MUENCHHAUSEN
AN ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER ABOUT ENVIRONMENT,
RENEWABLE RESOURCE TECHNOLOGY,
AND RELATED TOPICS
By BOOTSTRAP PRESS, INC.
BETHESDA, MD
GREENBARON@CSI.COM
=================================================================
SEPTEMBER 28, 2004
=================================================================
WELCOME!
The Green Baron welcomes one and all who take the time to read Muenchhausen. He aims to “tell it like it is” as much as possible, and avoid advocacy and ideological positions. There are enough of those to go around in other publications.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The Green Baron again thanks all those who may take the time and trouble to read this “Blog” publication. He also acknowledges with gratitude the help of anyone who contributed material that constitutes this issue of Muenchhausen.
CAUTIONARY FISH STORIES
During the 16th and 17th centuries, history tells us, cod used to be so plentiful in the Atlantic Ocean off what are now New England and the Canadian Maritime Provinces that they could literally be taken from the ocean by hand. At the beginning of the 21st century, cod have become quite rare, and such cod as can be found in food stores have gone up sharply in price since the 20th century. Analogous situations hold true for many other fisheries around the world. How have things come to this pass?
Between 1976 and 1990, total worldwide fish consumption nearly doubled from 50 million tonnes (metric tons) to 95.5 million tonnes (1 tonne = about 2,200 pounds). This statistic includes fish caught in the wild, and not used to feed poultry, other livestock, and farmed fish; this adds about 30 million tonnes to world demand. Approximately 1 billion people rely on fish for at least 30% of their protein needs, and inhabitants of some island nations depend on fish for protein almost exclusively (1).
The oceanic fish/seafood resource is increasingly under threat. One reason is that many more nations and people have entered and expanded the fishing industry by leaps and bounds during the latter half of the 20th century. Moreover, especially starting in 1970, fishing vessels have become substantially larger, with large storage capacity. Between 1970 and 1990, the world’s decked fishing fleet (ships equipped with a hold for storing fish) grew from 585,000 to 1.2 million vessels. In addition, many nations’ governments subsidized their fishing industries through billions of dollars’ worth of low- or no-interest loans. Also, since the 1980s, a “super-fishing” vessel, the giant catcher-processor ship, some with drift nets 50 kilometers (km) wide, have come to sweep fish out of the ocean. Many of these ships are equipped with the most sophisticated electronic devices capable of obtaining precise geographic positions and almost pinpointing locations of such schools of fish as remain.
Overfishing. Total world wild fishing for food and for oil and fish meal was about 20 million tonnes in 1950. By 1980, this figure jumped to nearly 80 million tonnes before growth leveled off (2). The major reason for this leveling off of wild harvests is that “once-vast populations of cod, herring, menhaden, pollock, tuna, flounder, snapper, redfish, and other valuable fish species have been depleted by overfishing, which many scientists argue is by far the marine environment’s most pressing problem” (1).
Currently, about 47% of commercial fish stocks are seen as “fully exploited, or fished near their maximum sustainable limits (2). About 28% are overfished, which means that stocks will decline unless fishery managers stop overfishing, or even collapsed. By “collapsed” is meant that a fishery will not recover unless drastic—perhaps draconian—reductions in fishing are made for the long term. According to Michael Sissenwine, director of scientific programs for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), about 30% of U.S. fish stocks were overfished, as were 30% of European fish stocks.
“The global ocean has lost more than 90% of large predatory fishes,” warned Ransom Myers, a biologist at Dalhousie University (Halifax, NS, Canada) (3). In the Gulf of Thailand, for instance, populations of large finfish such as sharks and skates declined by 60% between 1965 and 1970, which were the first years of industrial trawl fishing. According to Myers, it takes just several years to overfish such large marine carnivores.
