mau City.

The province's Agriculture and Rural Development reports that sea water surged over dykes in the Dam Doi, Nam Can, Ngoc Hien, Phu Tan districts destroying more than 3,000 ha of shrimp and fish ponds.

About 5,000 ha of rice paddy and plantation was also flooded in the Thoi Binh, U Minh and Tran Van Thoi districts.

High tides from October to the middle of this month have damaged more than 15,800 ha and caused damage estimated at VND4.1 billion (US$210,000), reports provincial Irrigation Department director Nguyen Long Hoai.

Three days of high tides and heavy rain has also damaged 53,000 ha of farm land in neighbouring Bac Lieu province.

The province could lose 13,000 ha if the high tides continue, warns the provincial agriculture department.

The high tides, which are expected to continue until this weekend, submerged most of Nga Nam in Soc Trang Province.

The 1.6-million-ha peninsular Ca Mau Peninsular, on the southern tip of Viet Nam, includes Can Tho City and Hau Giang, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau provinces as well as part of Kien Giang. — VNS

What could this mean for the future of positive developments in aquaculture and the estimated rising sea level damage??! -Katie

Aquariums Are Good For Your Health

As college students, we feel a lot of stress around midterms. There's just so much to do! But, did you know that watching fish swim in an aquarium can reduce stress levels and lower blood pressure? Its true and its not only beneficial for college students pulling an all night study session. Patients with hypertension can greatly benefit from watching fish swim around in an aquarium. In this study, participants with both normal and high blood pressure were asked to read aloud, rest and look at fish. Look at the numbers:

Both groups of participants had the lowest blood pressure while watching the fish. Several studies going back to the 1980s support using an aquarium as a way to relax and lower blood pressure. Aquariums are soothing and bring on a state of calm. In western culture, many of us have lost our connection to nature. It is important for us to reconnect with the Earth; it is good for our health. The natural world is a thing of beauty and we should take time to appreciate its wonders.

You can read more about the benefits of owning an aquarium and other pets here.
-Rachel Wright

Small (and Cute) Fish Changing Feeding Behavior

Those of you familiar with oceanography are probably aware that small fish tend to avoid open area where predators lurk, even though open area usually has the most food. Only desperate, starving fish try their chances. There is not the case in the Line Islands. The Line Islands are a chain of coral islands located in the central Pacific Ocean and south of Hawaii. Two of the Line Islands are owned by and designated as no-fishing zones by the United States. Another three belong to the Republic of Kiribati. In protected islands, small fish exhibit their normal, avoiding rich seaweed bed where the predators lie. In the other three where there are human settlements and active fishing, feeding is more evenly spread across the seaweed bed. This is due to the lack of predators to scare the small fish away. Our impact doesn't stop at the feeding pattern. When small fish feeds on seaweed, they create space for coral to grow. If fishery in these islands is sustainable, there should be enough predators (shark, tuna and etc.) to keep pressure off the central seaweed bed. With unsustainable fishery, we are not just endangering top predators, we are also changing the behavior of small fish and coral growth.

Here is the full article if anyone is interested

-Tom (Tsz Hang) Lee 

Interview with Richard Strickland

Richard Strickland taught Oceanography for years here at the UW. He won the Distinguished Achievement in Lifetime Learning Award in 2002. He's agreed to give us this exclusive interview.

What made you decide to chose a career in Oceanography?

I originally wanted to be an astronaut, or at least design planes &
rockets. I was in college studying aerospace engineering in 1970. I took
an oceanography class and found it much more interesting, and all my
credits transferred, so I switched majors, even becoming a biologist. It
was the depth of the "Boeing Bust" anyway so I didn't look like there
would be jobs in aerospace. Later I found out how seasick I get :(

How serious is pollution in the Ocean? How does that worsen the effects of
Global Warming?

Pollution of the oceans doesn't really make global warming worse, if
that's what you mean. But it does combine with the effects of warming.
Chemical pollution is a problem but not a serious one in most of the open
ocean (the "garbage patches" in the centers of the N. Pacific & N.
Atlantic are a bad problem for the organisms there). Chemical pollution is
significant in coastal harbors such as Puget Sound, it reduces both the
abundance of seafood species and their safety for consumption by humans.
It is being managed but is not yet fully controlled, much less cleaned up.

Warming appears to be causing some species to decline (cod, a cold-water
fish, has disappeared from Puget Sound, for example) and will almost
certainly cause many more such declines in coming decades. Its related
problem, acidification, may be even more serious. Warming, acidification,
and local degradation may wipe out most coral reefs worldwide during the
first half of this century.

What should be done to reduce overfishing?

The state and federal governments have set an example in the recent
management of Alaskan fisheries. It takes careful unbiased research,
strong enforcement, and honest participation and support from the
industry. Two recent trends, setting aside no-harvest refuge areas and
assigning individual rather than fleet-wide fishing quotas, are sensible
approaches to improve the rationality of fishery management. I'm afraid
there is no alternative to police tactics when it comes to renegade
fishing.

How do you feel about about Native American rights to whaling?

