~ CHAPTER 2 ~ SUSTAINABLE CATCH AND FISHERY DEGRADATION ~
Edition 9 of October, 2009

(2-A) ~ Global ~ [A1]~Net Primary Production Data, [A2]~Trophic-Level Issues, [A3]~Non-Sustainable Fishing, [A4]~By-Catch, [A5]~Spawning Rate Vs. Parent Fish Size, [A6]~Over-Fishing, [A7]~Freshwater Fisheries,
(2-B) ~ Atlantic Ocean ~
(2-C) ~ Pacific Ocean ~ [C1]~General, [C2]~Northern Pacific, [C3]~Southern Pacific,
(2-D) ~ Indian Ocean ~
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NOTE: The notation (su5) means that the data is used in the document analyzing the sustainability of the productivity of the world's food, fiber and water supply systems. (See elsewhere in this website.)

SECTION (2-A) ~ Global ~ [A1]~Net Primary Production Data, [A2]~Trophic-Level Issues, [A3]~Non-Sustainable Fishing, [A4]~By-Catch, [A5]~Spawning Rate vs. Parent Fish Size, [A6]~Over-Fishing, [A7]~Freshwater Fisheries,

Global primary productivity generates 224 billion tonnes biomass/ year (dry weight). Of this, 59% is produced in terrestrial ecosystems; the remaining 41% in aquatic systems (Ref. 1 of (95P2)). Comments: Roughly 45% of this dry weight is carbon - a more commonly used measure of primary productivity or net primary productivity.

The primary production required to sustain the world fisheries catch (94.3 million tonnes/ year in 1988-91 + 27 million tonnes/ year of discarded by-catch) amounted to 8% of global aquatic primary production, nearly 4 times the previous estimate. By ecosystem type, the requirements were 2% for open ocean systems, but 24-35% in fresh water, upwelling and shelf systems (95P2). Comments: Catches by artisan and subsistence fishers are probably largely neglected here - see elsewhere in this document. The by-catch figure comes from a review of global discarding practices (Ref. 4 of (95P2)).

The bulk of aquatic primary productivity (75%) occurs in the open ocean (gyre) system (95P2). Comments: The problem is that this production is often so diffuse that the cost of catching it is often prohibitive.

The estimated primary productivity required by fish harvested in the coastal- and coral reef systems is 8.3%. This relatively low value is due to a high level of (primary) productivity; large catches at low trophic levels and over-fishing which has left the reduced fish biomass unable to use the available (primary) production (95P2).

An estimated 8% of total aquatic primary production (137,000 million tonnes (dry-weight)/ year) is needed to sustain capture fisheries, seaweed collection and aquaculture; this proportion ranges from 2% in the open ocean to 24-35% in freshwater, shelf and upwelling systems (Ref. 19 of Ref. (00N1)). Global capture fisheries (plus aquatic plants) remove 123 million tonnes/ year from seas and lakes (Ref. 20 of Ref. (00N1)), of which 27 million tonnes/ year is directly discarded as bycatch (Ref. 21 of Ref. (00N1)).

The estimated primary productivity required by fish harvested in the shelf systems ranged from 24.2 to 35.3%, mainly due to industrialized fisheries operating at high trophic levels (25.1% for upwelling systems) (95P2).

Global estimates of aquatic primary production (PP) (grams carbon/ m²/ year), catch and discards (both in grams/ m²/ year based on 1988-91 FAO data) (T. L. = Trophic Level) (Areas are in millions of km²) (95P2). (la)

A 1995 study by the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management estimated that humans extract 8% of the global (net) marine primary product - a share much higher than previously thought. In the vast open oceans, where nutrients are dispersed, the share of human removal is 2%. But for the more fertile upwelling areas, continental shelves and freshwater areas, the proportion is 25-34%. (An estimated 80-90% of commercial fish are caught within 320 km. of shore (98M1).) Humans extract 35% of (net) primary productivity from non-tropical continental shelves (98M1).

90% of ocean fish catches occur within 320 km. (200 miles) of a shoreline (89L1) as the table above suggests. 20% of oceanic plant production occurs in the 9.9% of the ocean area that lie over continental shelves (93W1).

Because continental shelves, coral reefs, and coastal upwelling zones are the most fertile fishing grounds in the oceans, about 90% of the marine catch is made within national EEZs (Exclusive Economic Zones) (98W1).

Food webs in southern ocean marine ecosystem are charted in Ref. (87M1).

Biomass Productivity of Marine habitats (grams carbon/ m³/ year) (from Gaia, an Atlas of Planet Management) (89L1)

* 2/3 of all commercially valuable fish species spend the first stage of their lives in these waters (Ref. 15 of (93W1)). Comments: To convert grams of carbon to grams of dry organic plant-matter multiply by a factor of about 2.2. The conversion for dry fish matter is not known but is probably similar.

A global map charting ocean phytoplankton productivity levels (250 mg. C/ m²/ day, 100-250, and less than 100) is on p. 12-13 of Ref. (93W1) (FAO and CIA data).

The world's major fishing grounds correspond almost exactly with the regions of highest photosynthetic productivity (93W1).

The largest part of the fishery resource is located on or above the continental shelf out to a water depth of 900 ft. (81C1).

The sea's ecological balance has shifted as species lower on the food chain replace some above them (08L1).

During the past 50 years, over-fishing has removed 90% of the large predators -- big marine fish like tuna and cod (08G1).

Warm Ocean currents like the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean and the Kuroshio Current off Japan collide with cooler waters, creating discontinuities that traps phytoplankton. These are fed upon by Zooplankton that are fed upon by smaller fish, then big fish (08G1).

The collapse of the cod fisheries in the North Atlantic has been a boon to shrimp and sea urchins (the cod's prey). This has given urchins the ability to devour the kelp forest, turning vast stretches of the sea floor into "urchin barrens." (08G1)

About 90% of large predatory marine fish (e.g. tuna, swordfish and sharks) are gone (08G1).

Phytoplankton and benthic algae are assigned a trophic level of 1. Phytoplankton is grazed mostly by copepods and other small crustaceans with an assigned trophic level of 2. These zooplankton, in turn, are consumed mainly by small pelagic fish (herring, sardines, anchovies) with a trophic level of approximately 3 (05P1).

Typical table fish (cod, halibut, snapper, tuna etc.) are predators on the small pelagics and other smaller fish and invertebrates, and tend to have a trophic level of 4, with 4.5 an upper limit reached by large sharks, blue fin tuna and other large predators such as some marine mammals (05P1).

The rate of decline in the (mean) trophic level of captured fish has mostly declined since the 1950s, with the strongest rate of decline in the 1980s. Global fisheries were operating, on average, at a trophic level of 3.37 in the early 1950s; now their mean trophic level is about 3.29, but this was as low as 3.25 in 1983. So far humans do not normally eat zooplankton (trophic level 2), however there is now a market for jellyfish in East Asia, to which some western countries have now begun to export this product (05P1). (su5)

The fast-growing aquaculture industry needs so much fish oil from wild stocks of anchovy, herring and other small bony fish, that in six years there won't be enough supply to keep pace with the growth, according to global aquaculture and fish oil experts. Today, almost one-third of all the fish caught in the world are turned into fishmeal and oil. Now, penned fish consumes 40% of the fishmeal - and more than 60% of fish oil. The oil gives farm fish key nutrients to grow and allows them to pass on heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids to diners. In six years, if the industry continues to grow at projected rates, aquaculture is expected to use up to 60% of the global supply of fishmeal and possibly 100% of the fish-oil supply, said Stuart Barlow, director-general of the London-based International Fishmeal & Fish Oil Organization (Beth Daley, "Feeding fish to fish stresses world supply", Boston Globe, 4/20/04).

