Fresh News

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4) The New Zealand Mud Snail Mollusk: Invasive Exotic or Next Naturalized Species?

The New Zealand mud snail (NZMS), a native of, yes, New Zealand, can now be found in the US, and sadly, is now known to occur here in the Eastern Sierra. The NZMS is in the main stem of the Owens River, both upstream and downstream of Crowley Reservoir, through the Bishop Area, and in Bishop Creek Canal above Dixon Lane. And last year, the NZMS made its way to Hot Creek!

Complete surveys to determine the extent of its distribution in local waters have not been conducted. While it's likely that this non-native, highly invasive species has spread to other local waters, there's a concerted effort now underway to alert the public to the presence of this unwelcome mollusk.

In order to understand what can be done to slow the spread of the NZMS, one first needs to know a little bit about its life history. The NZMS is "born" with young already forming internally, so only one individual is needed to start a new population. The NZMS in California are likely all clones, possibly from a single individual accidentally introduced into the Owens River.

The NZMS can survive in extremely high densities and often crowds out other aquatic invertebrates such as mayflies, stoneflies, and native snails. The NZMS is rather versatile too, living on silt, gravel, aquatic plants, and even concrete, in warm or cold water, and still or flowing water.

The NZMS has an operculum (the hard disk that seals the shell opening) which allows it to completely protect its soft body from any undesirable external environment. The NZMS can be transferred to new waters by attaching itself to boats, waders, fishing gear, wading boots and gear, hair, pets, pack-stock, and construction equipment - virtually anything that enters the water where NZMSs are present.

Besides anglers, what else enters the water and has been identified as possible vectors? Both fish and birds have the ability to unknowingly assist in the spread through ingestion. Fish readily eat snails but unfortunately receive no benefit from the NZMS, as the snails pass unharmed through the digestive systems of fish, only to be deposited elsewhere. If ingestion happens to occur during spawning, a NZMS could be transported a great distance upstream.

There are a few avian species that also readily eat snails. Fish-cleaning stations are hot spots for gulls, ravens, and a few other opportunistic birds, especially during the opener. Any time of year, discarded "fish guts" that may contain NZMS could easily be ingested. Although it's possible that dippers may ingest NZMS, the rock-crushing action the dippers subject their prey to would likely crush the delicate shell of the NZMS.

However, dippers feed almost exclusively underwater on larval forms of aquatic insects such as stoneflies, mayflies, and caddisflies - the very invertebrates that NZMS is quickly displacing. So in addition to potential impacts to the Eastern Sierra sportfishing industry, there are other potential impacts that are less-talked-about.

All these factors combined have allowed the NZMS to invade and often become the dominant invertebrate in numerous waters in North America and Europe. What can be done? If you're an angler, consider the following:

· Expose all equipment to a 45° C rinse (about 114° F) for at least 15 seconds or to freezing temperatures (overnight in a standard kitchen freezer will do it). Studies have proven that both treatments are 100% effective in killing the NZMS.

· If neither is an option, completely dry equipment and brush off all debris. NZMS can survive up to 25 days in a moist media.

· When angling and harvesting fish, properly discard fish guts in either closed receptacles or bury them, as they may contain live NZMS.

· When visiting several waters within a short period of time, visit known NZMS-infested waters last. For example, if fishing June Lake and Hot Creek, fish June Lake first. This will help prevent the possible transfer of the NZMS to non-infested waters.

Although there is currently no known method to control or eliminate the NZMS, researchers are monitoring its spread and ecological impact. It's hoped that studies currently being undertaken by Oregon Fish and Wildlife will yield effective control strategies.

Remember, it only takes one NZMS to start a new population! Through a cooperative effort between the Department of Fish and Game, Aguabonita Flyfishers, and the Southwest Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers, a presentation on the NZMS is available (in both CD and VHS) from the DFG office in Bishop. Contact Debra Hawk at (760) 872-1134, for additional information or to receive a copy. MT

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5) Bodies of Tongan fishermen found

The bodies of two Tongan men missing in the Whitianga Harbour for almost a week have been found, and a father of six has drowned while illegally fishing for trout with a net on Lake Taupo.

Police said it was likely Raymond Hona, 49, of Turangi, was dragging a net across the mouth of the Waimarino River at the southern end of Lake Taupo when he fell over a 14m drop.

Senior Constable Cliff Jones said Mr Hona, who was a strong swimmer, became entangled in the net and was almost covered by sediment when the national police dive team found his body yesterday.

A companion, who may face charges related to illegal fishing, had raised the alarm after hearing his cries for help about 9pm on Saturday.

