|
----------------------------------------
Back
to top
----------------------------------------
4)
Politics: Kiwis count US
trade cost
New Zealand business still stands to lose
out even if soothing noises from ministers on a free-trade deal with the
US turn out to be true.
The government has gone into major damage control following US trade
representative Robert Zoellick's comments which appeared to kill New
Zealand's hopes for a free-trade agreement.
The US embassy also took the rare step of issuing a statement pointing out
that "contrary to recent suggestions in the press here, US decisions on
free-trade agreements are not based solely on any one factor" and that
other issues include "political, security and other elements of the
bilateral relationship."
As The National Business Review reported in April, the New Zealand
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Mfat) has been slow to realise that
the US no longer put trade and defence/security issues in separate,
hermetically sealed compartments.
The fiction that they did a relic of the Cold War thinking of the
mid-1980s Anzus row has died hard within the Labour government.
But Prime Minister Helen Clark and Trade Negotiations Minister Jim Sutton
have remained optimistic about an eventual free-trade deal with the US.
However the problem for New Zealand businesses is the Australian factor.
The US government has clearly fast-tracked a deal for the Australians and
is putting pressure on the US Congress to approve an agreement.
The government's own analysis here shows that the main economic impact of
any free-trade deal would be in the first year or so and that it will be
in the area of investment and skills.
A study carried out for the government last year by the Institute of
Economic Research (NZIER) showed the main impact of the Australians
getting a deal ahead of New Zealand would be a "announcement effect" over
the first few years.
But the impact over the medium to long term on investment and skills in
New Zealand would also be significantly negative.
The study found the industries most likely to be affected were dairy,
forestry, seafood and some manufacturing all vital to the New Zealand
economy.
"These sectors have significant Australian investments in production
systems. They are also subject to US trade barriers," a Mfat/cabinet paper
followup to the NZIER report concluded in November.
And a cable from the ministry to embassies in January this year pointed
out New Zealand could "suffer economic harm, particularly through
investment diversion if the US and Australia proceed with an free-trade
agreement without a similar agreement being negotiated between the US and
New Zealand."
Even if soothing noises from ministers following the latest Labour/US
dust-up are correct, and that an agreement for New Zealand is still on the
cards, there is still likely to be a significant problem for New Zealand
business once an agreement with Australia is signed.
The other spin from the Beehive is that any New Zealand deal would have
problems because of the agricultural component.
While true, that has not stopped the US administration going into bat for
the Australians.
The well-publicised comments from Ms Clark, that an Al Gore presidency
would have handled Iraq differently and by implication better, have
made life much more difficult for New Zealand's trade negotiators.
This came when US troops were under fire in Iraq and when the war appeared
to be going badly for the US-led coalition.
Rob Hosking
----------------------------------------
Back
to top
----------------------------------------
5)
Hoki sales under
threat because of poor quality
Quality is a "serious problem" in the hoki industry and fishing companies
need to do more to improve it, according to Sealord chief executive Doug
McKay.
Unilever, which distributes frozen fish products throughout Europe, has
warned that it could turn its back on New Zealand hoki because of quality
issues.
The warning was delivered to a Maori Commercial Fisheries Conference in
Auckland yesterday by Volker Kuntzsch, German-based buying director of
Unilever subsidiary Frozen Fish International.
Mr McKay said Nelson-based Sealord had brought Mr Kuntzsch to New Zealand
to help spread the message that more needed to be done.
"No doubt about it, we have a quality problem," Mr McKay said.
He said suppliers were "all in the same hoki boat together" and if one
company let the side down, it reflected on everyone.
Sealord is the largest hoki quota holder in the country and employs more
than 400 temporary staff during the hoki season.
He said he had made quality his goal at Sealord since joining the company
last year.
Unilever buys its hoki exclusively from New Zealand because of its Marine
Stewardship Council certification of sustainability.
This year it will buy 3500 tonnes of frozen fillet block, down from 8000
tonnes last year. That was a big chunk of last year's total sales of
18,000 tonnes, earning $89 million.
Mr McKay said a number of suppliers had dropped out but Sealord remained a
supplier to Unilever. He would not be drawn on the tonnages of fillet
block it was supplying for reasons of commercial sensitivity.
Mr Kuntzsch said the number of bloodshots in the fish - which led to
complaints from customers - was continually pushing Unilever's quality
standard.
The problem had become so bad that the Netherlands now refused to take New
Zealand hoki. Mr Kuntzsch said it would be some years before the Dutch
would restock it.