A study by Pauley et al (98P1) examined the diets of 220 fish species and on that basis, gave each species a numerical ranking on the food web from 1 to 5 (1= plankton; 4.6= red snapper). Based on FAO data on fish landings worldwide it was found that the average ranking of the ocean fish catch has been declining for 45 years (0.1/ decade). Humans now eat somewhere between trophic levels 2.5 and 4 (98P1).

The types of fish being caught worldwide in commercial operations during the past 45 years have shifted down the food web. Long-living, highly nutritious fish such as snappers are being replaced by younger invertebrates and fish of lower nutritional value. This indicates that present exploitation patterns are non-sustainable (98K1).

There has been a shift in wild fish capture from large and valuable carnivorous species to smaller, less valuable species that feed at lower trophic levels (Ref. 9 of Ref. (00N1)).

As fish at the upper levels of the ocean food chain are over-fished, fishers tend to fish at lower trophic levels. Ultimately this trend must result in fishing at such low tropic levels that the fish species are so small and diluted that it is no longer economical to fish. At the current rate of descent, it will take 30-40 years to fish down to the level of plankton (Ann Platt McGinn, WorldWatch, 11(3) (1998), pp. 10-11 reviewing Ref. (98P1)). Comments: There is data on the current ratio of fishing-boat fuel-consumption to fish harvests. (See elsewhere in this document - and below.)

The most efficient fishing operation at present average 50 tons/ day under good conditions. The same efficiency applied to zooplankton would average much less than 0.5 ton/ day (81C1). Comments: If the fishing industry fished all the way down to the trophic level of zooplankton, fuel costs and labor costs and capital costs per ton of fish caught would increase by a factor of 100.

Humans are now fishing not only in deeper waters, but also lower on the food chain. As these lower levels of the ocean food chain decline, the chances of recovery of fish species nearer to the top of the food chain are diminished even further (98P1).

Current fisheries yields have been maintained largely by development of formerly non-traditional species, e.g. copelin and sprat in the north Atlantic, and pollock in the north Pacific. Species in the future will likely be smaller in size and shorter-lived (81C1).

30% of the marine harvest consists of small, low-value fish like anchovies, pilchard or sardines, many of which are reduced to fishmeal and used as protein supplements in feeds for livestock and aquaculture. Over time the fraction of the global catch made up by these low-value species has risen as harvests of high-value species have declined, partially masking the effects of over-fishing ((97F4), p. 5)

Over the past 10-15 years, the proportion of overexploited and depleted fish stocks has remained unchanged, after showing a marked increase during the 1970s and 1980s. It is estimated that in 2005, about 25% of the fish stock groups monitored by FAO were under-exploited or moderately exploited and could perhaps produce more. About 50% of the fish stocks were fully exploited and therefore producing catches that were at, or close to, their maximum sustainable limit. The remaining fish stocks were over-exploited, depleted or recovering from depletion (07F1).

The maximum wild capture fishery potential from the world's oceans has probably been reached (07F1).

In the case of the inland fishery resources, there is widespread over-fishing (07F1).

The oceanic epipelagic resources (species living near the surface of the open ocean beyond the domain of EEZs) classified as "undeveloped" fell to zero in the late 1960s. This happen in the late 1970s for oceanic deep-water resources. Oceanic deep-water species are generally very vulnerable to over-exploitation, mainly as a result of slow growth rates and late age of first (sexual) maturity (07F1).

The global state of exploitation of the world's marine fishery resources has tended to remain relatively stable during the period between 1990-1994 and 2004. The proportions of over-exploited and depleted stocks have remained unchanged in recent years, after the noticeable increasing trends observed in the 1970s and 1980s (07F1).

There has been an increasing trend in the proportion of over-exploited and depleted stocks, from about 10% in the mid-1970s to around 25% in the early 1990s, where it has stabilized until the present. The proportions of fully exploited declined from slightly over 50% in 1974 to around 45% in the early 1990s, increasing to 52% in 2005 (07F1).

Most of the stocks of the top 10 species, which account in total for about 30% of the world's capture fisheries production in terms of quantity, are fully exploited or over-exploited. Therefore they cannot be expected to produce major increases in catches (07F1).

Overall, more than 75% of world fish stocks for which assessment information is available are reported as already fully exploited or over-exploited (or depleted and recovering from depletion), reinforcing earlier observations that the maximum wild capture fisheries potential from the world's oceans has probably been reached (07F1).

Evidence seems to suggest that the state of straddling stocks and of other high-seas fishery resources is even more problematic than for highly migratory species, with nearly 2/3 of the stocks for which the state of exploitation can be determined being classified as over-exploited or depleted (07F1).

A 2002 report by the European Commission found that the most marketable fish species off the coast of Senegal were close to collapse (08L1).

About 52% of marine fish stocks are at or near the maximum sustainable output level and almost 20% are over-exploited (UN FAO data) (08R2).

A chart showing the historical decline in the world's marine fisheries over the past half-century Source: Pittsburgh Post Gazette (11/23/08) p. G4. (Data obtained from a New York Times graph.) (Data are in percent, except for Column 1.)

Biomass of George Bank haddock and Newfoundland-area cod vs. time (millions of tonnes) (from a graph) Haddock recovered because of catch restrictions; Cod did not.

Phil Dickie, WWF International News Editor, pdickie@wwfint.org, Environmental New Network.  http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/39397

Collapsing fish stocks threaten food security in developing countries (3/2/09

State of the World's Fisheries and Aquaculture 2008 (SOFIA 2008), released 3/2/09 by the UNFAO, said that food supplies from aquaculture now equal those from ocean and freshwater capture fisheries. The report also documents a continuing drop-off in yields from the world's marine capture fisheries. SOFIA 2008 also recorded a rise to 80% in the number of fisheries that are fully or over-exploited, adding yet more weight to predictions that collapsing fish stocks threaten food security in developing countries and the viability of fisheries and coastal communities across the world. "Analysts believe that the real position of the oceans is much worse than the gloomy report from Rome 3/2/09 as little account of is taken of rampant illegal, unreported and unrecorded fishing. Also, in many cases, even legal fishing quotas have no relationship to actual fish stocks. The legal quota of Mediterranean bluefin tuna is around twice what the scientists recommend, and the illegal catch is equal to the already inflated legal quota.

The Pew Environmental Group (a Washington DC-based think tank) estimates that 20% of all fish landed (in marine fisheries) come from illegal, unregulated or unreported vessels. This figure rises to about 50% for valuable species like blue fin tuna. In areas like West Africa and Southeast Asia, countries simply lack the resources to patrol their waters.((author unknown) "Illegal fishing evades U.N. crackdown: study," Reuters.com (8/25/09).)

(Author unknown) Bloated fishing fleets hunting last bluefin tuna Posted: 12 Mar 2008 http://www.peopleand planet.net/doc.php?id=3229
International fishing fleets, which have decimated bluefin tuna stocks in the past few decades, have twice the fishing capacity of current quotas and are netting more than 3.5 times the catch levels recommended by scientists to avoid stock collapse, a new report reveals.