The bodies of the two Tongan men were found yesterday and on Saturday. They had been missing from a late-night fishing trip on Tuesday.

Savelio Lolesio, 26 and his cousin Sanualio Kiola, also 26, and a third man, Aisake Lavelua, had ventured into Whitianga Harbour in a small dinghy to check on fishing nets.

Mr Lavelua, 24, their workmate, fell overboard but swam to shore. He raised the alarm for his friends when they did not return.

Their dinghy was found washed up on a sandbank, and on Saturday a man fishing found Mr Lolesio's body floating near Centre Island, in the Mercury Bay area.

Yesterday searchers in a spotter plane found Mr Kiola's body lying on mud flats.

Police said earlier reports that the three men had been fighting in the dinghy were incorrect. After speaking with Mr Lavelua with the help of an interpreter, police accepted he had fallen from the boat.

A strong current and outgoing tide meant it was easier to swim ashore than get back in the boat.

The Maritime Safety Authority is investigating the Whitianga drownings, which police are not treating as suspicious.

26.05.2003 By ELIZABETH BINNING and ROSALEEN MacBRAYNE

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6) 16km net on illegal boat

A 32m-long Indonesian commercial fishing boat has been caught in Territory waters.

Foreign Fishing Operations officer-in-charge Roy Mackay told the Northern Territory News yesterday the boat, with 24 crew members, is believed to have a gill net up to 16km long on board.

He said the boat was much larger than regular long-line Indonesian fishing vessels.

"This is a commercial operation," he said.

"These people deploy a gill net -- anything that comes across that net is entangled.

"It is an environmentally unfriendly way of fishing."

Gill nets can devastate marine life, including turtles and dolphins.

The steel-hulled boat was spotted near the edge of the Australian Fishing Zone by Coastwatch on Friday.

It was initially apprehended by HMAS Warrnambool about 370km north-northwest of Cape Wessel, near Nhulunbuy.

The Taiwanese-made, Indonesian-flagged vessel was escorted to Darwin Harbour by HMAS Geraldton on Saturday night.

Mr Mackay said it was the first gill-netter caught in Australian waters for several years.

``In the past we have apprehended a few gill-netters,'' he said.

``But overall it is not a common thing that we find these persons operating inside the zone.''

Mr Mackay said fish had been found on board but it was not known how much.

``The product on board is yet to be determined _ but they have significant quantities of fish,'' he said.

Mr Mackay said the boat had not been seen using the net in Australian waters.

But authorities spent yesterday investigating the boat.

``We will investigate the vessel to determine whether or not any breaches of Australian fisheries law have occurred,'' he said.

``If we deem that there has, then charges will be laid.''

About 27 foreign fishing vessels have been apprehended in Australian waters since last weekend.

By PAUL DYER May 26, 2003. Northern Territory News

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LATEST NEWS:
The reader will gain a brief non-scientific insight into the thinking of the Fishermen signed on to the 2020 EcoVision Environmental Management Plan of the Bribie Commercial Fishers.

This is a draft copy of our 2020 EcoVision environmental management plan for Bribie Commercial Fishers Association members. Bribie Island is about an hours drive north of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia's Sunshine State.

We first distributed this draft in January 2001 to all the local state and national associations that we thought were, or would be interested in fishing and environmental issues. At the time, we may have been the second fishing group in the country to SIGN on to such a plan. CLICK HERE TO READ FURTHER

Currently there is a national program called Green Chooser, that is helping new fisherman groups to formulate plans. Green Chooser is driven by the Seafood Services Australia Ltd and modeled on the principals behind the 2020 EcoVision and the Southern Fishermens Association.

The underpinning method is based closely on ISO 14001 EMP. These plans rely on a regular review process. We have included the local and broader community in our plan.

Have your say and help us improve, and remember, No Habitat = No Fish. CLICK HERE TO READ FURTHER

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1) Aussie budget confirms commitment to food safety

19/05/03 - The Australian government is to provide a total of A$2.8 million (€1.5m) over four years to strengthen food safety standards in Australia, through the development of new Primary Production and Processing (PPP) Standards and information to the food industry.

In a recent statement by the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) the agency said that the PPP Standards will be developed by FSANZ in a bid to ensure that all domestic food standards are integrated into a single national framework, applied from ‘the paddock to the plate’.
The PPP Standards aim to contribute to public health and safety, provide nationally consistent guidelines to industry for producing safe food and help enhance consumer confidence in the safety of Australian food.

