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Sharks are not the only species of fish that
are under assault by man. It is becoming shockingly clear that many of the
fish species that once were found in incredible numbers in the vast oceans
are now at the point of extinction. Overfishing, unregulated, and the advent
of extraordinarily efficient technologically advanced fishing
equipment has spelled doom for a great number of oceanic fish species. In
short, the fish just don't have a chance these days, and without
intervention by governing authorities, the situation is just going to get
worse as the demand for seafood grows in sync with human population increase. The
list of endangered fish grows daily, and includes some of the most famous
and well known fish species on the planet: the atlantic cod, the swordfish
and the magnificent oceanic giants of the marlin family. Even the
tiny seahorses are under assault,
primarily from the orient where they are used as ingredients in native
medicines and their dried carcasses are sold as souvenirs.
One of the worse
situations of all involves deep-sea trawlers that are destroying whole
populations of fish and other creatures in the deep oceans at an
alarming rate. Deep sea fish have much slower life cycles typically than
surface fish, reproduce slower and are much less able to bounce back
from the effects of modern fishing than those species that live in the
fast lanes of the shallow seas. They also live to extraordinary ages
-the orange Roughy for instance can reach 150 years old, and they don't
reproduce until they are in their mid-20s to mid-30s. Deep-sea fishing
is also inflicting terrible collateral damage on deep-sea habitats that
have great biological significance; places like seamounts and canyon
walls where food that is brought in on currents support rich communities
of corals, sponges, seafans and hydroids. In the Southern Ocean, "lush
forests" of invertebrates have literally been stripped from the top of
seamounts by trawlers fishing for orange Roughy. And after the orange
Roughy concentrations are wiped out (often in a few days of fishing)
they never recover. All that is left is a barren wasteland, a hidden
testament to the stupidity and short-sightedness of man. The only phrase
that makes sense here is Dylan's "desolation row", and its at the bottom
of the deep ocean of all places.
Most
scientists agree that licensing fishing or introducing quota schemes to
preserve stocks are unlikely to be effective since most deep sea
fisheries are in international waters and getting countries to agree on
regulations would be extremely difficult. The answer seems to lie in
creating marine reserves and protected zones where no fishing is
allowed. Only this kind of drastic measure will help prevent the total
collapse of stock after stock of deep-sea fishes.
One
of the major dimensions to the problem of overfishing is the fact that
fish swim where they want, and are no respecters of national boundaries.
In that sense, they are one of the global commons, owned by no nation
and with nobody accepting responsibility for them. Generally speaking,
fishermen are not anti-conservation, but they often fear that what they
conserve, somebody else will take. What seems to be needed is a common
fisheries policy that is agreed upon by all fishing nations,
a goal difficult to reach but not impossible and certainly necessary.
The links below will take you to
some great websites about endangered oceanic fish species.
The best sites to start for general information are marked with a
star
 .
If you have a site that you think should be listed,
please
email me.
Official, Scientific & Governmental Sites
Endangered Species Organizations
Endangered
Fish Species
Miscellaneous
Mass Extinction of Species
American Fisheries Society
The mission of the
American Fisheries Society is to improve the conservation and
sustainability of fishery resources and aquatic ecosystems by advancing
fisheries and aquatic science and promoting the development of fisheries
professionals.
FishBase: A Global Information System On Fishes
FishBase is a relational database
with information to cater to different professionals such as research
scientists, fisheries managers, zoologists and many more. FishBase on
the web contains practically all fish species known to science.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Fisheries and Oceans
Canada is the lead federal government department responsible for
developing and implementing policies and programs in support of Canada's
economic, ecological and scientific interests in oceans and inland
waters.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Fisheries
Department
The mission of the Fisheries
Department of FAO is to facilitate and secure the long-term sustainable
development and utilization of the world’s fisheries and aquaculture.
Florida Museum of Natural History: Ichthyology Department
General information
about fish.
Marine Fish Conservation Network
The Marine Fish Conservation Network
(Network) is a coalition of over 170 national and regional environmental
organizations, commercial and recreational fishing groups, aquariums,
and marine science groups dedicated to conserving marine fish and to
promoting their long-term sustainability.
Marine Stewardship Council
The MSC is an
independent, global, non-profit organization whose role is to recognize,
via a certification program, well-managed fisheries and to harness
consumer preference for seafood products bearing the MSC label of
approval.