The report, from WWF, uncovers "a system long out of control, where hundreds of hi-tech boats are racing to catch a handful of fish," says Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean. "The failure of international fisheries management has allowed a monster to thrive in the Mediterranean. Decision-makers must be bold if the bluefin is to be saved from a sorry fate - and for any chance of a future for Mediterranean tuna fishermen."

To keep fishing capacity within the 2008 legal catch limits imposed by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the Mediterranean fleet would need to shed 229 vessels - almost a third of the current 617-vessel fleet. Reducing fishing effort to scientifically recommended levels would require the decommissioning of 283 vessels. At a minimum, the report shows the present Mediterranean fleets would have to fish 42,000 tonnes of tuna just to cover costs - implying some 13,000 tonnes of illegal catch. This calculation considers only the more technically advanced vessels built in the past decade - the full picture will be much worse yet. Yet in spite of the over-capacity of fleets, at least 25 new purse seine vessels were still being constructed.

"The numerous new fleets are so modern and costly that fishermen are forced to fish illegally just to survive - and worse still they are fishing themselves out of a job," added Dr. Tudela. WWF is calling on concerned countries to dramatically reduce capacity in this fishery as a matter of urgency ahead of the 2008 fishing season that starts at the end of April. WWF also urges ICCAT, the body whose job it is you see that the fishery is sustainably managed, to take a lead in proposing radical solutions. Until the fishery is under control and sustainably managed, WWF continues to advocate a fishing ban - and to applaud responsible retailers, restaurants, chefs and consumer groups who are boycotting Mediterranean bluefin in increasing numbers. The fishery is unsustainable in every way - economically, socially, and ecologically.

The new WWF report, Race for the last bluefin, can be downloaded at: www.panda.org/tuna.

NOTE: WWF's report - the first ever real quantification of fleet capacity - is based on a study by independent consultancy Advanced Tuna Ranching Technologies (ATRT SL (c)(r)(tm)). Its estimates are likely to be highly conservative. Only the capacity of the purse seine vessels that catch most bluefin tuna is considered in WWF's estimates for reduction needs. The full situation is likely to be much worse in view of over-capacity in other fishing methods such as long-lining.

The eel is found in virtually every coastal and inland water around Europe and along the Mediterranean coasts of Africa and Asia. No other fish stock within the ICES Area is as widespread or involves so many fishermen. The eel stock is dangerously close to collapse (05D1). (Continued below)

No one knows exactly where eels spawn, but the smallest larvae are found in the Sargasso Sea, south of Bermuda, suggesting that spawning occurs nearby. The Leptocephalus larvae drift northeast with the Gulf Stream, arriving in early winter off Southern Europe and in spring or early summer in Northern Europe. Once they arrive in coastal waters, the leaf-like larvae transform into typically eel-shaped, transparent juveniles called glass eels. Glass eels gather in river estuaries and wait for the river water to reach 10-12°C, before swimming upstream and migrating into inland waters. It is while they are waiting for the rivers to warm that they first become a target for fishermen. The total catch in Europe, in the early 1990s, amounted to 500 tonnes, or about 1.5 billion glass eels and they are caught in almost all estuaries south of 50°N. Most of the catch is exported for aquaculture in eastern Asia with some going to European eel farms. Eel farming depends entirely on wild-caught seed material, as the eel has not been successfully bred in captivity. The remainder of the catch is used for re-stocking northern European waters and for direct human consumption. But the latter usage has strongly declined in favor of aquaculture (05D1). (Continued below)

In the mid-1980s, the number of new glass eels entering rivers declined to 10% of former levels and recent figures show that this has now dropped to 1%. The crash happened over the whole European continent with no single, obvious cause (05D1).

Sustainability of fishery outputs, however defined, rarely if ever occurred as a result of an explicit policy, but as a result of our inability to access a major portion of exploited stocks. With the development of industrial fishing, and the resulting invasion of the refuges previously provided by distance and depth, our interactions with fisheries resources have come to resemble the wars of extermination that newly arrived hunters conducted 40-50,000 years ago in Australia, and 12-13,000 years ago against large terrestrial mammals in North America (05P1). (su5)

Global (marine) catches began to decline in the late 1980s, a trend reversal due to broad-based collapse of the underlying ecosystems, long masked by systematic over-reporting by China and the targeting of deep water stocks (05P1). The peak catch rate was around 80 million tones per year (05P1). (su5)

About 25% of the world's major fisheries are currently over-fished and another 40% are estimated to be fully-fished. As a result of over-fishing and poor land use, freshwater fish are among the most highly threatened group of animals in the world. 20% are either extinct, threatened or vulnerable. Commercially important fish such as the coral reef Napoleon wrasse, the Patagonian toothfish, the Atlantic toothfish, the basking shark and the whale shark could end up on the endangered list as well." (04V1).

Eight species are already listed in the most threatened category and a further 28 are listed as likely to be threatened if fishing is not brought under control (04V1).

• The prevalence of cod, tuna and groupers is estimated to have fallen by 90% in the past 50 years.
• A quarter of the world's major marine fisheries are over-fished and 40% are fished to capacity
• In Asia, the cumulative weight of the fish (biomass) living off its coastal waters is estimated to be 8-12 percent of what it was a century ago.
• In South East Asia, 88% of coral reefs are at risk from human damage.
• The looming collapse of fisheries threatens the most important source of food for 250 million people.

Estimates of total sustainable production still refer to the figure of 100 million tonnes/ year (99N4). This is higher than the annual catches of 80-85 million tonnes of the 1990s because it assumes efficient utilization of the stocks in healthy ecosystems where critical habitats have been conserved. Moreover, this estimated potential yield includes large quantities of living marine resources that thus far have been little exploited. Of these the best known are krill, mesopelagic fish and oceanic squids (03W2).

An FAO report says wild stocks are becoming severely depleted. "About 47% of the main stocks or species groups are fully exploited and are therefore producing catches that have reached, or are very close to, their maximum sustainable limits," (03W1).

25-30% of the world's fish populations are over-fished, while an added 40% are "fully exploited". Estimates for the commercial fleet range upward of 3.5-4.0 million boats. Approximately 50% of the global continental shelf is now trawled, with the most productive areas trawled several times a year (02D2).

Ratio of 1998 production and maximum historical production, by region (00F2) (03W2)

The species composition of the marine catch has changed. High-value species - bottom-dwelling species (demersal) and large surface-dwelling species (pelagics) - are gradually being substituted by shorter-lived pelagic and schooling fish. FAO studies indicate many causes for this shift. These include the thinning out of (over-fished) top predators; increases in natural production of small pelagics through nutrient enrichment of coastal areas, enclosed and semi-enclosed seas; and changes in fishing strategy and technology. The main force underlying such changes, however, is the change in harvesting costs as fishing technology has advanced and as various stocks have been depleted, and the impacts of these changing costs on operations (03W2).

During the 1980s, the number of overexploited species increased by a factor of 2.5 (02D5).

World-wide, 60-70% of fish stocks require urgent intervention to control or reduce fishing to avoid further declines of fully exploited- and over-fished resources and to rebuild depleted fish stocks (FAO statement of 5/19/98). (The global fishing capacity needs to be reduced by at least 30% to rebuild over-fished oceans and farms. Marine fishery potential could reach 93 million tons/ year if resources were better managed - a gain of 10 million tons from the present potential (FAO estimate in a statement of 5/19/98).