Initiatives that lower the incidence of food-borne illness (estimated to be seven million cases in Australia each year) will reduce the significant health costs and effects to consumers, government and the nation’s economy.

FSANZ hopes that foreign markets will be assured of consistent levels of food safety in Australia, providing favourable conditions for growth in export trade. The new measures will also harmonise Australia’s domestic requirements with the export requirements of the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service.

A$0.8 million of the total funding over four years will be used to assist in the implementation and to inform stakeholders of the changes to FSANZ , especially in rural and regional areas.

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2) NEW ONLINE PAYMENT SYSTEM WINS GOVT GRANT

MyExports, a new project that aims to establish a simple, secure and flexible online payment solution for Australian exporters has secured a grant of $165,000 under round 9 of the National Office for the Information Economy (NOIE)Information Technology Online (ITOL) Program.

The Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) has joined forces with Paymate Pty Ltd and DHL-Danzas Air and Ocean to develop myExports, which will soon be available to Australian exporters and their offshore buyers.

Austrade’s Internet Adviser, Edwin Kuller, said myExports has the potential to significantly increase the competitiveness of Australian exporters by making it easier for overseas importers to buy Australian products.

“Allowing overseas importers to pay online in their currency with the same ease and convenience as they would with a domestic purchase will enable Australian exports to be more easily compared to domestic sources,” Mr Kuller said.

For example, an Australian company that exports sporting equipment to the United Kingdom can log onto a secure page on the myExports site and provide an invoice or quote to the UK buyer in pounds sterling. The UK buyer can then approve the electronic invoice online and securely make a full or part payment via a registered local bank account or by entering credit card details. The settlement of funds is made directly into the exporters bank account in Australian dollars.

Phase 1 of the myExports pilot has been running this month involving trials by Australian companies. The project has already received interest from the Australian Seafood Industry Council (ASIC) and the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA) who are both participating in the pilot.

Russ Neal, CEO of the Australian Seafood Industry Council, said the myExports project has the potential to save exporters time and money when processing payments from overseas buyers.

“The myExports project offers highly significant benefits to the seafood industry. At a time of rising costs and a stronger Australian dollar, any saving is vital. A focus on achieving savings for smaller transactions makes this pilot all the more important,” Mr Neal said.

The Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association’s Executive Director, Kim Elliott, also supports the project and said, “the myExports project is ideal for the Australian automotive aftermarket, as it is an industry made up of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) whose continuing viability relies upon the timely receipt of payments.”

The IOTL Program is a commonwealth government grant administered by the National Office for the Information Economy (NOIE). The IOTL Program is designed to accelerate the national adoption of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce solutions, especially by SMEs, across a broad range of industry sectors and geographic regions.

Austrade is looking for Australian exporters to participate in the pilot provided they meet selection criteria. For further information see http://www.myexports.com.au or email edwin.kuller@austrade.gov.au .

Further Information
MEDIA CONTACT: Marcy Nicholson – Austrade Corporate Communications
Tel: 02 9390 2396
Email: marcy.nicholson@austrade.gov.au By Marcy Nicholson

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11) Will Europe's food fears turn tastes to wild fish?

Marty Mezich, assistant foreman at North Pacific Processors in Seattle, checks the load as Rafael Alarcon, a forklift driver, loads boxes of frozen salmon headed for Holland onto a container.

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Jeff Otness used to be a salmon celebrity. His Ballard company supplied wild Alaska coho to lox makers in Europe, who bought hundreds of tons a year, courted him with fancy dinners and ushered him quickly into their offices when he visited.

Then in the 1990s cheaper farmed salmon captured nearly all of the European market. Today, when Otness calls on clients, "I sit outside in the lobby with the chemical salesman."

But Northwest salmon producers stand to regain some of that lost respect, thanks to an unlikely savior: genetically modified salmon. The heated debate over what critics call Frankenfish may turn at least some tastes back to wild chinook, coho and king pulled from Northwest waters.

One of the biggest battlegrounds for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is in Europe, where public distrust has largely halted altered grain imports. Its epicenter is Brussels, seat of European Union rule-making.

The food fight heated up this month, when the U.S. and other nations threatened to file a case at the World Trade Organization accusing the EU of illegally blocking genetically modified foods. U.S. industry also is pushing a bill that would speed up approval for transgenic organisms.

The moves would help U.S. grain growers, who widely use genetically modified seed. But by focusing attention on farmed fish, the GMO debate would likely play on food fears in the U.S. and Europe — and might backfire on grain growers, too.

"They may end up hardening many European views against this technology," said Gregory Jaffe, director of biotechnology issues at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington, D.C. group seeking more careful regulation of genetic technology. And U.S. consumers could end up fearing GMO fish the way Europeans fear transgenic crops, he said.