Other species such as Alaska pollock, which is expected to get MSC
certification this year, would challenge hoki's place in European markets,
he said.
"Germany, the United Kingdom and other countries are saying, `If you don't
do something immediately, we won't take your hoki - especially if another
sustainable species comes up'."
Hoki Fishery Management Company chief executive Richard Cade said
Unilever's comments were a "timely reminder" to the industry to maintain
quality.
"If we want to market overseas, we have to have a quality product," he
said.
Mr Cade said it was up to individual seafood companies to ensure their
export hoki was up to standard. However, the management company would
probably look at the quality issue too, since it was the industry's
umbrella body.
Some of the larger fishing companies - including Sealord and Sanford - had
to increase the quality of their fish, Mr Kuntzsch said.
This could be achieved by not dragging hoki nets for so long, and by
hiring good staff.
He said companies should not be afraid to pay more for good staff because
it would earn them a return.
While Unilever's discontent was hinted at last year in the Seafood
industry magazine, Seafood Industry Council spokesman Simon Thomas said
the message had been delivered with more force.
29 May 2003, BY
STAFF REPORTERS AND NZPA
----------------------------------------
Back
to top
----------------------------------------
6) Trawlers
blamed for plight of underwater 'rainforest'
Scientists have raised the alarm about
fishing trawlers that are destroying deepwater coral around New Zealand as
far south as Fiordland.
The trawlers, fishing for deepwater species such as oreo and orange roughy,
drag nets along the seafloor using heavy cylinders designed to ride over
uneven ground.
As well as fish, they are catching "trees" of fragile coral that sometimes
grow 5m to 10m high - up to 2km under the sea.
Some scientists and environmentalists want the Government to ban trawling
on more underwater "seamounts" where the coral grow. Nineteen of the 800
known seamounts in New Zealand's exclusive economic zone were protected
from trawling two years ago.
Dr Steve O'Shea, a squid and octopus specialist who quit his job with the
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) in January to
speak out on marine policies, said trawlers had scooped up hundreds of
thousands of tonnes of coral from seamounts in the past 25 years.
" They are wiping it out. It's been going on since 1979."
He said 105 different species of coral had been identified so far in New
Zealand waters from the Far North to south of the South Island. More were
found last month in a joint New Zealand and Australian expedition around
Norfolk Island.
Unlike tropical coral, deepwater coral species usually live below human
diving depths, although they are found in shallower waters in shady places
such as under the arches in the Poor Knights Islands and inside the fiords
of Fiordland.
Since they grow typically at only 1.5mm a year and live for 400 to 500
years, they may take many centuries to recover from trawler damage.
In his book Deep New Zealand, Otago University marine biologist Peter
Batson wrote: "Anecdotal accounts of fishing virgin seamounts tell of
trawl nets filled with coral trees, and of repeated hauls over the same
seamount yielding progressively fewer and fewer coral fragments.
"Though we may never know, it is quite possible that undiscovered species
have become extinct in the last two decades through deepwater fishing,
without our ever encountering them."
A Niwa report in 1999 said six trawls on previously unfished seamounts
caught 3000kg of coral.
In contrast, 13 trawls on seamounts in areas which had been fished on the
northwest Chatham Rise, east of the South Island, caught only 5kg of
coral.
"These animals grow very slowly. We know they are very fragile, and we
have a pretty good idea of the way things look," said Mr Batson.
"Aside from the corals is a host of invertebrate species that rely on the
coral in order to survive, so when the coral goes, so do some of the other
invertebrates. There are a number of crustaceans and things that are
physically growing on the coral."
Another Otago marine biologist, Dr Keith Probert, said that despite their
great depth, the deepwater corals supported "a huge diversity of
associated organisms" that made them "like a rainforest" in ecological
terms.
He said the 19 seamounts that were protected in 2001 "doesn't sound like a
huge number when you consider the size of the New Zealand exclusive
economic zone".
A senior policy analyst for the Ministry of Fisheries, Stuart Brodie, said
the ministry was looking at options for further protection of the
seamounts.
"While we have been looking at what further action is required, nothing
definite has been developed, but we are undertaking an ongoing review of
this issue," he said.
"Part of the equation is to provide the right incentives for the industry
to modify their own behaviour."
The ministry aimed to create a framework of standards that could identify
where fishing was sustainable and the environmental impact minimised.
