Migingo Island in Kenya is only the size of one football field, yet in 2009 this small fishing island became the center of a full-scale international conflict that continues to echo throughout East Africa. This piece explores the effects that the conflict has had on the residents of Migingo.Migingo Island in Kenya is only the size of one football field, yet in 2009 this small... more
The blast of the fog horn guides shipping through the poor visibility. The dockyard windmills poke their blades through the clouds and fishermen talk Sea Bass. This film is without commentaryThe blast of the fog horn guides shipping through the poor visibility. The dockyard... more
As the insistent beat of unregulated mass consumption continues, another species faces annihilation. If you're eating bluefin tuna, congratulations; you've become part of the problem!http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091105/sc_afp/environmentanimalfish_20091105180943
As... more
Come fishing with me and my son. We'll kick back some cold ones and have some fun. I own my own boat and have an extra fishing license. You'll need your own life perserver, but they're easy to come by. The river is flowing and my son is stoked.
$2 per person
8 hour round trip Sunday Nov 8th
Text BoBCome fishing with me and my son. We'll kick back some cold ones and have some fun. I... more
The boat was capsized off Chiba in Japan, as its three-man crew was trying to haul in a net containing dozens of huge Nomura’s jellyfish. Four years after they last reared their slimy heads, and for reasons that remain mysterious, an armada of the gelatinous giants has gathered in the Yellow Sea off China and the Korean peninsula.
Sustainable is the latest buzzword in fisheries management and seafood retailing. But with experts predicting that fish stocks will be gone by 2048, can any commercially exploited marine species be classed as truly sustainable?
In 1997, with the backing of Unilever and WWF, the Marine Stewardship Council was formed. Fisheries that are assessed and meet the standard can use the MSC blue ecolabel. The MSC mission is to reward sustainable and environmentally friendly fishing practices.
In an ideal world, for the MSC to work effectively, the assessments would have been carried out from a pristine fish stock level and monitored continuously, but as we know this is now impossible. At least eighty percent of commercial fish stocks are now classified as fully or over-exploited. On this basis what purpose does the MSC label serve, except to possibly encourage the increased consumption of already severely depleted fish?
Several of the world's fishery stocks have been granted MSC certification in the face of growing opposition. Despite protests from California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium and the marine conservation group Oceana, MSC in October 2009 issued an ecolabel on fish products made with Pacific hake along the coast of the Pacific Northwest. Ben Ecticknap, Pacific project manager for Oceana, maintained that “The Pacific hake are at an all-time low population. There’s no good signs of recovery.” He said the Pacific hake population has fallen 89 per cent since the 1980s, so regulators should restrict commercial fishing and develop plans to rebuild the population.
The MSC certification of the Alaskan pollock fishery in 2005 stirred up a similar controversy with Greenpeace stating in 2008 that "the world’s largest food fishery is on the verge of collapse. Pollock, used to make McDonald’s fish sandwiches, frozen fish sticks, fish and chips, and imitation crabmeat, have had a population decrease of 50 percent since last year".
The MSC base their sustainability criteria on current scientific data gathered about fish stocks, but with fish piracy and under-reporting of catches rife how can we be sure that eco-labelling is a safe way of judging a fish species' health? Personally I don't think we can.
Before we can strike a balance between exploiting the oceans and sustainably harvesting them we must realise that, as it stands, very few so-called 'sustainable' fisheries can be sustained at current levels. As we move from one depleted species to another i.e. cod to pollock or monkfish to gurnard, the under-exploited fish becomes tomorrow's over-exploited fish.
In future we shall have to treat wild marine species as a very infrequent luxury and pay a much higher retail price for them if we are ever to ensure true sustainability when extracting marine species for food.
Even now companies are exploiting the keystone species krill to fill the commercial demand for fish oil left because of over-exploited fish stocks. Talk about fishing down the food chain, what will we do when the fish and the krill have gone?Sustainable is the latest buzzword in fisheries management and seafood retailing. But... more
The Obama administration is launching a rapid, sweeping review of the way the federal government manages subsistence hunting and fishing in Alaska, Interior Department officials said Friday.