Greenpeace and other environmental groups have campaigned heavily against GMO foods, making European consumers and retailers — already stung by "mad-cow" disease and other food scares in Europe — highly suspicious of GMO products and unwilling to buy or offer them.

That's been a boon for Nelly Masson, France-based representative for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. She has the tough job of selling wild salmon to people who eat almost entirely the farmed variety.

"People who want to be successful here have GMO-free processors and distributors," Masson said. "They're scared: They don't want to have Greenpeace in their store pulling it off the shelves."

Farmers oppose GMOs

Farmers initially are likely to shun GMO fish, fearing just such a public backlash. The 40-member Washington Fish Growers Association said it is opposed to them unless approved as safe and has minimal environmental impact by regulators. Growing GMO salmon "would probably create a lot of problems," said State Sen. Dan Swecker, R-Rochester, Thurston County, a salmon farmer for 20 years. "That puts a question in peoples' minds."

Other farming groups around the world say they won't grow GMO salmon even if it is approved.

"The main reason is the lack of acceptance of these products in the marketplace," said Odd Grydeland, a director at the BC Salmon Farmers Association. "We don't want people to think less of the (farmed) product."

But others say that with big cost advantages and market potential, Frankenfish could ultimately prove irresistible to farmers. Europeans already get more than 90 percent of their salmon from farms, mostly in Norway and Scotland, which can deliver to retailers in as little as four days.

This month, at the European Seafood Exposition in Brussels, the world's largest seafood show, exhibitors showed off tempting salmon steaks and filets. Most of it is farmed, its deep orange color from a feed additive that has stirred concern in the U.S. because retailers failed to disclose its presence.

In the meantime, Otness is filling orders. As sales manager for North Pacific Processors, he was at the expo selling wild Alaska salmon. Last week he was in Seattle, loading a cargo of chum destined for Holland. This week, he flies to Poland. He's pushing into countries in Central and Eastern Europe, which will come under EU rules when they join the 15-nation block next year.

If farms use GMO salmon, or farming concerns flare up, Europeans would buy more wild fish. "It would help us," Otness said.

"There's a strata of consumers for which it will make a difference," said Randy Rice, technical program director at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute in Juneau.

But, he added, it's possible that many people who enjoy farmed salmon will hardly notice.

"Millions and millions of consumers are buying millions and millions of farmed salmon with color additives, and it isn't bothering them at all."

Growing four times as fast

GMO salmon still is a few years away from store shelves. Scientists are seeking U.S. regulatory approvals and no farms are known to have it in production.

But the science is advancing. By adding a gene that helps salmon produce growth hormone, Aqua Bounty Farms in Waltham, Mass., has created a salmon it says grows twice as fast as typical farmed fish and four times as fast as wild salmon.

Such speed will make farming more profitable, cut the cost to consumers and eventually overcome public fears, the company said. Past genetic modifications in grains and milk also aroused anxiety, but concern died down when cheaper foods hit the market, said Joseph McGonigle of Aqua Bounty Farms.

"What is of interest to us is not the polling (of customer attitudes) but the actual consumer behavior," he said. "If I can put $1.75-a-pound filet salmon in the supermarket, I'm going to sell all I can produce."

Aqua Bounty's GMO salmon, in its fifth generation in tanks in Canada, may complete Food and Drug Administration review this year, and could pass environmental review next year, McGonigle said.

Faster growth might also ease concern that "feed-lot" fish pens spawn diseases and create feces dumps, since stocks would turn over more quickly. Higher production also might help slow depletion of world fish stocks. A study released this month said commercial fishing had cut the populations of predatory fish 90 percent in the past 50 years.

Still, GMO salmon face other struggles. Environmentalists fear escaped fish will mate with and decimate wild stocks or potentially drive some wild species to extinction, according to a recent report by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology.

And then there's the EU. Launching a trade case will put pressure on EU governments to admit the foods, and has drawn outcries from those who oppose biotech foods. But trade cases usually take years to resolve. And there is still a lack of political will to accept GMOs.

Jim Nicholson, a member of the European Parliament, the EU's legislative body, favors admitting the altered foods. But that's a minority view.

The EU commission last month ordered 12 governments to end their ban on GMO products. But there has been little action, prompting the U.S. threat to take the case to the WTO.

While Europe's resistance to GMOs lasts, Northwest fishermen will net the benefit.

"If the tide turns and people are excited about wild salmon again, it's obviously good for the industry," Otness said. "It would certainly make my job easier if buyers were coming to me."