Other important predators include “apex predators” such as swordfish, cod, tuna, and grouper, which now fetch premium prices for their size and taste. These predators feed on smaller fish and animal plankton. Overfishing these apex predators disrupts the oceans’ food webs, according to Daniel Pauly et al. (4). Pauly, director of the Fisheries Centre at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and his colleagues note that with the predators mostly gone, fishermen go after smaller species such anchovies, squid, and jellyfish. These are used for fish sticks and for livestock and aquaculture feed. Moreover, some of these species, such as jellyfish, are considered delicacies in various Asian countries. Pauly calls this enterprise “fishing down the food web.” With these smaller species gone, any future recovery of apex predator species may be foreclosed.
Then there is the decimation of the “bycatch”, which is the catch that never reaches consumers. That consists of sea creatures caught unintentionally, which are simply killed and discarded.
Interestingly, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI, Arlington, VA), a fishing and seafood trade organization, does not see overfishing as a huge problem. “Commercial fishing does not represent a widespread threat to the ocean,” suggests Linda Candler, an NFI vice president. “Overfishing tends to be localized and species-specific.
Many scientists and policy analysts have come to agree that the era of overcapitalized commercial fishing fleets must come to a close. This could entail a long, difficult transition to smaller fleets, which, in turn, could result in more sustainable catches. Given world demand for fish and seafood, however, it may be questionable whether the ocean fish resource will ever recover in the foreseeable future (1).
What about fish farming or aquaculture, an industry that is expanding? It could furnish fish protein to consumers, but there are problems. For instance, farmed salmon have been found to accumulate chemicals such as flame retardants, similar in structure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (5). Jeffery A. Foran, now a professor at the School of Public Health, University of Chicago, and formerly executive director of the International Risk Research Institute (IRRI, Washington, DC), is “very concerned” about this chemical contamination. He was an author of a paper resulting from a study of chemical contamination in farmed salmon, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. The Green Baron used to attend meetings of the IRRI when Foran was executive director during the early to mid-1990s.
Levels of flame retardants in farmed salmon ranged between 1 and 4 parts per billion (ppb), while wild salmon showed concentrations of 0.5 ppb. The difference between wild and farmed salmon is that farmed salmon are fed concentrated feed high in fish oils and meal, whereas wild salmon receive less fat and get more exercise (6), according to Ronald Hites, a professor at Indiana University (Bloomington, IN), with whom the Green Baron also was acquainted in the past. His article appeared on the Web site of Environmental Science & Technology, a publication of the American Chemical Society, on Aug. 10, 2004.
References:
1. Tibbetts, J. Environ. Health Perspect. 2004, 112(5), A283—A291.
2. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2002. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, pp. 3—87.
3. Myers, R.; Worm, B. Nature May 15, 2003.
4. Pauly, D. et al. Science 1998, 279, 860—63.
5. Eilperin, J. “Farmed Salmon Raise Concerns.” The Washington Post, Aug. 11, 2004, p. A3
6. Hites, R. A. et al. http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/esthag/asap/abs/es049548m.html
WHAT IS BOOTSTRAP PRESS?
Bootstrap Press is a nonprofit organization founded in Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A., to promote the development and management of technology and businesses based on renewable resources. We also encourage the preservation of our Earth's natural habitats and its plant and animal species. So do a lot of other organizations, and more power to them for doing so!
Bootstrap Press is different because its members believe that the development of renewable resources and the preservation of habitats and species are receiving far more lip service than the financial and technical support needed to achieve these goals. We also think they will continue to be subjects of more talk than action until someone can show how renewable resources and the diversity of biological species can be the basis for potentially profitable businesses as well as a matter of ethics. Bootstrap Press intends to provide a forum for the discussion of how to build up such business, and of related topics.
There's one more thing we should mention about Muenchhausen and Bootstrap Press. We try to present only the scientific and technical facts that are correct to the best of our knowledge, belief, and good faith. It is up to Muenchhausen's readers to draw their own conclusions and make their own judgments.
NOTE: The mention of a product or service in Muenchhausen is in no way to be regarded as an endorsement of that product or service by Muenchhausen, Bootstrap Press, the Green Baron, or any other contributor to Muenchhausen.