National Resources Defense Council: Fish
The NRDC is one of the nation's
most effective environmental action organizations. They use law, science
and the support of 1.2 million members and online activists to protect
the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure a safe and healthy
environment for all living things.
NOAA Marine Fisheries Service
NOAA's National Marine
Fisheries Service is the federal agency, a division of the Department of
Commerce, responsible for the stewardship of the nation's living marine
resources and their habitat. NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service is
responsible for the management, conservation and protection of living
marine resources within the United States' Exclusive Economic Zone
(water three to 200 mile offshore).
Seamounts Online
Seamounts Online is a NSF-funded project designed to gather information
on species found in seamount habitats, and to provide a freely-available
online resource for accessing and downloading these data. It is designed
to facilitate research into seamount ecology, and to act as a resource
for managers.
ICUN World Conservation Union
The World Conservation
Union is the world’s largest and most important conservation network.
The Union brings together 82 States, 111 government agencies, more than
800 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and some 10,000 scientists
and experts from 181 countries in a unique worldwide partnership. The
Union’s mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies
throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature
and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and
ecologically sustainable.
United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation
Monitoring Centre
The
United Nations Environment Programme
World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) is the
biodiversity assessment and policy implementation arm of the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the world's foremost
intergovernmental environmental organization.
US Fish & Wildlife Webpages on Endangered Species
The American endangered
species list maintained by the US Fish & Wildlife Service
Word Conservation Union ICUN Red List of Endangered Species
IUCN
- The World Conservation Union, through its Species Survival Commission
(SSC) has for four decades been assessing the conservation status of
species, subspecies, varieties and even selected subpopulations on a
global scale in order to highlight species threatened with extinction,
and therefore promote their conservation.
ATLANTIC
COD
The Starving Ocean: Downturn of the Atlantic Cod
Excellent web
article discussing dynamics of cod decline.
BLUEFIN TUNA
Giant Bluefin Tuna: Severity of Decline and its causes
Website of
professional "sport" fisherman. Informative but from commercial
standpoint.
Monterey Bay Aquarium: Bluefin Tuna
Online field guide to the Bluefin Tuna
CHILEAN SEA BASS
Endangered Fish Alliance: Chilean Sea Bass
The
Endangered Fish Alliance encourages members in Canada to make
environmentally-wise choices by not serving four endangered fish.
National Environmental Trust: Chilean Sea Bass
The National
Environmental Trust is a non-profit, non-partisan organization
established in 1994 to inform citizens about environmental problems and
how they affect our health and quality of life.
National Geographic: US Chefs Join Campaign to Save Chilean Sea Bass
May 2002 online
news article
MARLIN
Blue Marlin & White Marlin: Severity of Decline and its causes
Website of
professional "sport" fisherman. Informative but from commercial
standpoint.
ORANGE ROUGHY
Endangered Fish Alliance: Orange Roughy
The
Endangered Fish Alliance encourages members in Canada to make
environmentally-wise choices by not serving four endangered fish.
Mar Eco: Should We Eat The Orange Roughy
MAR-ECO is
an international research project in which scientists from 16 nations
take part. Norway, represented by the Institute of Marine Research and
the University of Bergen, co-ordinates the project which will enhance
our understanding of occurrence, distribution and ecology of animals and
animal communities along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between Iceland and the
Azores.
SAILFISH
Atlantic Sailfish: Severity of Decline and its causes
Website of
professional "sport" fisherman. Informative but from commercial
standpoint.
SWORDFISH
Atlantic Swordfish: Severity of Decline and its causes
Website of
professional "sport" fisherman. Informative but from commercial
standpoint.
Endangered Fish Alliance: Swordfish
The Endangered
Fish Alliance encourages members in Canada to make environmentally-wise
choices by not serving four endangered fish.
National Resources Defense Council: Atlantic Swordfish
Webpage focusing on
Atlantic Swordfish and successes from recovery efforts.
Wikipedia: Swordfish
General information
Fish Posters of the World
A collector's
site showing over 500 posters of fishes with information where to obtain
them.
Fishing Hurts
Vegen based website with
focus on preventing cruelty to fish.
American
Museum of Natural History Statement
The IUCN Red List of Endangered Species
Professor David Ulansey's
Website -Mass Extinction Underway
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