"So we are trying to create the right incentives, but to build up the
information takes time and cost. In the meantime you still want a viable
fishing industry."
* Dr O'Shea will speak on giant squid, in lecture theatre AA236 at
Auckland University of Technology on June 10 at 5pm.
On the web: Oceans
Kiwi corals
Coral structures are built by tiny animals whose shells remain after the
animals have died.
Deep-sea corals grow on continental margins, in canyons and on seamounts,
generally between 250m and 1500m below sea level.
Deep-sea coral animals build extremely slowly but live for hundreds of
years.
Deep-sea black coral "trees" grow up to 5m high and some "bubblegum" coral
structures can be up to 10m high.
The coral structures are extremely fragile and easily damaged by trawlers.
02.06.2003 By
SIMON COLLINS science reporter
----------------------------------------
Back
to top
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
Back
to top
----------------------------------------
1)
Net widens on fishing ban
A THIRD of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park will be closed to all
fishing to protect it from degradation under a controversial plan due to
be released today.
Underwater diving on the Great Barrier reef / AAP
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority had indicated that 25 per
cent would be protected in so-called "green" zones.
However, it is now pushing for 32 per cent.
Under its draft program, another 1.4 per cent near major coastal towns
would be set aside for recreational anglers in "yellow" zones.
The draft plan by the Federal Government agency would lead to a six-fold
increase, from 4.7 per cent, in the area of the Reef under a total fishing
ban.
Marine park authority spokesman Bruce Kingston said the plan was an
insurance policy against man-made and natural crisis.
"There are 30 Reef and 40 non-Reef bioregions in the park, however the
non-Reef areas are poorly protected," he said. "Our principle, developed
by scientific panels, are that at least 20 per cent of each bioregion
should be in no-take zones and they should be large and arranged to ensure
connectivity.
"But we have taken into account socio-economic impacts so the minimum
number of people are affected."
The Whitsunday Islands would be almost exclusively reserved for
recreational fishing zones. There would be a significant zone to the south
at Repulse Bay where a total ban would apply.
Other zones reserved for recreational fishing would be around Mission
Beach, the northeastern corner of Hinchinbrook Island, a region south of
Port Douglas, a strip around Cooktown and the popular eastern section of
Bowling Green Bay, southeast of Townsville.
The new fully protected areas would cover most tourist reefs and islands
off Cairns and Daintree, an area south of Port Douglas, most of the Swains
reefs off Yeppoon, coastal waters north of Gladstone and Mackay,
Shoalwater Bay and most of Bowling Green Bay.
While boating, diving and photography would be allowed, even fishing for
research would be extremely limited. There would be no recreational or
commercial fishing at all. Also banned would be aquaculture, bait netting,
collecting plants, fish and shellfish, crabbing and spearfishing.
The Courier-Mail,
By Brendan O'Malley June 2, 2003
----------------------------------------
Back
to top
----------------------------------------
2) Plan
to rescue ravaged reef,
Fines of up to $3000 will apply for anyone caught illegally fishing
PROTECTION of the Great Barrier Reef against over-fishing and coral
damage will increase sixfold under a rescue plan to be unveiled today.
Federal Environment Minister David Kemp last night predicted the plan
would rescue the endangered reef.
"It's a turnaround that will create the largest network of protected
marine areas in the world," Dr Kemp said.
Only 4.5 per cent of the reef is now protected by so-called "no-take"
zones where activities such as fishing and coral removal are banned. Under
proposals Dr Kemp will announce today, that figure would jump to about 30
per cent.
Fines of up to $3000 will apply for anyone caught illegally fishing or
coral collecting.
Patrols by rangers are already intensifying with Queensland police and
Australian Federal Police joining in.
Global positioning satellite technology will be used to pinpoint illegal
fishing boats straying into the new zones.
Dr Kemp said the new measures would bolster the environmental protection
the reef already had under its World Heritage listing.
He predicted the protection of fish breeding grounds would reverse threats
to stocks of coral trout and mackerel.
"There will be an increase in the numbers and size of fish as fish
populations multiply within the green zones and eventually overlap outside
the zones," Dr Kemp said.
However, a battle looms with commercial fishermen and recreational
anglers.
Queensland has 900,000 licensed recreational fishers, with the annual
influx of tourists swelling that number by 300,000 a year. Commercial
trawling and line fishing along the reef is a $200 million annual
business.
Dr Kemp said the "no-take" zone boundaries had been drafted with favourite
fishing sites in mind. He said there was only a 3 per cent reduction
proposed in areas where fishing trawlers now operated.