AN ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER ABOUT ENVIRONMENT,
RENEWABLE RESOURCE TECHNOLOGY,
AND RELATED TOPICS
By BOOTSTRAP PRESS, INC.
BETHESDA, MD
GREENBARON@CSI.COM
=================================================================
SEPTEMBER 28, 2004
=================================================================
WELCOME!
The Green Baron welcomes one and all who take the time to read Muenchhausen. He aims to “tell it like it is” as much as possible, and avoid advocacy and ideological positions. There are enough of those to go around in other publications.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The Green Baron again thanks all those who may take the time and trouble to read this “Blog” publication. He also acknowledges with gratitude the help of anyone who contributed material that constitutes this issue of Muenchhausen.
CAUTIONARY FISH STORIES
During the 16th and 17th centuries, history tells us, cod used to be so plentiful in the Atlantic Ocean off what are now New England and the Canadian Maritime Provinces that they could literally be taken from the ocean by hand. At the beginning of the 21st century, cod have become quite rare, and such cod as can be found in food stores have gone up sharply in price since the 20th century. Analogous situations hold true for many other fisheries around the world. How have things come to this pass?
Between 1976 and 1990, total worldwide fish consumption nearly doubled from 50 million tonnes (metric tons) to 95.5 million tonnes (1 tonne = about 2,200 pounds). This statistic includes fish caught in the wild, and not used to feed poultry, other livestock, and farmed fish; this adds about 30 million tonnes to world demand. Approximately 1 billion people rely on fish for at least 30% of their protein needs, and inhabitants of some island nations depend on fish for protein almost exclusively (1).
The oceanic fish/seafood resource is increasingly under threat. One reason is that many more nations and people have entered and expanded the fishing industry by leaps and bounds during the latter half of the 20th century. Moreover, especially starting in 1970, fishing vessels have become substantially larger, with large storage capacity. Between 1970 and 1990, the world’s decked fishing fleet (ships equipped with a hold for storing fish) grew from 585,000 to 1.2 million vessels. In addition, many nations’ governments subsidized their fishing industries through billions of dollars’ worth of low- or no-interest loans. Also, since the 1980s, a “super-fishing” vessel, the giant catcher-processor ship, some with drift nets 50 kilometers (km) wide, have come to sweep fish out of the ocean. Many of these ships are equipped with the most sophisticated electronic devices capable of obtaining precise geographic positions and almost pinpointing locations of such schools of fish as remain.
Overfishing. Total world wild fishing for food and for oil and fish meal was about 20 million tonnes in 1950. By 1980, this figure jumped to nearly 80 million tonnes before growth leveled off (2). The major reason for this leveling off of wild harvests is that “once-vast populations of cod, herring, menhaden, pollock, tuna, flounder, snapper, redfish, and other valuable fish species have been depleted by overfishing, which many scientists argue is by far the marine environment’s most pressing problem” (1).
Currently, about 47% of commercial fish stocks are seen as “fully exploited, or fished near their maximum sustainable limits (2). About 28% are overfished, which means that stocks will decline unless fishery managers stop overfishing, or even collapsed. By “collapsed” is meant that a fishery will not recover unless drastic—perhaps draconian—reductions in fishing are made for the long term. According to Michael Sissenwine, director of scientific programs for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), about 30% of U.S. fish stocks were overfished, as were 30% of European fish stocks.
“The global ocean has lost more than 90% of large predatory fishes,” warned Ransom Myers, a biologist at Dalhousie University (Halifax, NS, Canada) (3). In the Gulf of Thailand, for instance, populations of large finfish such as sharks and skates declined by 60% between 1965 and 1970, which were the first years of industrial trawl fishing. According to Myers, it takes just several years to overfish such large marine carnivores.