I am not a hunter and I wish they didn't want to hunt whales in the modern
world (clearly the hunt was important in original native cultures). The
modern hunt in Washington (unlike northern Alaska) has been for ceremonial
purposes rather than subsistence. However, the West Coast gray whale
population, which is the target species in Washington, as a whole is not
endangered any more (it became endangered because of industrial, not
native whaling). I'm not sure whether we immigrants have a moral right to
govern the native hunt, even though we have the political & legal power. I
am a supporter of tribal rights in general, so I believe as long as the
hunt is conducted consistent with good conservation practices, it should
be legal.

And finally, what is the single biggest threat to ours Oceans today?

Anthropogenic carbon dioxide causing warming & acidification

I hope you enjoyed that and thanks again to Richard Strickland for the interview!
-Rachel Wright

Not Quite the Chicken of the Sea

Did you know that some species of tuna can weigh over 1,000 pounds? They are also fast swimmers, reaching speeds up to 40 miles per hour! Tuna are also over-fished and some species may die out if we continue to exploit them (especially the blue fin tuna). Did you know that humans have been consuming canned tuna for over 100 years? Commercial fishing has dramatically reduced populations and we need to act now if we want to prevent this species from going extinct. Japan is the largest consumer of tuna and has been accused of harvesting more tuna than is legally allowed. Over-fishing is bad for the entire ecosystem. Pollution is also a problem. Tuna can contain high levels of mercury, which is not safe to eat. Pregnant women are advised not to eat tuna and other predatory fish for this reason. It is important that we make sure the food we are eating is safe and sustainable. The next time you want a tuna fish sandwich, consider PB&J instead.

-Rachel Wright

Exiciting Opportunity at the Seattle Aquarium

Family Science Weekend

 November 13-14
Exploring science can be fun!  Bring the whole family to meet scientist from the Aquarium, NOAA and the University of Washington.  Learn about research that we are doing right here in Puget Sound and get a hands-on understanding of what scientists are trying to discover.  

The Seattle Aquarium works with the University of Washington to preserve several species in the Puget Sound. I've visited them myself a few times and its very fun. Family Science Weekend is a great opportunity for Ocean lovers of all ages to see hundreds of aquatic animals and fish and learn about our very own Puget Sound. Adult tickets are $17, Youth are $11 and under age four is free.

Click here for directions.

COMING SOON

Richard Strickland, former Oceanography Professor here at the UW will be giving us an exclusive interview!

Are you eating the right fish??

It's important to keep up-to-date on the ecofriendly fish, although it's sometimes hard to distinguish between the eco-best and eco-ok categories when you are grocery shopping.  Also, it's hard to understand, why are some things only "eco-ok"? 

-Katie

Makah Whaling Rights: A Summary

• The Makah Indians live on the northwestern corner of the Olympic Peninsula, including Neah Bay.

•  They have hunted whales there for thousands of years.

• The Makah are the only Native American people to have whaling rights explicitly granted to them (in 1855 Treaty of Neah Bay). Whaling and fishing rights were given to them in exchange for the release of most of their ancestral lands to the federal government.

• In the 1920s, American commercial fishing had decimated the gray whale population.  Hunting gray whales was banned until after 1994, when they were taken off the Endangered Species List.

• In the 1970s, an ancient Makah village was unearthed in Ozette.  It had been covered by a mudslide 2000 years ago. Thousands of whaling-related artifacts were discovered, and these renewed the interest of many Makah in whaling.

• The Makah Nation asked for, and was granted, a quota of 5 whales per year from the International Whaling Commission. 

• In 1999, the Makah hunted their first whale in over 70 years.

• Whales taken by the Makah Nation can only be used for the tribe’s subsistence hunting.  They cannot be sold.

• Killing mother whales or calves is not allowed.

• Overall, Makah whaling is governed by tribal, federal, and international law.

Makah whalers circa 1930, photo by Asahel Curtis

Sources:   

 http://www.northolympic.com/makah/

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003886882_whaleside16m.html

http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mammals/Whales-Dolphins-Porpoise/Gray-Whales/Makah-Whale-Hunt.cfm

 Posted by: Anne Accettullo

Aquaponic: A Fish Farm that Won't Harm Planet Earth

Let's divert our attention from the harsh reality that is whaling and the big bad wolf, and focus on something new, okay, not so new, but at least positive and shiny: aquaponic. 

Aquaponic is and I quote, "a combination of aquaculture, or fish cultivation, and hydroponics, or water-based planting — utilizes a symbiotic relationship between fish and plants." Essentially, aquaponic is a fish farm with plants, worms and fish. Plants provide water filtration for fish and food for worms, and the worms, in turn, become food for the fish. To complete the cycle of life, fish waste becomes nutrient to plants, supporting its growth. Aquaponic is practically a miniature ecosystem that happens to be sustainable.

The article I read, "Fish Farms, With a Side of Green," named a few places with aquaponic, but the most impressive one is Barbados. Barbados is an island nation in the western North Atlantic Ocean and east of the Caribbean Sea. Long story short, Barbados is in the middle of nowhere and imports majority of her food. However, in today's world (in my opinion), with the price of oil above the roof and unsustainable farming, importation just doesn't work in the long run. Imagine what Barbados can do if she is self-sustainable. I mean, not everyone likes to have fish on the menu on a daily menu, but it is definitely more economically viable. Of course, this is just me talking and I am no expert on economy.

And guess what, aquaponic is not invented by the modern world. The Aztecs actually had been planting in fish ponds centuries before we did. Who would have thought, right?

Here is the link to the article if anyone is interested.

-Tom (Tsz Hang) Lee