"The system, frankly, today is broken," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced in a video shown at the annual Alaska Federation of Natives convention in downtown Anchorage.
Subsistence rights -- the battle over who gets the first opportunity to hunt and fish on state or federal land -- is a headline issue at this year's convention. For decades, the debate has pitted rural Alaskans and Alaska Natives, who say they hunt and fish to survive, against sports groups and urban hunters and fishermen, who argue everyone should have equal access to fish and game.
The state makes hunting and fishing rules across Alaska. But the feds regulate subsistence on federal lands, creating a confounding, overlapping system.
In contrast to the state Constitution, a 1980 federal law guarantees rural Alaskans priority when it comes to subsistence. Some Alaska Native leaders say the feds haven't done enough to protect that right, and are proposing a resolution at the convention today that calls for broad changes to subsistence management.
AFN leaders met with Interior officials at least twice in the past four months, outlining some of those requests, said state Sen. Albert Kookesh, an AFN co-chairman who praised Friday's announcement.
"We couldn't have asked for more," he said.
Gov. Sean Parnell couldn't be reached for comment Friday afternoon. Parnell served as lieutenant governor to Sarah Palin before inheriting the job in July. Palin opposed a rural preference for subsistence hunting and fishing. Parnell's rural affairs adviser, John Moller, answered an interview request with an e-mail:
"The administration is interested in hearing more about the suggested federal review," he wrote. "We plan to take an active role in the review and look forward to hearing details on what changes the federal government believes would make the existing dual-management system more workable."
In a statement explaining Friday's announcement, the Interior Department said subsistence is vital to the physical and spiritual culture of Alaska Natives, and federal oversight needs to be retooled to better meet the needs of Native communities.
More @ linkSarah Palin won't be happy.
The Obama administration is launching a rapid, sweeping... more
Clawing for answers about sustaining both lobsters and lobstermen.
What could be more simple than fishing? You catch what nature provides, and toss back what you don’t need. At least that’s the way it was until every 7-Eleven and gas station mini-mart started selling spicy tuna rolls, and scientists observed that the oceans were overfished and gutted of our favorite species. Now, a trip to the fish counter at the supermarket is riddled with complexity...
There have been some small but significant developments recently in the fight to save sharks from possible extinction. Let's hope that it's a sign of more to come and that it is not too little too late.There have been some small but significant developments recently in the fight to save... more
"I vividly remember the quote 'We might as well get this thing. Someone's dying today,'" Bunn told Local 10's Rob Schmitt Monday.
It took quite a while to capture the shark. The group tried using the dead swordfish to lure her close to the boat and capture her."I vividly remember the quote 'We might as well get this thing. Someone's dying... more
"An estimate of the number of Atlantic Menhaden dead in a Neuse River kill that began last week is now at as many as 50 million.
That count would make it the worst kill this decade and the second or third worst since an estimated 1 billion fish died in a 1991 kill that is considered a record for the region.""An estimate of the number of Atlantic Menhaden dead in a Neuse River kill that began... more
You need more than two hands to count the number of seafood restaurants and shacks out in Eastern Long Island, but only one to tally the number of places who actually buy their seafood straight from the captains of local boats.
Meet Chef Jennifer Meadows of Fishbar, a new local seafood restaurant in Montauk, who begged her way onto the boats of local commercial fishermen to guarantee her fish was as fresh and as local as possible. Supporting sustainable seafood harvesters in her little fishing village is a mission she sees no other way, and her story hopes to inspire more restaurants to do the same...You need more than two hands to count the number of seafood restaurants and shacks out... more
This fascinating BBC video shows how South Pacific islanders fish for Skipjack Tuna for commercial export using hook, line and pole.This fascinating BBC video shows how South Pacific islanders fish for Skipjack Tuna... more
This fascinating video shows how South Pacific islanders from the Solomon Islands archipelago use webs spun by a particular species of spider to catch a particular species of fish. If you have adequate wifi support, you should watch this full-screen in high definition.This fascinating video shows how South Pacific islanders from the Solomon Islands... more
“Installation of Rescue 21 across the nation represents a quantum leap forward in command, control and communications. By closing coastal coverage gaps and capturing more accurate data from radio transmissions, the system offers an essential tool in maritime security, search and rescue and marine environmental protection.”
