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What World region/nation harvests the most fish from the ocean (in millions of metric tons)?
1. China: 16.5 MMT (human population = 1.3 billion) #1 world population
2. Peru: 8 MMT (hum pop = 27 million)
3. USA: 5 MMT (hum pop = 295 million) #3 world pop.
4. Japan: 4.7 MMT (hum pop = 127 million)
5. India: 3.8 MMT (hum pop = 1 billion) #2 world pop.
Fishing fleets
75% of harvest by huge commercial fleets that Work year-round
Scouting vessels locate fish
Factory ships follow fleet: Process, can, freeze at sea
Consumer Choices
You, the consumer, have an impact on the health & survival of marine species
o Choose well-managed, harvested & farmed species
o Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch
www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp
Whaling
Hunted since 1600’s: meat, blubber, oil, bones
o Used for: Lamp oil, cosmetics, industrial lubricants, fertilizer, corsets
1900: 4.4 million whales, Today: ~1 million
o 8 of 11 large species commercially extinct (Fin, blue, humpback, gray)
Bykill or Bycatch
Animals unintentionally killed while collecting desirable species
Young & low-value fish, seabirds, mammals, turtles
~30 million tons sea life each year
2002 fish discards: twice desired commercial & recreational catch
Shrimp trawlers: 10 lbs. bycatch per lb. of shrimp
Bottom trawling: most damaging
Bycatch solutions
Modify gear: change net's mesh size & shape, so young can escape
Purse seines w/ acoustic alarms
Longline tuna fishing: Night-setting & Lines w/ metallic streamers (scare birds),
weights (sink)
Reduce or Limit fishing (economically extinct species)
Marine reserve network: linked by corridors (protect breeding & nursery grounds)
Other Mammals protected by Marine Mammal Protection Act (sea otters, seals, sea
lions, walrus, manatee, etc.)
Many fur-bearing species were nearly hunted to extinction
Hunting quotas/bans allowed most species to recover
300,000-450,000 still taken/year for fur (Northern Fur Seal, Harp Seal – Canada)
Mariculture Impacts
Ocean net pens & ponds:
Produce tons of waste = pollution (equivalent to a small city)
Diseases & parasites (sea lice) spread among fish in crowded pens & to wild fish
Antibiotics to control (prevent?!) disease leak into ocean & create drug-resistant
bacteria (antibiotics lose their potency & may no longer be useful for human
medicine
Escape pens: take over habitat from wild fish, interbreed (genetically modified)
Depleting wild stocks of smaller fish
o Carnivore fish (salmon, tuna): Eat 2-5 lbs. of smaller (anchovy, etc.) wild fish
for every1 lb. of farmed salmon
Tropical habitat destruction:
o Mangrove forests cut down for shrimp farms
o In a few years, salinity & wastes build up in farm ponds
o Farmers move to new location
Improving Mariculture
Away from sea may be best
Can’t escape or spread disease to wild fish
Recirculating systems clean & filter waste water
Tilapia, trout, catfish (now)
Salmon & shrimp (experimental)
Some vaccinate instead of antibiotics
Eat lower on food chain
Herbivore fish (tilapia, carp) don’t rely on wild marine fish
Plant protein for carnivores (up to 60% soy)