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3) Minister to help save whales

AUSTRALIA will push for conservation rather than regulated whale slaughter at an International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Berlin next month.

Environment Minister David Kemp will join 17 other countries to refocus the IWC on saving whales, dolphins and porpoises instead of commercial and so-called scientific whaling.

The IWC was set up in 1946 to regulate whaling but momentum is growing worldwide to set up sanctuaries to protect the sea creatures.

The latest attempt by anti-whaling nations, including Australia, is dubbed The Berlin Initiative.

May 22, 2003

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7) Trawlers' deadly toll of dolphins

SCOTTISH fishing boats trawling off the south-west coast of England have been directly involved in the deaths of up to 7,000 dolphins already this year.

The animals are being killed needlessly as "by-catch" while the boats, together with vessels from France, work the area’s bass fishery, The Scotsman has learned.

To date, 350 dolphin carcases have been washed up on the Devon, Dorset and Cornish coasts - and scientists estimate that those represent only 5 per cent of the total killed. Most of the animals, which are drowned after becoming caught in the trawlers’ nets, remain at sea.

Campaigners are now lobbying both the Westminster fisheries minister, Elliot Morley, and his European counterpart, Franz Fischler, to introduce legislation to stop the slaughter.

About 12 Scottish boats are thought to be involved, mainly from the port of Fraserburgh. The boats travel to the south-west coast for the first four months of the year to exploit the area’s seasonal bass fishery.

However, although bass is a fish with a very high market value, the decline in the fishery over the past decade has been dramatic. In the early 90s boats could expect to land between 50 and 60 tonnes a time; today they return to harbour with as little of two tonnes of catch.

Spaced about a mile apart when out at sea, the bass trawlers work in pairs dragging a very large net between them at high speed to match the fish they are pursuing.

When they begin to haul in the catch, the dolphins enter the nets to catch easy prey.

Joan Edwards, the Wildlife Trust’s UK marine manager, said: "The Scottish vessels have been coming down for the last few years now and always use Plymouth as their home port. There are about 12 boats in total and they were here from very early January.

"These boats are going after fish that swim mid-water, but unfortunately so are the dolphins and other cetaceans.

"We have been campaigning and have had meetings with the Westminster fisheries minister. She is very concerned about the whole issue himself, and has raised the issue with the European Commission. The problem is that because the bass fishery is beyond six miles off the coast the only people that can take any action are the EC through the Common Fisheries Policy."

Special devices which allow the dolphins to escape being drowned in the fast-moving nets, called Nordman separator grids, were tested on three of the Scottish boats in March.

However, many remain sceptical about their efficiency in the light of injuries that might be sustained by the escaping dolphins. A similar system has been used in New Zealand where it was found to inflict serious injuries on sea lions.

The results of the trials, which are being written up by the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) at St Andrews University, will not be available until the end of this month.

Mrs Edwards added: "There are no controls at the moment and the Fraserburgh fishermen have every right to go and catch bass because they are struggling. We are not blaming the fishermen but the European Commission for failing to regulate our fisheries in a sustainable way and introduce laws which stipulate that they must use certain gear to stop this happening.

"The EC have to bring in measures to reduce the dolphin by-catch and make sure than the bass fishery lasts into the future and does not go down the same road as North Sea cod."

Derek Duthie, secretary of the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association, said: "There is an issue in this fishery of cetacean by-catch of common dolphins. I can’t comment on the numbers that have been caught this year, but only three of our vessels are involved in this fishery and are working to try and find a solution. Some of our members have actually been involved in a project with the SMRU to devise a grid to allow dolphins to escape and be excluded from the catch."

Steve Sankey, the chief executive of the Scottish Wildlife Trust, which is backing the campaign, said: "This terrible loss of thousands of dolphins is wholly unnecessary and the public should be outraged. We need to start managing our seas in a sustainable way.

"Regulating the bass fishery is an essential pre-requisite to saving the dolphins. Changes to fishing practices and the provision of observers on board boats are urgently required."

JAMES REYNOLDS ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT

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10) N.C. building oyster sanctuary to help faltering fishery

WANCHESE, N.C. - Fisheries managers say they hope that the construction of the state's first large-scale, permanent oyster sanctuary will help revive the depleted fishery.

A few decades ago, North Carolina fishermen hauled in 150,000 bushels of oysters a year, state harvest records show. But with a population slammed by disease, pollution and habitat loss, the harvest has dropped to about 49,000 bushels a year.