Other important predators include “apex predators” such as swordfish, cod, tuna, and grouper, which now fetch premium prices for their size and taste. These predators feed on smaller fish and animal plankton. Overfishing these apex predators disrupts the oceans’ food webs, according to Daniel Pauly et al. (4). Pauly, director of the Fisheries Centre at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and his colleagues note that with the predators mostly gone, fishermen go after smaller species such anchovies, squid, and jellyfish. These are used for fish sticks and for livestock and aquaculture feed. Moreover, some of these species, such as jellyfish, are considered delicacies in various Asian countries. Pauly calls this enterprise “fishing down the food web.” With these smaller species gone, any future recovery of apex predator species may be foreclosed.
Then there is the decimation of the “bycatch”, which is the catch that never reaches consumers. That consists of sea creatures caught unintentionally, which are simply killed and discarded.
Interestingly, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI, Arlington, VA), a fishing and seafood trade organization, does not see overfishing as a huge problem. “Commercial fishing does not represent a widespread threat to the ocean,” suggests Linda Candler, an NFI vice president. “Overfishing tends to be localized and species-specific.
Many scientists and policy analysts have come to agree that the era of overcapitalized commercial fishing fleets must come to a close. This could entail a long, difficult transition to smaller fleets, which, in turn, could result in more sustainable catches. Given world demand for fish and seafood, however, it may be questionable whether the ocean fish resource will ever recover in the foreseeable future (1).
What about fish farming or aquaculture, an industry that is expanding? It could furnish fish protein to consumers, but there are problems. For instance, farmed salmon have been found to accumulate chemicals such as flame retardants, similar in structure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (5). Jeffery A. Foran, now a professor at the School of Public Health, University of Chicago, and formerly executive director of the International Risk Research Institute (IRRI, Washington, DC), is “very concerned” about this chemical contamination. He was an author of a paper resulting from a study of chemical contamination in farmed salmon, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. The Green Baron used to attend meetings of the IRRI when Foran was executive director during the early to mid-1990s.
Levels of flame retardants in farmed salmon ranged between 1 and 4 parts per billion (ppb), while wild salmon showed concentrations of 0.5 ppb. The difference between wild and farmed salmon is that farmed salmon are fed concentrated feed high in fish oils and meal, whereas wild salmon receive less fat and get more exercise (6), according to Ronald Hites, a professor at Indiana University (Bloomington, IN), with whom the Green Baron also was acquainted in the past. His article appeared on the Web site of Environmental Science & Technology, a publication of the American Chemical Society, on Aug. 10, 2004.
References:
1. Tibbetts, J. Environ. Health Perspect. 2004, 112(5), A283—A291.
2. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2002. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, pp. 3—87.
3. Myers, R.; Worm, B. Nature May 15, 2003.
4. Pauly, D. et al. Science 1998, 279, 860—63.
5. Eilperin, J. “Farmed Salmon Raise Concerns.” The Washington Post, Aug. 11, 2004, p. A3
6. Hites, R. A. et al. http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/esthag/asap/abs/es049548m.html
WHAT IS BOOTSTRAP PRESS?
Bootstrap Press is a nonprofit organization founded in Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A., to promote the development and management of technology and businesses based on renewable resources. We also encourage the preservation of our Earth's natural habitats and its plant and animal species. So do a lot of other organizations, and more power to them for doing so!
Bootstrap Press is different because its members believe that the development of renewable resources and the preservation of habitats and species are receiving far more lip service than the financial and technical support needed to achieve these goals. We also think they will continue to be subjects of more talk than action until someone can show how renewable resources and the diversity of biological species can be the basis for potentially profitable businesses as well as a matter of ethics. Bootstrap Press intends to provide a forum for the discussion of how to build up such business, and of related topics.
There's one more thing we should mention about Muenchhausen and Bootstrap Press. We try to present only the scientific and technical facts that are correct to the best of our knowledge, belief, and good faith. It is up to Muenchhausen's readers to draw their own conclusions and make their own judgments.
NOTE: The mention of a product or service in Muenchhausen is in no way to be regarded as an endorsement of that product or service by Muenchhausen, Bootstrap Press, the Green Baron, or any other contributor to Muenchhausen.
posted by Green_Baron00 @ 7:54 PM
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