For the 590 "stock" items for which FAO had some information, 149 were in an unknown state. Among the 441 for which data were available, 9% were depleted, 18% were over-fished, 41% recovering, 47% appeared fully exploited, 21% were moderately exploited, and 4% were classified as under-exploited, i.e. they could sustain catches higher than current levels (03W2).

Over-fishing led to one fishery after another in the 1990s being declared exhausted. After cod and haddock were fished out, fishermen began harvesting "trash fish" they used to throw away, such as spiny dogfish. Britain created a hot market for that white fish, using it in fish and chip dinners. Soon, however, those stocks also collapsed, and federal regulators came under fire for not doing their job to help all fish populations' recovery. The US District Judge ruled regulators weren't doing enough to prevent over-fishing, a finding that could lead to further restrictions. Authors of the new study echoed the judge, saying regulators have "largely failed" to prevent over-fishing in large part because they looked at fishing as a problem of individual species, not an ocean-wide one (02D1).

In the 20 years since EEZs were first established, over-fishing has increased (Ref. 51 of (98W1)).

By 1989, all oceanic fisheries were being fished at or beyond capacity. Of the world's 15 leading oceanic fisheries, 13 are in a state of decline (96B1).

11 of the world's 15 major fishing areas, and 69% of the world's major fish species, are in decline (98M1).

Today's world fishing industry has about twice the fishing capacity needed to bring in the sustainable yield of fish (Ref. 2 of Ref. (98W1)). During 1970-90, the FAO recorded a doubling of the world's fishing fleet (from 585,000 to 1.2 million large boats, and from 13.5 million to 25.5 million gross registered tons) (94W2). Comments: This paragraph is also in Ch. 9, Sect. (9-B).

According to the UNFAO, all 17 of the world's major fisheries are being fished at or beyond capacity: 9 are in a state of decline (94B4).

The UNFAO estimates that nearly 70% of the world's commercial fish species are fully exploited, over-fished, or otherwise in urgent need of management. In 1950, no marine fish stocks were known to be over-fished (98K1).

All but two of the world's 15 major marine fishing zones are at their limits, in decline or in recovery, and the majority of the world's near-shore fisheries are thought to be fully or over-exploited (Ref. 1 of (98W1)).

44% of the stocks the FAO assesses are intensely or fully exploited, 16% are over-fished, 6% are depleted, and 3% are slowly recovering. The eastern and western regions of the Indian Ocean are the only major fishing grounds that have still not apparently reached their limits. Coastal fisheries in the Indian Ocean, like coastal fisheries around the world, are largely fully exploited. Overall, the potential for new fisheries is small. While some new ones will be developed, the major fishing grounds like the Peruvian upwelling, the North Atlantic, and the North Pacific have already peaked (Ref. 26 of (98W1)).

The maximum sustainable fish catch is probably not more than twice the present one, and the resources required for attaining these maxima (particularly fuel energy) are high (Roger Revelle, "The Resources Available for Agriculture", "Scientific American, 235 (Sept.1976) pp. 165-78). Comments: In the early-mid 1970s the total catch (marine + freshwater) was about 65 million tonnes/ year. Experts now consider the maximum sustainable fish catch to be 60-100 million tonnes/ year.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) found that 1/3 of 275 commercial fish stocks in US coastal waters were over-harvested, and nearly 50% were existing at population levels below what is needed to produce long-term sustainable yields. (Improving Fish Stock Assessments, National Academic Press (1997) (Call 1-800-624-6242) $35 + $4 shipping).

The 9/97 National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) report to Congress "Status of Fisheries of the US" reveals that one third of marine fish species in the US that are known well enough to classify are classified as "over-fished". The report admits however that the status of many fish populations is unknown. (Only 38% of the 727 species under NMFS jurisdiction can even be classified.) According to the report, 21 Gulf species are "over-fished" and the status of 63 is unknown. It is widely believed that many fisheries in the "unknown" category are depleted. The 21 over-fished species are: Red Snapper, King Mackerel (Gulf Group), Nassau Grouper, Jewfish, Red Drum, and the following sharks: Sandbar, Blacktip, Dusky, Spinner, Silky, Bull, Night, Tiger, Lemon, Sand Tiger, Bigeye Sand Tiger, Nurse, Scalloped Hammerhead, Great Hammerhead, Whale, and White (Kim Davis, American Ocean Campaign Fishlinks Press Releases of 10/13-14/1997).

The 9/97 National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) report to Congress "Status of Fisheries of the US" reveals that 96 marine fish species out of 279 species counted in the US that are known well enough to classify are "over-fished" or "heading that way". Species in trouble include Pacific salmon, pink shrimp, bluefin tuna, swordfish, American lobster, Atlantic sea scallops, flounder and several Atlantic sharks (Roger Featherstone, Defenders of Wildlife, GREENLines Issue #475 of 10/7/97).

Disappearance of fish stocks from an area can be predicted in advance according to Dr. Jan Lochner. 12 years ago he predicted the collapse of South Africa's pilchard industry, although at that time there was no sign of collapse. Today South Africa's pilchard catch is only 10% of what it was then. He also predicted the collapse of California's pilchard industry. He predicts Namibia's anchovy industry faces the same collapse. His theory uses catch-data for a number of years, and the age at which fish reach sexual maturity. (When fish populations become too young to reproduce, they collapse.) (80F1).

An FAO assessment of the status of the 19 principal fisheries of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean found 4 fisheries depleted and 9 others "fully exploited". This often means that yields are well below their biological maximum (Ref. 9 of (85B1)). The FAO estimates that all 17 of the world's major fishing areas have either reached or exceeded their natural limits, and 9 are in a state of serious decline (Ref. 25 of (94P2)) (Ref. 6, Ch. 5 of (94B3)).

If fish stocks were allowed to recover, FAO estimates that fishers could increase their sustainable annual catch by as much as 20 million tons/ year (94W2).

FAO analysts found over-fishing in 1/3 of the fisheries they reviewed; they found some depleted fish populations in all coastal waters around the world (Ref. 34 of (94W2)).

Of the 280 fish stocks monitored by the FAO, 25 are considered slightly to moderately exploited, and 42 stocks are over-exploited or depleted (89L1).

Signs of over-fishing appeared by the 1970s. After increasing at nearly 6%/ year during 1950-70, growth in annual fish catch slowed to less than 1%/ year. In per-capita terms, growth of nearly 4%/ year during 1950-70 dropped to almost minus 1%/ year after 1970 (85B1).

FAO marine biologists believe the oceans cannot sustain a catch of over 100 million tons/ year (93B1). It seems unlikely that the generally accepted potential of 100 million tonnes/ year of traditional marine species will be achieved on a sustained basis. It is more likely that the potential is nearer to the present-day catch of 60 million tonnes/ year (81C1).

Although the global fish catch is just below its estimated sustainable yield, fishermen exceed the estimated sustainable yield in 4 of 16 major fisheries: Pacific Northwest, the Mediterranean and Black Sea, the eastern Indian Ocean, and the southeast Pacific - and are close to it in many other areas (90B1). The UN FAO indicates that 4 of 17 of the world's fishing zones are over-fished (93B1).

In the US, 45% of the 156 fish populations for which assessments of resource status are available are classified as over-utilized (Ref. 10 of (93R1)). Within European waters, 59% of 78 stocks have been classified as over-utilized (Ref. 10 of (93R1)).