"Great care has been taken to minimise impacts on existing users,
particularly commercial and recreational fishers and the tourist
industry," he said.
The complexity of drafting the new boundaries is shown by the fact that
the reef contains 70 individual eco-systems -- each requiring protection.
"By ensuring a reasonable amount of each of the 70 bio-regions is in a
protected zone, we can retain for future generations the unique and iconic
status of the Great Barrier Reef," Dr Kemp said.
Scientists have told the Government the new boundaries would place every
section of the reef on an ecologically sustainable footing for the first
time.
"This plan will set a new international standard for reef protection," Dr
Kemp said. The public will have until August 4 to comment on the plan.
By MICHAEL HARVEY, chief politics
reporter 02 jun03
----------------------------------------
Back
to top
----------------------------------------
11) S.
Korea Fires Warning Shots at N. Korean Fishing Boats
SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea's navy fired warning
shots today after three North Korean fishing boats entered
the South's territory, South Korea's Defense Ministry
said. There were no immediate reports of damage or
injuries.
The incident occurred near Yongpyong Island west of the
Korean peninsula.
The fishing boats turned back after South Korea's navy
ships fired shots into sky, a ministry spokesman said. It
was the sixth encounter between North and South Korean
vessels along the disputed western sea border in seven
days.
The maritime border between the two Koreas is not clearly
marked, and North Korean fishing boats occasionally cross
over into South Korean waters during the crab catching
season, which peaks in June.
South Korea is studying whether the repeated violations
are intentional, a military spokesman said. It sent a
protest letter to North Korea on Wednesday, urging
Pyongyang to prevent such crossings.
On Thursday, North Korea accused South Korean navy ships
of repeatedly violating its territorial waters off the
western coast and warned of "irrevocable serious
consequences."
South Korea's Defense Ministry rejected the accusations as
false.
Tension along the border comes as North Korea is locked in
a standoff over its suspected development of nuclear
weapons. The United States is mustering international
pressure on the North to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
South Korea recognizes a western sea border demarcated by
the United Nations after the end of the 1950-53 Korean
War. North Korea claims a boundary farther south.
By Soo-Jeong Lee,
The Associated Press
----------------------------------------
Back
to top
----------------------------------------
3)
Seafood council critical of jetty levy
The South Australian Seafood Council has
criticised a new levy on jetty use for commercial fishers handed down in
the state Budget.
Council director Bernie Lange says all commercial fishing boats above a
specified length will be taxed.
He says the levy is unfair because the commercial fishing industry is not
the only user of jetties.
"This particular responsibility lies with the Government because all users
use the jetty and indeed most fisherman don't use the jetties, they use
private marinas and regularly take their fish to shore on the beach," Mr
Lange said.
A spokesman for Transport Minister Michael Wright says the fee structure
of the levy is yet to be determined but it will not apply to the use of
all jetties.
----------------------------------------
Back
to top
----------------------------------------
7)
Consumers Hooked on Seafood
Labels
Consumer awareness of farmed salmon,
over-fishing helps boost seafood certified as sustainably harvested
[PORTLAND, ORE.] --- When Dan Wasil plucks a white Styrofoam package of
pink fish from the grocery store cooler, he gives the "Fresh Atlantic
Salmon" plastic label no more than a second thought.
"I assume that it comes from the Atlantic, but really I have no idea,"
says Wasil, a longtime Portlander who works as development director for a
nonprofit. "I figure its healthy since it comes from the ocean."
While Wasil says he is careful to check labels for hormones on chicken and
eggs, when he's picking fish, "I'm relying on someone up the food chain to
let me know what I'm eating."
Most Americans -- even those fanatical about eating only organic -- assume
that since seafood grows in the ocean it is by its very nature safe for
the environment and safe for consumption. Not necessarily. Some seafood is
over-fished, and some is caught and farmed in ways that damage ecosystems.
Yet navigating the glut of information about seafood can be overwhelming
for those who want a quick pre-packaged fillet for dinner.
Help may be on the way. The Marine Stewardship Council, an international
nonprofit with U.S. headquarters in Seattle, has created a label that
designates seafood as sustainably harvested and managed. Snaring attention
from a growing number of processors, restaurants and retailers, the new
program hopes to compel consumers to watch what sort of fish they're
buying from the grocery store. Due in part to seafood guides compiled by
groups such as the Audubon Society and the Monterey Bay Aquarium,
sustainable seafood is just now becoming a catch phrase in the United
States. But it's a movement that appears to be growing.