The 30-acre sanctuary would protect healthy adult oysters expected to pass along genes that enable them to fight off parasitic diseases that have depleted Atlantic oyster stocks.

"We're trying to use everything we have learned in the past 10 years to begin a real oyster network," said Craig Hardy, a supervisor with the state Division of Marine Fisheries overseeing the building of the estimated $120,000 sanctuary.

The state Department of Transportation, the Nature Conservancy and the state Ferry Division contributed 3,000 tons of stone used to mimick the oyster reefs that once dotted the sounds.

Hardy said he didn't fully appreciate the value of building artificial reefs until he put on a scuba mask and dived among them.

Surrounded by a barren landscape of a sandy clay bottom, the reefs attracted a complex community of oysters, crabs, worms, sponges and fish.

Over the years, commercial fishing boat rakes and nets dragged along the bottom, reducing the natural reefs by as much as 90 percent, researchers estimate.

Fisheries scientist Sean Powers, a visiting investigator at the Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City, said seven of 11 small sanctuaries built in the 1990s had been successful based on recent monitoring. The other four failed because of poor water quality, silt or location.

Researchers will continue to monitor the reefs for further evidence that the oysters are surviving and resisting diseases., Powers said.

"The overwhelming thing we are getting from our study is, North Carolina reef restoration is successful in the long term," Powers said. "What we have done to date has been a fairly small scale. What is needed is a large effort. It's going to take time."

Hardy acknowledges that success won't come quickly.

"I don't think anybody in North Carolina is of the thought that the recovery of the fishery is going to take place in five years," Hardy said. "It could easily take decades to get back the fishery. It's that large of a problem. It's going to take nature an extended period of time to rebuild itself."

Associated Press

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9) 50 Years of Industrial Fishing Has Caused Extinction, says Study

A new study says 90 percent of the large predatory fish species have vanished from the world's oceans since the onset of largescale commercial fishing 50 years ago. Scientists warn that unless restoration is attempted on a global scale, fish populations and the ocean ecosystems they support are in danger of even further collapse. Marine ecologist Ransom Myers from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia was the lead author of the study. He set out to find the answer to one question "How many and what variety of fish were there in the ocean before exploitation began?"

The study reported published in the journal Nature surveyed harvest data from global fisheries over the last past 50 years and plotted the results. "What we found all over the world [was] the same pattern. Initially the biomass - which means the number and weight of the total fish community - was ten times higher than it is now, and the declines were enormous, on the order of 10 to 15 percent a year initially. So with industrial exploitation the whole community declined very, very rapidly and reaches an equilibrium of about 10 percent of its original number," Mr. Myers said.

Ransom Myers said the problem is that commercial fishing trawlers typically use longlines with 100 baited hooks to catch tuna, marlin, cod, haddock and other predatory fish. Fifty years ago, trawlers could pull in ten fish on a single longline. They're likely to catch only one per line today. Mr. Myers said an industrial operation can reduce a fish community by 80 percent within 15 years.

"Humans are enormously good at killing animals, and if you fish in an unregulated way the animals decline very, very rapidly. Now, I should say that I am not against industrial fishing per se. Where it is regulated - for example, in the great fisheries of the Alaskan shelf - you have a very productive system where all the bio-diversity appears to be maintained. They have even taken methods to protect the deep-sea corals and deep-sea sponges that are usually not protected in the world's oceans.

Mr. Myers elaborted on the statistic that 90 percent of global fishing communities have been reduced by industrial fishing. "Individual species may have declined much greater," he pointed out, "and may be [heading] toward extinction, whereas other species have increased," he explained.

"[A good example] is off the southern banks of Newfoundland, [where] we had a great fishery for haddock when trawling first started," he said. "There were one million tons of haddock in a relatively small area, and within 15 years this species was almost driven to extinction and now remains maybe one thousandth or a millionth of its original abundance, really truly very, very low numbers. And that species hasn't returned because it is caught as a bycatch when you catch other species."

