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Emptying the Oceans:

• The state of ocean fisheries• Marine protected areas and

reserves

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Emptying the oceans

• Overharvesting is the worst marine problem• We are putting unprecedented pressure on marine

resources- Half the world’s marine fish populations are fully

exploited and can’t be fished more intensively- 28% of fish population are overexploited and

heading to extinction• Total fisheries catch leveled off after 1988

- Despite increased fishing effort• The maximum wild fisheries potential has been

reached

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The global fisheries catch has increased

It is predicted that populations of all ocean species we fish for today will collapse by 2048

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We have long overfished

• People began depleting sea life centuries ago• Species have been hunted to extinction: Caribbean monk

seal, Steller’s sea cow, Atlantic gray whale• Overharvesting Chesapeake Bay oyster beds led to its

collapse, eutrophication, and hypoxia• Decreased sea turtle populations cause overgrowth of sea

grass and can cause sea grass wasting disease• Overharvesting nearly exterminated many whale species• People never thought groundfish could be depleted

- New approaches or technologies increased catch rates

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Fishing has industrialized

• Factory fishing = huge vessels use powerful technologies to capture fish in huge volumes - Even processing and

freezing their catches at sea• Driftnets for schools of

herring, sardines, mackerel, sharks, shrimp

• Longline fishing for tuna and swordfish

• Trawling for pelagic fish and groundfish

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Fishing practices kill nontarget animals

• Bycatch = the accidental capture of animals• Drift netting drowns dolphins, turtles, and seals

- Fish die on deck- Banned in international waters- But it is still used in national waters

• Longline fishing kills turtles, sharks, and over 300,000 seabirds/year- Methods (e.g., flags) are being developed to limit

bycatch

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Dolphins and tuna

• Dolphins are trapped in purse seine nets used to catch tuna- Hundreds of thousands of dolphins were killed

• The 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act forced fleets to try to free dolphins- Bycatch dropped dramatically

• Other nations fished for tuna, and bycatch increased • The U.S. government required that nations exporting tuna

to the U.S. minimize dolphin bycatch- Dolphin-safe tuna uses methods to avoid bycatch

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Dolphin deaths have declined, but …

• Other animals (e.g., sharks) are still caught

• Dolphins have not recovered- Too few fish to eat

• Rules and technology have decreased dolphin deaths

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Bottom-trawling destroys ecosystems

• Heavy nets crush organisms and damage sea bottoms- It is especially destructive to complex areas (e.g., reefs)

• It equals clear-cutting and strip mining- Georges Bank has been trawled three times

- Destroying young cod as bycatch- The reason the cod stock is not recovering

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Modern fleets deplete marine life rapidly

• Grand Banks cod have been fished for centuries- Catches more than doubled with industrial trawlers- Record-high catches lasted only 10 years

• George Bank cod fishery also collapsed

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Industrialized fishing is destroying fisheries

• Worldwide, industrialized fishing is depleting marine populations with astonishing speed- 90% of large-bodied fish and sharks are eliminated

within 10 years after fishing begins- Populations stabilize at 10% of their former levels

• Communities were very different before modern fishing- Removing animals at higher trophic levels allows

prey to proliferate and change communities

Oceans today contain only one-tenth of the large-bodied animals they once did

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Several factors mask declines

• Industrialized fishing has depleted stocks- But global catch has remained stable for the past 20

years• How can stability mask population declines?

- Fishing fleets travel farther to reach less-fished areas - Fleets fish in deeper waters (now at 250 m)- Fleets spend more time fishing and set more nets- Improved technologies: faster ships, sonar mapping,

satellite navigation, thermal sensing, aerial spotting• Fleets expend more effort to catch the same number of

fish

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We are “fishing down the food chain”

• Figures on total global catch do tell the whole story• As fishing increases, the size and age of fish caught

decline- 10-year-old cod, once common, are now rare

• As species become too rare to fish, fleets target more abundant species- Shifting from large, desirable species to smaller, less

desirable ones- This entails catching species at lower trophic levels

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Purchasing choices influence fishing practices

• Buy ecolabeled seafood- Dolphin-safe tuna

• Consumers don’t know how their seafood was caught- Nonprofit organizations

have devised guides for consumers

- Avoid: Atlantic cod, wild-caught caviar, sharks, farmed salmon

Best choices: farmed catfish, mussels, oysters, tilapia

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Diversity loss erodes ecosystem services

• Factors that deplete biodiversity threaten ecosystem services of the oceans

• Systems with reduced species or genetic diversity show less primary and secondary production- They are less able to withstand disturbance

• Biodiversity loss reduces habitat for nurseries for fish and shellfish

• Less diversity leads to reduced filtering and detoxification - Resulting in algal blooms, dead zones, fish kills, beach

closures

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Fisheries management

• Based on maximum sustained yield to maximize harvest- While keeping fish available for the future- Managers may limit the harvest or restrict gear used

• Despite management, stocks have plummeted- It is time to rethink fisheries management

• Ecosystem-based management shifts away from species and toward the larger ecosystem- Considers the impacts of fishing on habitat quality,

species interactions, and long-term effects- Sets aside areas of oceans free from human

interference

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IV Emptying the Oceans

1.Describe the trends in global fish capture over the past 55 years and over the past 20 years , and 2.Describe an example of how overfishing can lead to ecological damage and fishery collapse3.Name three industrial fishing practices, and explain how they create by catch and harm marine life.