"Consumers have the power to encourage sustainable fishing by choosing
fisheries that use ocean friendly methods," says Jolyn Warford of Whole
Foods Market Inc.
For decades, overfishing and pollution have spelled trouble for certain
fish stocks. By the early 1990s, cod, salmon and groundfish began to
collapse.
Surveying the rubble of the industry, processing giant Unilever and the
World Wildlife Fund wanted to create a program that would target the
consumer rather than politically vulnerable legislation. In 1997, the pair
created the Marine Stewardship Council to devise a standard for
responsibly fisheries management. Now an independent organization, the
council facilitates a third-party certification process in which
scientists evaluate fisheries based on stock status, impacts to the
ecosystem and the effectiveness of management systems.
"We wanted a positive program that would reward fishermen for responsible
management," says council spokesperson Karen Tarica. "Our label is a quick
and easy way for consumers to know that what they're eating is a good
choice."
So far the council has certified seven fisheries, and eight more,
including California salmon and Oregon Dungeness crab, are undergoing
assessment. Although certification is relatively pricey -- it can cost as
much as $100,000 -- proponents say its worth it: Alaska salmon fishermen
are now selling their fish on the European market for the first time; New
Zealand Hoki fishermen have doubled their sales; and the European Herring
market is up by 50 percent, says Tarica.
Since Whole Foods Market, a natural foods grocery chain, began to
prioritize Marine Stewardship Council certified seafood last summer, fish
with the blue label have outsold other products across the board.
"We've gotten tons of support and feedback from out customers," says
Warford of Whole Foods. "People seem to like the idea that they can use
their dollars to send a message."
The positive response has spurred many fisheries to apply for
certification.
"It creates a niche market and the label makes our product stand out,"
says Nick Furman of the Oregon Dungeness crab Commission. "More and more
people are concerned with where their food comes from and we want to be in
the front of the bus."
Still, some fishing organizations worry that the science-based definition
of sustainability doesn't consider socioeconomics. Hit hard by declining
runs and a glut of farmed seafood, many fishers are "just squeaking by,"
says Zeke Grader of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's
Associations.
If consumers want to foster the long-term future of seafood they must
consider if it is produced in a way that maintains the long-term economic
health of communities, says Grader. He says that if family fishing
operations decline, corporations that have less vested in future
generations can take over.
Merely focusing on biological sustainability is controversial because
there are so many scientific unknowns about different fisheries, says
Michael Morrissey, director of Oregon State University's Seafood
Laboratory, a research facility in Astoria. But despite the difficulties,
he agrees that the industry and consumers are overdue for this discussion.
"In the Northwest we have lost 90 percent of our old growth, and salmon
stocks are flailing across the board," says Mark Plunkett, a spokesperson
for the Seattle Aquarium. "We have a history in the region of losing our
natural resource icons."
"Consumers have a choice, they can look around and say, 'Not again.' These
programs help people be as proactive as possible instead of helping to
write an obituary for yet another species."
by REBECCA CLARREN | posted 05.29.03 |
----------------------------------------
Back
to top
----------------------------------------
10) Fishermen
Warn Of Cash Crisis
SCOTTISH fishermen and their agents are in danger of
going bust due to delays in paying out compensation money
agreed more than three months ago, it was claimed
yesterday.
Earlier this year the Scottish Executive promised to pay
out £50 million towards decommissioning and tying up
fishing vessels hit by the European cod conservation
package agreed last December.
Yesterday Hansen Black, chief executive of the Shetland
Fishermen's Association, warned that boats and agents were
now being "stretched to breaking point" because those
payments had not been received to help them through the
current crisis.
Mr Black added that the local fishing agents, which were
bankrolling the fishing boats through their difficulties,
were also facing a crisis due to the delays in payments.
Hamish Morrison, chief executive of the Scottish
Fishermen's Federation, said he believed the £50 million
package for Scottish fishermen had been caught up in
Brussels bureaucracy within the European state
aid-monitoring unit.
"What is especially frustrating about this is that other
countries, most notably France, tend to bring in these
schemes and just work on the principle that it will be
alright on the night," he said.
In contrast, the Scottish Executive has refused to grant
cash aid until Europe has given it the green light.
Shetland MSP Tavish Scott said: "I am aware that the
Scottish Executive has to seek clearance for the
transitional aid scheme from Brussels, but I am concerned
that, while the Commission considers it, fishermen are
suffering from very real cash flow problems."