When asked if he was surprised with the results of his study, in which data was gathered for 10 years, Mr. Myers said, "I was surprised initially, but as I looked at more and more data, it became more the norm and [there was] a consistency in the results of this 10-fold decline in the total fish community. I think that many scientists and many individuals are surprised because we lose our memory of large fish in the past. For instance, in the North Sea and off the Coast of Norway, who would have thought that there were these great fisheries for blue marlin? People there don't think that blue marlin exist. Similarly in the Gulf of Mexico, the white tip shark is considered a very rare species, where fifty years ago it was enormously abundant, perhaps 1,000-fold greater. So we as humans we are not only good at fishing, we are good at forgetting our past." While some critics say that the data exaggerates the decline in global fisheries, Jeremy Jackson, a marine biologist with Scripps Institute of Oceanography, said the numbers reported in the paper are most likely understated. "These results are so clear and straight forward and striking. One of the reasons I think that [the paper] is so conservative is that all of those data that they use begin only in the 1950s or the 1960s. These are all fishes that we fished in great abundance for thousands of years beforehand. So, any interpretation of the data of Myers and Worm has to be made in the context of that earlier depletion." While the study makes no recommendations, Ransom Myers said the solution to the global problem is simple: Catch fewer fish, reduce the bycatch, cut subsidies and quotas. He said that political will and common sense must also come into play.

The United Nations Summit on sustainable development in Johannesburg last year called for restoration of global fisheries to sustainable levels by 2015. Mr. Myers said his study offers a baseline for that restoration effort and warned, "If present fishing levels persist, these great fish will go the way of the dinosaurs."

Rosanne Skirble Washington 25 May 2003, 12:46 UTC

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12) Whopper of a Fish Story

They told us we should eat fish, because it was good for us. Unfortunately, that advice has not turned out so well for the fish.
Incredible as it sounds, industrialized ocean fishing has decimated about 90 percent of the worldwide stock of large predatory fishes, such as tuna, cod and billfish. This news, from a newly published scientific study, suggests that previous research may have underestimated how thoroughly humans are sweeping the seas of fish.
If our species does not curtail industrial fishing, we will hunt increasing numbers of aquatic species to extinction, eliminating not only that nutritious food supply but courting ecological disaster in the oceans.
Marine biologists have been concerned for decades about the depletion of species of large fish in certain coastal waters. What is new about the latest study, published this month in the journal Nature, is that it examined the results of industrial fishing on four continental shelves and nine oceanic systems over the last 50 years and found that species of large fish are threatened worldwide.
One of the authors of the study, in an interview with The New York Times, compared the situation in the world's oceans today to what happened to the bison in North America in the 19th century. Those land animals were reduced to the edge of annihilation from a population of 30 million. But from 1,000 individuals, the species has been saved. If the large fish are to be restored, people are going to have to think of them not as the chicken of the sea but as the buffalo of the ocean.
Fortunately, the plight of large fish is not yet as desperate as the buffalo's was, at least statistically. But less encouraging is the knowledge that saving the fish will require international cooperation on a worldwide scale. The United Nations developed a plan last year to restore fish populations over the next dozen years, and international efforts have stabilized some species in some areas, albeit at low numbers.
What the new study makes plain is that these voluntary efforts probably are not enough, and that the targets they set for restoration are much too low. In many areas of the northern hemisphere, there are no population numbers for the fish that predate industrial harvesting, which began about 1950, so the previous estimates of what a true restoration would look like are grossly insufficient.
It would be nuts to allow the last fisherman to pull the last fish from the sea. But unless action is taken now, that is where things are headed.

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8) Mercury baby fears eased

UK (May 16,2003) - Babies' brain development is unlikely to be impaired by exposure to mercury found in contaminated fish while they are still in the womb, research suggests.

There has been widespread concern that mothers who eat certain types of ocean fish may be compromising their baby's development.

This is because some species of fish - including tuna, shark, swordfish and marlin - absorb mercury which is released into the sea as pollution from burning household and industrial waste.

Exposure to the metal has been linked to damage to the brain and nervous system. It has also been linked to fertility problems.

The UK's Food Standards Agency advised pregnant women earlier this year to limit their consumption of tuna to two medium size cans of tuna a week.

However, a new study published in The Lancet medical journal suggests that women have little to worry about.

A team from the University of Rochester focused on mothers and children in the Seychelles - where fish in the main component of the local diet.

The mothers who took part in the study averaged 12 fish meals a week - compared with just one per week in the US.

A battery of tests on the children found no evidence that their development had been hindered by exposure to mercury.

Re-consideration

In an accompanying commentary, Dr Constantine Lyketsos from Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, says: "On balance, the existing evidence suggests that methyl mercury exposure from fish consumption during pregnancy, of the level seen in most parts of the world, does not have measurable cognitive or behavioural effects in later childhood.

"For now, there is no reason for pregnant women to reduce fish consumption below current levels, which are probably safe."

The World Health Organization is due to discuss the problem of mercury contamination in fish at a meeting next month.

In a statement the FSA said it had been advised by its independent advisory Committee on Toxicity that it should reconsider its opinion on mercury in fish after this meeting.