Most published studies agree that the northern temperate areas of both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are being fished to their full potential. The total (potential?) increased yield from lightly exploited areas has been estimated at 30-50 million tons/ year. The potential for krill has been estimated by various authors at 25-100 million tonnes/ year ((81C1), p. 110).

Yields of 35% of the most important commercial fish stocks declined between 1950-94 ((96G1), p. 31).

As of 1999, FAO reported that 75% of all fish stocks for which information is available are in urgent need of better management - 28% are either already depleted from past over-fishing or in imminent danger of depletion due to current over-harvesting, and 47% are being fished at their biological limit and therefore vulnerable to depletion if fishing intensity increases (00G1).

• The marbled rock cod fishery of the Indian Ocean collapsed in the 1960s and has not recovered to fishable levels despite complete fishery closures (02D5).
• The silver hake has a potential yield of 250,000 tonnes, but the 1965 catch was 383,000 tonnes-270,000 tonnes in the early 1970s and 62,000 tonnes in 1981 (85B1).
• In October 1998, NMFS declared 28 highly migratory species over-fished: swordfish, sailfish, two species of marlin, two species of tuna, and 22 species of sharks (99D1).
• Summer flounder, yellowtail flounder, red snapper and swordfish populations are so depleted that they can only produce 30%, 15%, 12% and 40% respectively of their long-term potential yield (94S1).
• Some species considered at risk of extinction: northern right whales, Hawaiian monk seals, Mediterranean monk seals, Pacific leatherback turtles, several species of California abalone, fish species such as Coelacanths, Irish ray, barndoor skate, bocaccio, and 82 other marine fish species in North America (02D5).
• Some species that have been driven to extinction: Atlantic gray whale, Caribbean monk seal, Steller's sea cow, the great auk (02D5).
• The black-lipped pearl oyster in the northwest Hawaiian Islands produced more than 100 tons of catch in 1927, but its population in 2000 was fewer than 10 (02D5).
• Recent annual catches of Atlantic spiny dogfish have been roughly 10 times higher than those needed to rebuild the population (MFCN data of around 2002).
• The first determination that the red snapper (principally in the Gulf of Mexico) is over-fished was made in 1988. Since 1988, the total allowed catch (TAC) has more than doubled (MFCN data of around 2002).
• New England lobstermen are catching at least twice as any lobsters as are sustainable. Almost 90% of today's catch is barely above the minimum legal size. In 1997, lobstermen bought in a record 84 million pounds of lobster (vs. 37.2 million pounds in 1980). Maine accounts for more than 50% of the US lobster catch, and 87% of lobsters caught in the US are caught in New England (98A2).
• Bocaccio (Pacific red snapper) numbers along the US Pacific coast have declined 98% since 1969 (Pew Oceans Commission, Marine Life (2/28/01)).
• Of every 100 yellowtail flounder alive at the beginning of the year, only 8 survive the year. Under this pressure, the breeding population declined by 94% between 1989-92 (94S1).

An estimated 17.9 to 39.5 million tons (average 27.0 million tons) of fish are discarded each year in commercial fisheries. These estimates are based on a review of over 800 papers. The highest quantities of discards are from the Northwest Pacific while tropical shrimp trawl fisheries generate a higher proportion of discards than any other fishery type, accounting for one third of the global total. Of four major gear groups, shrimp trawls stand alone at the top of the list; bottom trawls, long-lines and pot fisheries come next. The third group consists of Japanese high-seas drift net fisheries, Danish seines and purse seines for capelin. Relatively low levels result from pelagic trawls, small pelagic purse seines and some high seas drift nets. The authors point to inadequate data to determine the biological, ecological, economic and cultural impacts of discards although economic losses run to billions of dollars. However, it appears most likely that socio-cultural attitudes towards marine resources will guide international discard policies. Techniques to reduce by-catch levels including traditional net selectivity, fishing gear development and time/area restrictions, are discussed. Effort reduction, incentive programs and individual transferable quotas (that make the vessel responsible for by-catch reduction) are seen as promising avenues for the future. However, quick solutions to the problem are unlikely and much more information is required. The publication includes a diskette with the complete By-catch Database, which was compiled for the study, and a summary of it (Dayton L. Alverson; Mark H. Freeber; Steven A. Murawski; J.G. Pope, "A global assessment of fisheries bycatch and discards," http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/003/T4890E/T4890E00.HTM FAO Fisheries Technical Papers (1994).) (94A1).

"There are four pounds of by-catch for every pound of shrimp," said the senior director for water policy at TPWD. "The bay catch is 20 million pounds of shrimp annually, so that means there are 80 million pounds of by-catch out of Texas bays every year." Those fish - flounder, crabs, croakers, anchovies, along with some small trout and redfish - are dead, squashed into a little ball in the back of the net (00L1).

The FAO estimates that 28.7 million tons of non-target fish species are caught annually in the pursuit of more valuable species, and 27 million tons are thrown back into the ocean, usually dead or dying. The worst offending industry, shrimp trawling, accounts for 11.2 million tons of by-catch/ year, discarding 5.2 kg. of unwanted species for every kg. of shrimp retained (Ref. 53 of (98W1)). Shrimp trawlers could reduce their by-catch rate by adopting fish-excluding devices. While fish harvesters fear reduced catches and increased drag, such devices can improve efficiency by filtering out unwanted species (98W1).

At least 150,000 sea turtles drown in shrimp nets each year. A 1990 study by the National Academy of Sciences found that the shrimp industry is the leading cause of human-related mortality of sea turtles (98U2).

Commercial by-catch represents 85-95% of billfish mortality in the US fishery (99D1).

There are four pounds of by-catch for every pound of shrimp. The shrimp catch from Texas bays is 20 million pounds annually, meaning 80 million pounds of by-catch come out of Texas bays annually. Those fish - flounder, crabs, croakers, anchovies, along with some small trout and redfish - are dead, squashed into a little ball in the back of the net (00L1).

Recent studies show that larger, older fish produce more eggs and surviving offspring than younger fish, researchers said yesterday, adding that policymakers need to protect broader swaths of the ocean to preserve these efficient spawners. Steven Berkeley, a research biologist at the University of California at Santa Cruz who described his findings at the annual conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, said sustained over-harvesting of Pacific rockfish and other species is undermining these populations' ability to recover. Berkeley found that a 31.5-inch Bocaccio rockfish produces 10 times as many larvae as one that spans nearly 20 inches, and the larger fish's offspring were more than three times as likely to flourish (Juliet Eilperin, "Older Fish Spawn Better Than Younger Ones Studies Reshape Talks on Managing Ocean Resources," The Washington Post, 2/20/05.).

The MFCN report classifies "chronic over-fishing" as over-fishing that has been occurring for more than six years. The report identifies the failure of most regional fishery management councils to set and enforce science-based annual catch limits. Not only does chronic over-fishing harm fish populations and reduce commercial and recreational fishing opportunities but, by one estimate, Americans have lost $3 billion/ year in exports, jobs, recreation and other economic activity. The highest percentages of over-fished populations are the New England groundfish community of species, the South Atlantic reef fish community of species, and the large coastal shark community of species managed by National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Of the 49 marine species chronically over-fished since 1998, only six showed any improvement by 2006. Several factors result in chronic overfishing:

• Regional fishery management councils err too often in favor of risky management decisions rather than sustainable ones;
• Regional fishery management councils ignore the best available science and hide behind the lack of scientific data; and
• Regional fishery management councils set catch limits but routinely allow fishermen to exceed them and those fishery managers are not held accountable for their decisions.