Published on: May 29,
2003
----------------------------------------
Back
to top
----------------------------------------
9)
Fear Of More Salmon
Dumping
INDEPENDENTLY owned salmon farming companies in the
Highlands and Islands are concerned their businesses could
be damaged when the control on imported salmon prices
imposed by the EC in 1997 comes to an end.
The minimum import price, imposed after evidence was
gathered that some Norwegian producers were dumping salmon
into Europe at prices below production costs, was due to
end last year, but controls have continued during
discussions on whether or not a replacement system is
required. Many smaller companies fear that no new controls
will be imposed and that a market free-for-all, with the
potential of huge volumes of farmed salmon coming in from
Norway and Chile, could put them out of business.
Calum Macdonald, MP for the Western Isles, has been
pressing the UK Government to take action. He and
independent farmers’ representative Angus Morgan have also
raised the issue in Brussels. “I have received the full
backing of Baroness Simon and the Department of Trade and
Industry, and they have raised it with the EC.” Mr
Macdonald said he believes the EC should put in place a
surveillance mechanism to monitor the amount of farmed
salmon coming into the EC. But the EC is resisting UK
pressure so far
He also wants to mobilise support in the European
Parliament: “I have spoken to the MEP Bill Miller and he
is trying to arrange further meetings in Brussels, which I
hope to attend along with representatives of the
independent farmed salmon producers.”
Published on: May 28, 2003
----------------------------------------
Back to top
----------------------------------------
12)
Cover Study of Nature Provides Startling New Evidence that
Only 10% of All Large Fish are Left in Global Ocean,
90% of All Large Fish Including Tuna, Marlin, Swordfish,
Sharks, Cod and Halibut are Gone
Leading Scientists Say Need to Attempt Restoration on a
Global Scale is Urgent
(May 15, 2003) Washington, D.C. -- The cover story of the
May 15th issue of the international journal Nature reveals
that we have only 10% of all large fish‹both open ocean
species including tuna, swordfish, marlin and the large
groundfish such as cod, halibut, skates and flounder‹left
in the sea. Most strikingly, the study shows that
industrial fisheries take only ten to fifteen years to
grind any new fish community they encounter to one tenth
of what it was before.
"From giant blue marlin to mighty bluefin tuna, and from
tropical groupers to Antarctic cod, industrial fishing has
scoured the global ocean. There is no blue frontier left,"
says lead author Ransom Myers, a world leading fisheries
biologist based at Dalhousie University in Canada. "Since
1950, with the onset of industrialized fisheries, we have
rapidly reduced the resource base to less than 10% not
just in some areas, not just for some stocks, but for
entire communities of these large fish species from the
tropics to the poles."
This study not only confirms the bad news emerging from
individual fisheries showing that species like cod can be
fished below recovery, but it also reveals a grim global
mosaic that demands immediate action. "The impact we have
had on ocean ecosystems has been vastly underestimated,"
says co-author Boris Worm of Dalhousie University and the
University of Kiel in Germany. "These are the megafauna,
the big predators of the sea, and the species we most
value. Their depletion not only threatens the future of
these fish and the fishers that depend on them, it could
also bring about a complete re-organization of ocean
ecosystems, with unknown global consequences."
Taking 10 years to assemble data sets representing all
major fisheries in the world, the authors constructed
trajectories of biomass and composition of large predatory
fish communities from four continental shelves and nine
oceanic systems, from the beginning of exploitation to the
present. For shelf ecosystems they used data from
standardized research trawl surveys to track the decline
in the populations of large fishes.
Most surprising are the new discoveries from oceanic
systems where people have presumed there are still
untapped reservoirs of large fish. To measure the decline
in open ocean ecosystems, the researchers gained access to
Japanese longlining data. Pelagic longlines are the most
widespread fishing gear, and the Japanese fleet the most
widespread longline operation, covering all oceans except
the circumpolar seas. Longlines catch a wide range of
species in a consistent way over vast areas. "Whereas
longlines used to catch 10 fish per 100 hooks, now they
are lucky to catch one," says Myers.
"The longlining data tell a story we have not heard
before. It is coherent and consistent throughout, and it
comes from a single source," says Daniel Pauly, a
world-renowned fisheries scientist from the University of
British Columbia. "It shows how Japanese longlining has
expanded globally. It is like a hole burning through
paper. As the hole expands, the edge is where the
fisheries concentrate until there is nowhere left to go.
