Lessons in Marine-Life Restoration

Dr. Safina’s work on the interrelated behaviors and annual rhythms of the common tern and bluefish, which feast on the same bay anchovies and other small prey are still very interesting and relelvent to state of the fishteries world. His latest book, "Voyage of the Turtle: In Pursuit of the Earth’s Last Dinosaur” (Henry Holt, 2006), follows the struggles of the ocean’s ancient leatherbacks and other sea turtles. His prime goal, he has said, is to develop a “sea ethic” similar to the land ethic of Aldo Leopold, and a scattering of success stories has convinced him that a balance is still possible between exploitation and conservation of marine resources.

There is a decent NY Times Q&A here.

New Management Plan for Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary

NOAA has issued a final revised management plan and revised regulations for the Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary. The revised regulations prohibit anchoring in the sanctuary, and restrict all fishing except that conducted by rod and reel, handline, or spearfishing gear without powerheads. All other forms of fishing gear must be stowed while in the sanctuary. For more information, read the announcement

Deep-sea fish in Atlantic at brink of extinction

Overfishing has driven several species of deep-water fish in the Atlantic to the brink of extinction in a single generation, Canadian biologists have found.
Populations have plummeted so rapidly that two commercially fished species, the roundnose grenadier and onion-eye grenadier, and three other species, should be classified as critically endangered – a higher rating than for the giant panda and Bengal tiger.
Between 1978 and 1984, catch data from research trawl surveys showed the relative abundance of the five species declined between 87 per cent and 98 per cent in Canadian waters, the researchers found.
Read full story

America's Living Oceans: Charting a Course for Sea Change

The final reports from the Pew Ocean Trust, although now dated back to 2003 are still quite relevant. If you haven't read them, you can download the Executive Summary
and the full report--America's Living Oceans: Charting a Course for Sea Change.

Science Reports are also available here:
Marine Reserves Key to Preserving Ocean Systems
Managing Marine Fisheries
Dialogue on America's Fisheries
Socioeconomic Perspectives of Fishing
Ecological Effects of Fishing
Sprawl and Declining Coastal Health
Marine Pollution in the United States
Marine Aquaculture in the United States
Introduced Species in U.S. Coastal Waters

US Coast Guard Analysis of Fishing Vessel Casualties

The Compliance Analysis Division
collaborated with the Fishing Vessel Safety program manager and prepared a follow-on
review to provide information about why and how such incidents occurred. That report was
distributed in October of 1999. This document is the third edition of the casualty study with
newly added data for calendar years 2001 through 2004.2 The resulting updated data set
includes such factors as:
• Operation of the vessel at the time of the incident.
• Geographic or location information of the incident.
• Participation of the vessel in the voluntary exam program and its decal status.
• Causal information about vessel loss, (what went wrong).
• Causal information about deaths and missing persons.
• Assistance by Good Samaritan vessels, and
• Availability and use of lifesaving equipment.
Analysis of the casualty data is presented in two parts: vessel losses, and crew fatalities.
Each part begins with overall summaries and descriptive statistics. From that starting point,
a more detailed "drill down" analysis is provided on the data. In other words, for each of the
two groupings, the broad based information was examined in increasing detail, in order to
"peel back," or focus on, the most significant factors involved in these fishing vessel
incidents.
For the eleven-year period from 1994 through 2004, there were 1398 lost vessels and 641
fatalities. Of those fatalities, 328 occurred at the same time a vessel was lost. Overall, this
is an average of 127 lost vessels and 58 fatalities per year.
The information showed that the majority of fishing vessel losses and deaths occurred in
the 17th and 8th Coast Guard Districts.

View full report here

Bush Seeks Ban on Destructive Fishing

President Bush called for a halt to destructive fishing on the high seas Tuesday and said the United States will work to eliminate or better regulate practices such as bottom trawling that devastate fish populations and the ocean floor....Read AP Report Here

Cod still overfished in the North-West Atlantic despite ban

The Grand Banks fisheries, once home to one of the world's most abundant populations of cod, collapsed in the 1990s, leading to a total fishing moratorium for this species in 1994.However, the report Bycatch on the High Seas: A review of the effectiveness of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization shows that despite the ban over 13,000 tonnes of cod and other fish, including American plaice and redfish, are taken every year as bycatch — the accidental capture of non-targeted fish.

Read WWF Article

More on Fisheries at www.capecharleslights.com