The NMFS often approves Regional fishery management councils' decisions to continue to over-fish. Regional fishery management councils and the NMFS have all the tools needed to end overfishing, but they have repeatedly bowed to political pressure from fishing industry interests. The new legal requirements remove any remaining discretion and explicitly require that managers follow the scientific advice of their advisors and set meaningful annual catch limits that prevent overfishing, thus ending the opportunity for fishery management councils to put short-term economic considerations above the health of the fish. According to the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, failure to follow scientific advice and prudently manage marine fish populations is one of the greatest threats to the health of U.S. oceans. Congress and President Bush responded to this crisis by passing and signing the Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization Act of 2006 (MSRA), a law designed to elevate the role of science in fishery management and end overfishing. (Marine Fish Conservation Network, "Taking Stock: The Chronic Overfishing of America's Oceans," Newswire Services (12/5/07).)

The UN FAO estimates that 75% of the world's fish stocks are over-fished or fished to their maximum (08L1).

The coastal stock of bottom-dwelling fish on northwest Africa's ocean floor is 25% of what it was years ago (08L1).

Many kinds of fish, like tuna, swordfish and cod, are no longer readily available from EU waters any more (08R1).

An examination of historical data from long-line fishing going back more than 50 years, found that catch rates for all types of fish have dropped more precipitously that scientists previously thought (08G1).

Capelin fish stocks in the Barents Sea collapsed in the mid-1980s and early 1990s (03U2).

Catch of Atlantic cod stocks off the east coast of Newfoundland (in thousands of tons/ year) as a function of time (Source: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment as plotted in the OXFAM website http://www.Oxfam.org.uk/resources/download/FP2P/FP2P_Environment_and_climate_change_BP_ENGLISH.pdf) (Antonio Hill, "Gambling everything for more: the Earth that development built." OXFAM 16 pages.)

An independent commission studying ocean life in U.S. waters concluded that federal oversight, coastal ecosystem managers and more marine reserves are needed to reverse what it says is a crisis caused by pollution, over-fishing and too many people. The Pew Oceans Commission report said depletion of marine life requires "a serious rethinking of ocean law, informed by a new ocean ethic." It urged Congress to enact a National Ocean Policy Act to streamline the government's approach and create national marine reserves that would be protected like wilderness areas. The panel said a new oceans agency should take over the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and marine-related programs run by departments of Interior and Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency and US Army Corps of Engineers. It also recommended a White House oceans council and a network of "regional ocean ecosystem councils" to participate in the regulation of farmland and urban runoff into oceans. (Study: US Oceans Need Help," CBS News (6/4/03). See: www.pewoceans.org www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/04/tech/main556937.shtml)

The US' reach over ocean waters spans nearly 4.5 million square miles - nearly 25% larger than the nation's land mass - because of the exclusive economic zone stretching 200 miles from the continent and Pacific and Atlantic islands. "We are now capable of altering the ocean's chemistry, stripping it of fish and the many other organisms which comprise its rich biodiversity, exploding and bleaching away its coral nurseries, and even reprogramming the ocean's delicate background noise," the report said. The first federal oceans commission worried about foreign fishing fleets operating close to US coasts. Its 1969 recommendations to Congress led to the creation of NOAA and coastal zone management and fishery conservation laws. "Thirty years later, the threat is not so much other countries coming and taking our fish but it's our own behavior," commission chair Leon Panetta said in an interview. The second federal oceans commission was ordered by Congress and President Clinton in 2000 to study all marine-related issues and effects of federal ocean-related policies. Its report, capping three years of work, is due by fall. (Study: US Oceans Need Help," CBS News (6/4/03). See: www.pewoceans.org www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/04/tech/main556937.shtml)

Global marine catches have been stagnant for over a decade, hovering at around 85 million tons per year. Meanwhile, fisheries productivity - measured in terms of catch per fisher or per fishing vessel has declined, even though fishing technology has advanced and fishing effort increased (08K1).

According to the FAO, over 75% of the world's fish stocks are either fully exploited or overexploited (08K1).

The shrimp industry already is in trouble, both economically and ecologically. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is not issuing new licenses and is buying back existing ones in an attempt to reduce the amount of fishing pressure in coastal bays. Recreational anglers are pushing Parks and Wildlife to exert even more control over shrimping in bays, which muddies water and digs up grass beds. The Sierra Club wants shrimping in the Gulf of Mexico curtailed to protect fragile near-shore habitats and sea turtles (00L1).

Spiny dogfish, also known as Cape shark, have gone from trash to treasure for the commercial fishermen who work the Atlantic waters from Massachusetts to North Carolina. Marine biologists believe dogfish are being over-harvested, just as the target species that they replaced (cod) was fished almost to the point of population collapse. Species sustainability is the issue: Female spiny dogfish aren't mature enough to bear young until they are 13 years old. The gestation period is almost two years and the average litter is 6 pups. Females can live to be 40. They have been a casualty of overfishing. Just as strict limits were imposed on the taking of cod beginning in 1994 in the face of a potential collapse of that population, it seems certain that sharp cutbacks are coming in the harvest of dogfish. The New England council is pushing for an industry-wide quota of 14.3 million pounds a year. The Mid-Atlantic council wants 2.9 million pounds. Dogfish are selling for 12-15 cents/ pound. In 1998, more than 25 million pounds of dogfish were landed in Massachusetts, about 50% of the dogfish landings in the US, according to the NMFS. Maximum ages for male dogfish: 35 years; for females 40 years (Alexander Reid, "New limits weighed for dogfish, once local 'savior'", Boston Globe's South Weekly (4/2/2000)).

A paper in the Journal Science of 11/3/06 by Boris Worm, Stephen Palumbi et al argues that the world will run out of seafood by 2048 if steep declines in marine species continue at current rates (06E1).

By 2003, 29% of all fished (marine) species had collapsed, meaning that they are now at least 90% below their historic maximum catch levels. The rate of population collapses has accelerated in recent years. As of 1980, 13.5% of fished species had collapsed, even though fishing vessels were pursuing 1736 fewer species then. Today the fishing industry harvests 7784 species commercially (06E1).

World fish stocks have collapsed by nearly 33% and the rates of fishery decline are accelerating. In 2003, 29% of open sea fisheries had declined to less than 10% of their original yield. The global catch (marine?) fell by 13% between 1994 and 2003 ("50 Years of Fish...," BBC News (11/20/06).). (su5)

According to the UNFAO, about 70% of our global fisheries are now being fished close to, already at, or beyond their capacity (05O1).

A review of 90 marine fish stocks found that 15 years after over-fishing practices were halted, population abundances saw little to no increase with the exception of herring and related species that mature rapidly (00H1). Comments: The words "over-fishing practices were halted" does not necessarily mean that fishing was halted. The new level of fishing needs to be defined for this finding to be meaningful.

Several studies (03M4) (03C1) (01C2) estimate that the biomass of large predatory fish (e.g. swordfish, marlin and tuna) is 10-33% of the size it was before the industrialization of fishing before WWII.

Myers and Worm (03M4) reported that industrialized fishing commonly decreases the abundance of a fish community to 20% of its unfished level within the first 15 years of fishing.

Globally, inland fishery resources appear to be continuing to decline as a result of habitat degradation and over-fishing (07F1).