Because longlining technology has improved, the authors'
estimates are conservative. If the catch rate has dropped
by a factor of ten and the technology has improved, the
declines are even greater than they are saying."
Shocking Results Are Hard to Accept
Myers and Worm sent their findings to many of the top
fisheries scientists in the world for review. "We found
there was acceptance of the overall pattern of rapid
depletion of communities, but there was more controversy
when it came to the current status of individual species,
particularly with respect to tuna," says Myers.
"Understandably, some fisheries managers find it very hard
to accept."
"This is because we have forgotten what we used to have,"
says Jeremy Jackson of the Scripps Institution of
Oceanography. "We had oceans full of heroic fish -
literally sea monsters. People used to harpoon three-meter
long swordfish in rowboats. Hemingway's Old Man and the
Sea was for real."
Myers and Worm observe that the tendency in fisheries
biology to use only the most recent data increases the
problem of shifting baselines. These great fish are not
only declining in numbers, but with intense fishing
pressure they can never attain the sizes they once did.
"Where detailed data are available we see that the average
size of these top predators is only fifth to one half of
what is used to be. The few blue marlin today reach one
fifth of the weight they once had. In many cases, the fish
caught today are under such intense fishing pressure, they
never even have the chance to reproduce," says Myers.
This is something Ransom Myers has seen before. He was one
of the leading Canadian scientists who fought hard to save
the cod. In the 1980's Myers was a fisheries biologist
with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in
Newfoundland. "No one understood how fast the decline
happened at the end - it was only a couple of years," says
Myers. "The quotas had been too high. They refused to slow
down because they had seen lots of little fish coming in -
a good year class. The little fish were caught and
discarded and there was no future."
Global Implications Require International Collaboration
Myers' most recent findings raise critical questions at a
much larger scale. "This isn't about just about one
species," he says. "The sustainability of fisheries is
being severely compromised worldwide." At the Johannesburg
World Summit on Sustainable Development, 192 Nations
called on the global community to restore world fisheries
stocks to levels that can provide maximum sustainable
yield by 2015. The authors of this comprehensive new study
say their results provide the "missing baseline" needed to
restore fisheries and marine ecosystems to healthy levels.
"Numbers dropped fastest during the first years, as
fisheries moved into new areas, says Worm, "often before
any fisheries management protocols were in place‹and
before anyone was looking." Without this baseline
information, most scientists and managers are hardly aware
of the profound magnitude of change that took place at the
beginning of almost every major fishery. As a result,
managers today are working hard to stabilize the last
10%‹often unaware that the virgin biomass of their fishery
was once ten times greater. But there is some good news
too: "In most regions we saw increases in faster-growing
species which seemed to fill in for overfished stocks.
This points to the recovery potential for the community at
large," Worm says. "But unfortunately we often switch
fishing pressure to species that are doing well, and drive
them down in turn. This sabotages recovery."
The solution to this global problem is simple, say the
scientists, yet it is extremely hard to do in practice.
Recovery requires overall reduction of fishing mortality
(the percentage of fish killed each year). This includes
reducing quotas, reducing overall effort, cutting
subsidies, reducing bycatch and creating networks of
marine reserves. Myers argues, "A minimum reduction of 50%
of fishing mortality may be necessary to avoid further
declines of particularly sensitive species." He further
emphasizes, "If stocks were restored to higher abundance
we could get just as much fish out of the ocean by putting
in only 1/3 to 1/10 of the effort. It would be difficult
for fishermen initially‹but they will see the gains in the
long run."
This may sound drastic, but consider a world where tuna,
sharks and swordfish, are merely memories. "We are in
massive denial and continue to bicker over the last
shrinking numbers of survivors, employing satellites and
sensors to catch the last fish left," says Myers. "We have
to understand how close to extinction some of these
populations really are. And we must act now, before they
have reached the point of no return. I want there to be
hammerhead sharks and bluefin tuna around when my
five-year-old son grows up. If present fishing levels
persist, these great fish will go the way of the
dinosaurs."
###
For access to maps and photographs go to http://fish.dal.ca
when embargo lifts
For B-roll please contact jbrown@seaweb.org
For vintage photos of these heroic fish of yesterday: Go
to www.antiquefishingreels.com and click on "classic
fishing."