"Current FSA advice, based on the COT's review of existing scientific knowledge, is for women who are pregnant, planning pregnancy or breastfeeding to avoid eating fish with the highest levels of mercury (shark, swordfish or marlin), and not to eat fish with moderate levels of mercury (tuna) too often.

"The agency will take the conclusions of both the WHO and the COT into account during its review of benefits and risks of fish consumption."

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13) Broadband Based On Behaviour

Intensive online activities are likely the cause for conversion from dial-up to broadband for many Internet users, according to research from Pew Internet & American Life Project, as the research firm recognized a correlation between specific online behaviors and the need for high-speed access.

Pew found that broadband users are extraordinarily active information gatherers, multimedia users, and content creators, and dial-up users with 6 or more years online that engage in similar activities are most likely to switch to high-speed. In fact, Pew found that of those dial-up users who are contemplating broadband, 43 percent logged 6 or more years online, compared to 30 percent of those online for 3 years or less.

Greater disparities in these behaviours are seen between less experienced dial-up users and those with broadband connections.

Daily Internet Activities
Broadband
Users Experienced
Dial-Up
Users Dial-Up
Users
News 41% 35% 23%
Research for Work 30% 30% 15%
Participation in Group 12% 11% 4%
Content Creation 11% 9% 3%
Stream Multimedia 21% 13% 7%
Download Music 13% 3% 3%
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project (US only)

In the USA, The 13 percent of dial-up users that are considering conversion are more likely to subscribe to cable modem, as cable currently accounts for 67 percent of the U.S. broadband connections . up from 63 percent in a March 2002 survey.

An analysis of the broadband market in Australia from Jupiter Research reveals that cable operators will account for roughly half of Australia's residential broadband Internet subscribers by year end. The rapidly growing number of DSL connections is a function of the technology's greater reach and availability, says Niki Scevak - Senior Analyst for Jupiter Research.

Australian Residential Broadband Picture 2003
End 2002 End 2003
Cable Connections 180,000 300,000
DSL Connections 120,000 325,000
TOTAL 300,000 625,000

"Australia's broadband population is rapidly growing. The perception of Australia being a broadband laggard is false - with uptake now rivalling countries like England, Norway and Germany," Scevak concluded.

Robyn Greenspan, Source: Jupiter Research

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14) Rogue fish fled farm

AN investigation into the massive increase in the number of juvenile kingfish in Spencer Gulf waters has found they are escapees from fish farms.

The initial findings have confirmed the views held by recreational and professional fishing groups opposed to the rapid expansion of kingfish farms around the state.

The investigation – being conducted by the South Australian Research and Development Institute and Adelaide University researchers – was ordered by Fisheries Minister Paul Holloway in February following concerns escaped kingfish were damaging sensitive breeding areas for species including king george whiting, garfish and squid.

Kingfish farm operators at Whyalla and at Arno Bay on eastern Eyre Peninsula have admitted more than 20,000 juvenile kingfish have escaped from their cages over the past eight months.

Primary Industries and Resources SA general manager of aquaculture Ian Nightingale said the SARDI researchers had so far caught just over 100 kingfish from the wild and taken 100 kingfish from farms.

The wild fish had been caught in upper, central and lower Spencer Gulf.

"In upper Spencer Gulf they (the wild fish) seem to be largely farm fish," Mr Nightingale said.

"As you move down the gulf some of the fish that were taken around the Sir Joseph Banks Group were wild, non farmed fish.

"Interestingly, the numbers they wanted to catch dropped off considerably as they went down the gulf."

The researchers found a large number of the escapees caught in the wild suffered deformities of the head and mouth and some spinal curvature. Many farmed kingfish exhibit similar deformities.

They are now being examined by researchers who will compare biological features of the two groups of fish.

"That will effectively validate their early findings," Mr Nightingale said.

"These are the sorts of things the minister and the director of fisheries will examine for fisheries management issues."

Since the kingfish farmers had been under increasing scrutiny they have improved their management practices to reduce escapes of fish.

"They have started to become more aware about their practices, such as removing mortalities which trigger a shark biting a hole in a cage," he said.

"If you can take the cause away then you can reduce the number of escapes."

One company at Arno Bay had also ordered steel cages to eliminate shark damage.

"They use them in the Northern Territory to protect against crocodile attacks and they are working well," he said.

Mr Nightingale said he was not concerned at reports of kingfish feed pellets being found in the gut contents of snapper caught around the kingfish farms in Fitzgerald Bay, near Whyalla.

Inquiries had been made about whether there were any additives in the food that would harm wild fish stocks, but there were none

By NIGEL HUNT 26may03