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SECTION (2-B) ~ Atlantic Ocean ~

Key species of deep-sea fish have declined by up to 98% in the past few decades. Three researchers analyzed catches of five deepwater species from the northwest Atlantic and found that populations of all five species had fallen precipitously. Similar trends have been seen in European waters. Much of the blame for the decline is being put on commercial trawlers ((Unknown) "Trend for Deep-Sea Trawling Puts Rare Fish Species on the Ocean's Critical List," (1/22/06) Independent (UK)).

The early-1990s collapse of the Newfoundland cod fishery, due to over-fishing, put tens of thousands of people out of work; the cost for income support and retraining ran about $2 billion (05F1).

Some 20 species of predators, including sharks, groupers, snappers, jacks, trumpetfish and barracuda, were examined from 22 Caribbean nations. Nations with more people have reefs with far fewer large fish because, as the number of people increase, so does demand for seafood (09S1). (About half of the world's human population lives near coastlines.)

Nassau grouper were once abundant, but now they have virtually disappeared from many Caribbean near-shore areas, and are endangered throughout their range (09S1).

Pacific lionfish were introduced into the Caribbean as a result of aquarium releases. (They are native to Pacific Ocean reefs.) They are now undergoing a population explosion in Caribbean reefs and are eating small fish. Lionfish are less abundant where large predatory native fish are abundant (09S1).

Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine show total commercial landings off Massachusetts decreased by 20% since 2001. Adult cod numbers fell nearly 23% between 2001 and 2004 near Georges Bank and declined another 21% in the Gulf of Maine during that same time (Patricia Cronin, "Cod numbers decline on Georges Banks", Gloucester Times (8/23/05)). (su5)

A WWF report has documented the illegal over-fishing of bluefin tuna in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. According to the report, the top offenders are fleets from the European Union (mainly France), Libya, and Turkey. Not only are fishers exceeding quotas set by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the main body that oversees tuna stocks in the region, but they are intentionally under-reporting their catches to avoid taxes and exploit rapidly declining fisheries, the report says (06H1).

ICCAT's annual bluefin quota of 32,000 tons for East Atlantic and Mediterranean fisheries was exceeded by 40% in 2004, with fishers hauling in an estimated 44,948 tons. The catch grew to 45,547 tons in 2005. Factors contributing to the over-fishing of bluefin tuna include rapidly rising Asian demand for sushi and sashimi, expansion of the US market for fresh tuna, and the rising use of tuna-spotting airplanes and other highly efficient industrial fishing methods (06H1).

The North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO) Management Committee accepted that, for the Central Stock Area, the minke whales are close to their carrying capacity, and that removals and catches of 292 animals/ year (corresponding to a mean of catches between 1980-84) are sustainable (98N2).

The North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO) Management Committee also noted that estimated catches of harp seals in Canada+ Greenland are about 300,000, and are near or at established replacement yields (98N2).

Newfoundland's Grand Bank has been over-fished ~ the entire Newfoundland fleet and its 30,000 crew-members have been banned from fishing for 4 years (98G2).

The 1994 closing of 5,000 square miles of Georges Bank off Cape Cod to commercial fishing contributed significantly to problems in the Gulf of Maine. Boats that had fished Georges Bank shifted northward, using faster, and more efficient gear than local Maine boats (98G2).

In Gloucester, landings of 4 major commercial species - cod, yellowtail flounder, haddock, and redfish - fell from 200 million pounds in 1980 to 100 million pounds in 1989. The decline roughly coincided with an increase in New England's fishing fleet from 650 boats in 1978 to more than 1000 boats in 1998 (98G2).

North Atlantic swordfish stocks are considered over-fished, with stocks estimated at 58% of the level needed for the largest annual yield that could be continuously sustained (99A1).

NMFS officials told a meeting of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council that the 1997 decision to require by-catch reduction devices (BRDs) is proving to be a good idea. Marine biologists say that almost 80% of all juvenile red snapper are scooped up and killed by shrimp trawls. The overall limit of 9 million pounds of red snapper in 1997 was exceeded by 28%, according to NMFS (98U3).

In 1993, the NMFS imposed limits on taking 39 shark species in US federal waters 3-200 feet offshore from Maine to Florida. The move came after a report that shark stocks had been depleted by 60-85% (98M4). In 1997, after reports that shark stocks still were not recovering adequately, the NMFS cut catch limits 50% for commercial and recreational fishermen. North Atlantic fishermen may catch no more than 1285 tonnes of shark/ year. Recreational fishermen face a two-fish limit/boat (98M4).

Barn-door skates, a fish once common in the North Atlantic, is nearing extinction. The number has been drastically declining since the 1950s. The whole group of species that live on the bottom used to be 10 times more abundant then it is now. Heavy fishing is blamed (98W2). It takes 10 years for the skate, which can live for about 20 years, to mature. About 50,000 skates lived along Canada's Atlantic coastline 40 years ago. In the last 20 years, not one skate has been caught on a research survey (98W2).

Fisheries of the European continental shelf are among the most productive in the world owing to the extent of shallow water and to the warming influence of the Gulf stream, both factors promoting plankton production (77P1).

In the eastern Atlantic, after several harvests of well over 100,000 tonnes/ year of octopus, the 1980 catch dropped to 48,000 tonnes Similarly, over 30,000 tonnes/ year of squid were caught in the 1970s, and the 1980 harvest was 11,000 tonnes - well below the estimated potential of 40,000 tonnes/ year (Ref. 11 of (85B1)).

As few as 13 boats would be sufficient for the US East Coast surf clam fishery. In 1990 there were 10 times that many boats working the fishery (Ref. 65 of (94W2)).

Sustained yields of 3 tonnes/ km²/ year (northeast Arctic and New England Shelf) to 5 tonnes/ km²/ year in the North Sea have been obtained by intensive fisheries (81C1).

Canada virtually banned cod fishing near Nova Scotia, and set quota cuts that could put 12,000 people out of work, in addition to the 30,000 people left unemployed by the 1992 ban on cod fishing off eastern Newfoundland (93U1). In the late 1980s Nova Scotia's trawler fishery had 4 times the boat capacity needed to make the yearly quota of cod and other bottom-feeding fish (groundfish) (Ref. 65 of (94W2)).

Canada cut the (1990) allowable catch of northern cod off Canada's east coast by 16% because of a serious decline in this once-abundant species. The cuts follow a 12% quota cut in 1989. Cod quotas in the fishing grounds off Newfoundland were reduced to 197,000 tonnes/ year in 1990 from 235,000 tonnes/ year in 1989 (90T1).

Canada, trying to reverse the drastic decline in its East Coast fish stocks and save Newfoundland's fishing industry, will cut the northern cod catch there by 35% to 120,000 tons in 1992, and may curb foreign trawlers (92H1). Canada and the EU (European Union?) agreed to each receiving 10,000 tonnes/ year of the turbot (Greenland halibut) quota set by the northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization for the Grand Banks fishing grounds off the coast of Newfoundland. The organization's other members (e.g. Russia, Japan) will receive the remaining 7,000 tonnes/ year of the quota (27,000 tonnes/ year) (95T1). The 1994 catch of turbot by EU vessels (mainly Spain and Portugal) was 60,000 tons (Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 3/12/95).

The demise of herring in northeast Atlantic fisheries is attributed to fishermen using small-mesh nets over spawning grounds to catch the larvae and fry which were subsequently reduced to fish-meal and used for animal feed (77P1).