— Admiral Thad W. Allen, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard
Rescue 21 is standing the watch over 28,000 miles of coastline.
Rescue 21 is the United States Coast Guard’s advanced command, control and communications system. Created to improve the ability to assist mariners in distress and save lives and property at sea, the system is currently being installed in stages across the United States.
Learn more about Rescue 21 >>“Installation of Rescue 21 across the nation represents a quantum leap forward in... more
A lobster aged 100 years old must be counting his lucky stars, as he's heading for an aquarium rather than someone's dinner plate. The fish processors saw he was four and half times the size of the average lobster, & couldn’t face the prospect of him being boiled in a pot.
So they got in touch with Blackpool Sea Life Centre and gave him to them. The lobster's been nicknamed Nobby and will be in the next tank to a 15-year-old female called Claudette.
Apparently romance isn't on the cards though as Claudette's so much smaller they can't put them in the same tank as they'll probably fight.A lobster aged 100 years old must be counting his lucky stars, as he's heading for an... more
Greenpeace has begun sinking boulders in EU-protected cod fishing grounds to prevent what it says are destructive forms of fishing in the area.
The environmental group says it will drop 180 boulders off the Swedish and Danish coasts to prevent fishing boats from dragging nets along the sea bed.Greenpeace has begun sinking boulders in EU-protected cod fishing grounds to prevent... more
The sun sets over Prague as fishermen cast their lines into the Vltava river as trains pass over the steel suspension bridge above. No commentary.The sun sets over Prague as fishermen cast their lines into the Vltava river as trains... more
Crabcakes and fish sticks won't be disappearing after all.
Two years after a study warned that overfishing could cause a collapse in the world's seafood stocks by 2048, an update says the tide is turning, at least in some areas.
"This paper shows that our oceans are not a lost cause," said Boris Worm of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, lead author of both reports. "I'm somewhat more hopeful ... than what we were seeing two years ago."
It's personal as well as scientific.
"I have actually given thought to whether I will be hosting a seafood party then," Worm said, meaning 2048.
Ray Hilborn of the University of Washington challenged Worm's original report, leading the two — plus 19 other researchers — to launch the study that led to the new findings. They're being published in Friday's edition of the journal Science.
The news isn't all good.
Of 10 areas of the world that were studied, significant overfishing continues in three, but steps have been taken to curb excesses in five others, Hilborn and Worm report. The other two were not a problem in either study.
Hilborn noted that 63 percent of fish stocks remain below desired levels. It takes time to rebuild after steps are taken to reduce the catch.Crabcakes and fish sticks won't be disappearing after all.
Two years after a study... more
Rachel Maddow appeared on the "Tonight Show" Wednesday night, where she revealed that Barack Obama is a fan of her fashion sense.
During their interview last fall, Obama "broke the ice by complimenting my pants," Maddow told Conan. "They're my Obama pants!"
Maddow also poked fun at Obama's beer date with Professor Henry Louis Gates and Sergeant James Crowley — "I don't know whether it's going to be a longneck or a can," the cocktail aficionado told Conan — and explained why she recently copied Sarah Palin by wearing rubber waders on the air.Rachel Maddow appeared on the "Tonight Show" Wednesday night, where she revealed that... more
![Tuna Fishing in the South Pacific -- YIKES! watch out for that flying tuna! [video] - video](http://i2.crtcdn.net/images/asset/899/152/48/Q13491_60x45.jpg)
![Spider Web Fishing in the South Pacific [video] - video](http://i2.crtcdn.net/images/asset/899/121/88/J29164_60x45.jpg)