CONTACT: SeaWeb
Jessica Brown (202)
483-9570
jbrown@seaweb.org
Contact info for authors:
Ransom A. Myers
Killam Chair in Ocean Studies
Dept. of Biology
Dalhousie University
Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3J5
Canada
Phone: 902-494-1755
Home: 902-492-1403
Fax: 902-494-3736
Ransom.Myers@Dal.Ca
----------------------------------------
Back to top
----------------------------------------
8)
Action on Skills
for Scottish Aquaculture
FOLLOWING the Sea Change conference in March and the launch of the
strategic framework for Scottish aquaculture, Lantra has announced that
the initial phase of its Labour Market Intelligence research has been
completed.
As a result of the research findings and following a consultation
exercise, Lantra's Industry Group has produced an Action Plan for the
aquaculture industry. Lantra will focus on a range of activities,
addressing the skills needs and business development issues for the
aquaculture industry throughout the UK.
Helping to raise awareness of the revised SVQ in Aquaculture, Lantra
recently held two employer awareness events in Shetland and Fort William,
in conjunction with the North Atlantic Fisheries College and Inverness
College, who are both providers of the SVQ in Aquaculture.
"We were extremely pleased with the response from employers and their
interest and enthusiasm for the SVQ," said Billy Sweeney, Lantra's
Regional Development Consultant for the Highlands and Islands.
According to Lantra, SVQ qualification, available at level two and three,
can bring real commercial benefits to employers and employees who can
specialise their training to focus on salmon, trout or four species of
shell-fish, whilst gaining hands-on experiences and earning a wage
Published on: May 27, 2003
----------------------------------------
Back
to top
----------------------------------------
13)
Grave fears for skipper
ROUGH seas and 30-knot winds will hamper the resumed search today for
a trawler skipper missing after a bulk carrier struck and sunk his boat
northeast of Townsville.
Friends and family of skipper Ronny David, 55, still held hope last night
he would be found alive, despite having spent nearly 24 hours in the sea.
Townsville water police said they held grave fears for Mr David, saying he
was not a very good swimmer.
The only other person on the boat, a deckhand, was recovering at home
yesterday after he spent four hours clinging to wreckage before he was
rescued.
Police and investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau will
examine how the 225m, 70,000 tonne bulk carrier Asian Nova struck the 13m
wooden trawler Sassenach just after midnight yesterday.
A spokesman for search co-ordinators Australian Search and Rescue said
there had been initial reports the bulk carrier snagged one of the
trawler's lines and either pulled the boat under or dragged it into the
larger ship.
But trawl fishermen at the Ross River marina, where the Sassenach was
based, said they believed it was extremely unlikely another vessel could
come into contact with a trawler's nets or lines.
The AusSAR spokesman said the deckhand, 62, had confirmed the two boats
collided.
Seven aircraft and 14 vessels searched the sea about 65km northeast of
Townsville for any trace of Mr David, who was last seen heading to the
trawler's wheelhouse.
The effort was hampered by 30 knot winds and rough seas.
Friends said the missing man was a champion drag racer with a passion for
racing, fishing and parties.
"That's all I ever knew him to do," a friend said.
Another friend added: "He was good at all three."
With his car "Ton a Fun" Mr David was Australian champion in the Super
Sedan class in 1987.
He had a wall of trophies at his Bushland Beach home for club, regional
and state championship wins.
"Anyone who went to the drags, they might not know him but they know the
car," a friend said.
The friends said the career fisherman had always tried to fit his work
around his passion for racing.
Sassenach's owners Colin and Carol Jones would not talk about the accident
yesterday.
"We're just waiting to hear from Ron," Mrs Jones said.
Late yesterday afternoon searchers found the wreck on the seabed, off Palm
Island.
It was located using information from a compulsory satellite tracking
system designed for fisheries officers to pinpoint where trawlers were
working on the Great Barrier Reef.
The search was scaled down last night and weather conditions in the area
will dictate how it is continued today.
Water police Inspector Chris Reeves said winds of up to 30 knots were
expected to continue today.
"A sea search would be very difficult if not dangerous."
Insp Reeves said search co-ordinators would decide whether to use a
combination of surface vessels and aircraft in today's search, or just
aircraft.
Insp Reeves said the weather also would delay any search and recovery
effort on the wreckage, in more than 40m of water, for some days.
He said the Asian Nova was anchored off Townsville and had not been
scheduled to arrive in the city until Sunday.
The Courier-Mail,
By Nathan Scholz May 29, 2003
----------------------------------------
Back
to top
----------------------------------------
14) |
NEWS
77