The southern stock of the South African pilchard, despite various restrictions by South Africans, has declined drastically since 1968, and now yields only 40,000 tons/ year instead of the potential maximum of 150-300,000 tons/ year (77P1).

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SECTION (2-C) ~ Sustainable Catch and Fishery Degradation ~ Pacific Ocean ~ [C1]~General, [C2]~Northern Pacific, [C3]~Southern Pacific,

Depleted Pacific Ocean fisheries (85B1) (Columns 4 and 5 are in units of 1000 tonnes/ year)

Source: UN FAO "Review of the State of World Fishery Resources", Rome, July 1983

Ocean surveys show a continuing sharp decline in pollock populations in recent years. The 2008 pollock population was 38% below the 2007 survey level. Some fishermen expect the harvests will drop to about 800,000 tonnes - the smallest harvest in more than 30 years, and a steep decline from the 1.5 million tonne record harvest in 2005. Pollock is the biggest fishery in North America, and brings in more than $1 billion in annual revenues (Hal Bernton, "Seattle trawlers may face new limits on Pollock fishery," Seattle Times (10/10/08).).

The pollock - the world's largest food fishery - is on the verge of collapse. The most recent data from the National Marine Fisheries Service show the pollock population approaching the lowest level ever recorded; since 2003, the population has declined from 8.5 million tons to 3 million tons. Even as the pollock - and the wildlife that rely on them - have declined, the government (NMFS) has allowed over-fishing to continue. These steep declines do not even meet the government's definition of over-fished. As a result, two of Alaska's four pollock fisheries have been closed and a third is just a fraction of its former size. Until recently, though, the strength of the Bering Sea pollock stock was sufficient to support a billion dollar industry and earn a "sustainable" rating from the Marine Stewardship Council. Despite the warning signs, including several years of low juvenile survivorship, the Council continues to allow trawlers to kill the fish that lay eggs. Each winter, factory trawlers target spawning pollock, killing huge numbers of pregnant females before they release their eggs, or roe. The roe fishery is lucrative but ecologically dangerous even in the best of times (John Hocevar, Jeremy Jackson, "The Fishery That's Too Big to Fail," Grist Magazine (4/15/09)).

(General) According to the National Research Council's 1996 Report on the Bering Sea Ecosystem, "It seems extremely unlikely that the productivity of the Bering Sea Ecosystem can sustain current rates of human exploitation as well as the large populations of all marine mammals and birds that existed before human exploitation - especially modern exploitation - began" (98G1).

(General) The northwestern Pacific Ocean (Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsh, Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea, East China Sea) has very high marine productivity - up to 917 kg./ km²/ year vs. 189 kg./ km²/ year for oceans as a whole (95P1). The Alaskan groundfish (mainly pollock and Pacific cod) harvest quota is 5 million tons/ year (91M1).

(Food supply for birds) Common murres, Oregon's most numerous sea-bird, abandoned colonies in the spring of 1996, 1997 and 1998. Biologists blame nesting failures on a lack of food (98M3).

(Food supply for birds) Brown pelicans failed to nest in the winter of 1997-98 in Baja California, Mexico. Fewer Cassin's auklets returned this spring to the Farallon Islands in Northern California. The small seabirds were two months late in nesting, and chick production is poor. Pigeon guillemots, a seabird related to murres, did not nest at all on the Farallons, about 30 miles west of San Francisco (98M3).

(Food Supply for Birds) A 7/98 annual survey of cormorant nests between Newport and Depoe Bay (US) counted 117 nests, a fraction of the 10-year mean of 782 nests. Only two of the 117 nests had young, reflecting poor food conditions off-shore (98M3).

(Rockfish) The uncertain status of West Coast US rockfishes, some of which can live for more than a century, bear live young, is the subject of a comprehensive report, "Diminishing Returns, The Status of West Coast Rockfish." The report was prepared by PMCC*# for public education, and to assist managers with rockfish management decisions. Of the 52 rockfish species managed under the current Pacific Fishery Management Council's (PFMC) Fishery Management Plan (FMP), 45 are listed as "status unknown". Of the other 7, 4 are listed as "approaching over-fished" status, and one (Bocaccio), was officially listed as "over-fished" earlier this year.
*# Pacific Marine Conservation Council, PO Box 59, Astoria OR 97103 503-325-8188, //www.pmcc.org, 1-800-343-5487

(Rockfish) The 71 species of rockfish off the western coast of the US face unprecedented population declines. The Pacific Marine Conservation Council (PMCC) report says some species have decline by as much as 90% over the past decade (Register-Guard, Eugene OR, 3/28/99).

(Trout/ Salmon) British Columbia closed most of its world-famous steelhead trout and Coho salmon fisheries because of dismal returns. Harvests of BC salmon are a third of what they were in the late 1980s (98M3).

(Salmon) Alaska's most valuable salmon catch, the Bristol Bay sockeye run, is a bust. With the peak of the run past, commercial fishermen have landed 8.5 million sockeye, less than half the projected harvest (98M3).

(Salmon) On the Yukon River in Alaska, Chinook salmon were smaller and fewer this season. The salmon averaged 18 pounds; their usual average is 25 pounds. The catch of Yukon River kings is 40% of previous years; it is the worst run since statehood (98M3).

(Salmon) After years of record abundance, the 1997 catch of Bristol Bay sockeye dropped to 12.3 million, half the forecasted catch. The 1998 catch is 8.5 million sockeye, about 20% of the average catch in the past decade (98M3).

(Pollock) In the largest US fishery for Alaska pollock, the glut of factory trawler capacity exceeds the total allowable catch limit by at least 2-3 times (98G1). (The factory trawler fleet has ranged from 45-65 vessels in recent years.)

(Pollock) In 1989 the Bering Sea pollock fishery was open year-around. In 1991 the season was reduced to 148 days. By 1994 the factory trawl season declined to 70 days. In 1997, factory trawlers fished for 55 days (98G1).

The "Sea Around Us" project found that domestic catches in 20 Pacific islands had been declining by between 54% and 86% since 1950, probably because of over-fishing near population centers (08R3).

Over the past decade, even new fisheries of the southeast Pacific Ocean and New Zealand's coastal fisheries have been fished quickly to the point of collapse (85B1).

Over the past decade, even new fisheries of the Gulf of Thailand have quickly been fished to the point of collapse (85B1). In the past 15 years, the Gulf of Thailand has shown evidence of much over-fishing. Although the Gulf of Thailand was one of the Pacific Ocean's most productive fishing areas, in 1981 the catch there had diminished from 350 to 70 kg./ hour of trawler-effort (Ref. 2 of (87M1)).

Southeast Asia is ample evidence of over-fishing: the increasing proportion of "trash fish" caught by trawlers in shallow waters; the high percentage of juveniles in net hauls, and the leveling-off or outright decline in catch volume of some countries. Demersal and semi-pelagic species of the west coast of peninsular Malaysia are fully exploited, showing a decrease in total landings and an increase of trash fish as a percentage of total catch (Ref. 1 of (87M1)).

Over the past decade, even new fisheries of the Indian Ocean have quickly been fished to the point of collapse (85B1).

The UNFAO estimates Eritrea's (in Africa) sustainable fish catch at 80,000 tonnes/ year. In 1996 the catch was 3000 tonnes. (mostly small-scale and artisan fishermen) (Amicus Journal, Fall 1997, p. 18).

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