Warming, Rising Acidity and Pollution: Top Threats to the Ocean

Ocean plants produce some 50% of the planet’s oxygen. Seawater absorbs a quarter of the carbon dioxide we pump into the atmosphere. Ocean currents distribute heat around the globe, regulating weather patterns and climate. And, for those who take pleasure in life’s simple rewards, a seaweed extract keeps your peanut butter and ice cream at the right consistency!

Nonetheless, those of us who can’t see the ocean from our window still feel a disconnect—because the ocean feels far away, it’s easy to forget the critical role the ocean plays in human life and to think that problems concerning the ocean will only harm those people that fish or make their living directly from the sea. But this isn’t true: the sea is far more important than that.

Every year, scientists learn more about the top threats to the ocean and what we can do to counter them. So for tomorrow’s World Oceans Day, here’s a run-down of what we’ve learned just in the past 12 months.

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Ruddy turnstones sit on an abandoned pier on the coast of Hawaii. Photo by LCDR Eric T. Johnson, NOAA Corps

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Magnuson Reauthorization must address food, jobs, and revenue, as well as fish says Ray Hilborn

Ray Hilborn is a Professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, and one of the world’s reknowned experts on fisheries. He has long advocated a broad view of the benefits of fisheries in the food system, and asked that we consider the ecological impacts of not fishing as well as those of fishing. This is a guest editorial written following the Managing Our Nation’s Fisheries Conference, held earlier this month in Washington, DC.

The recent Managing Our Nations Fisheries conference in Washington D.C. and the upcoming reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Management and Conservation Act has focused attention on the nation’s fisheries, how well they are doing, and what can be done to improve the contribution of U.S. fisheries to our national well-being. A logical first step in evaluation of our fisheries is to first ask what are the objectives of American fisheries management?

The text of the act begins with “To provide for the conservation and management of the fisheries, and for other purposes”, but then becomes more specific by stating that rebuilding fish stocks, ensuring conservation , protecting essential habitat are all intentions of the act. Also, the act makes it clear that one objective is to provide for “the development of fisheries which are underutilized or not utilized … to assure that our citizens benefit from the employment, food supply, and revenue which could be generated thereby.”

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Successful Managing Our Nation’s Fisheries Conference Brings Together Diverse Voices

The Managing Our Nation’s Fisheries 3 conference wrapped up today on a successful note, with conference participants developing 128 recommendations for improving fishery sustainability. The draft recommendations are online at http://tinyurl.com/cgugoef and will be further elaborated in the conference proceedings.

The conference was coordinated by the eight Regional Fishery Management Councils and NOAA Fisheries, and was sponsored by both fishing industry and environmental groups. The conference aimed to identify both legislative and non-legislative measures to advance fishery sustainability in light of the coming reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act, which governs Federal fishery management in the United States. Most participants seemed to agree that the Magnuson-Stevens Act has been successful in managing U.S. fisheries, and that large-scale revisions would not be needed. For example, under the Act, 32 fish stocks that were previously labeled “overfished” have been rebuilt. However, there was also agreement that some changes are needed to keep the Act relevant, flexible, and responsive.

“These recommendations will be considered carefully as we move forward with Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization,” said Dave Whaley, Legislative staff for the House Natural Resources Subcommittee. “We do need to act carefully; we do not want to solve problems in one area of the country while creating new problems in other areas.”

The conference, held at the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C., began on May 6 with keynotes by Rep.Doc Hastings (R-WA); NOAA Assistant Administrator Eric Schwaab; chef, author and television host Barton Seaver; and Deadliest Catch skipper Keith Colburn. The conference continued May 8 and 9 with sessions on improving fishery management essentials, advancing ecosystem-based decision making, and providing for fishing community stability. Senator Mark Begich (D-AK) addressed the conference attendees on May 8. More than 600 people attended the conference.

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On “Forage Fish”, Pew’s Peter Baker Misses the Mark

“Forage fish” management in the California Current Ecosystem is the most precautionary in the world. Current ecosystem modeling efforts find that purse seine fisheries for coastal pelagic species harvest less than four percent (or two percent, depending on source) of the planktivorous forage pool.

“According to a paper by Kaplin et al 2012 in Fish and Fisheries. Cumulative impacts of fisheries in the California Current. This paper uses the Atlantis model to look at the effects of the major fisheries (by gear type) on other fisheries and species. The purse-seine fishery has the largest effect on other ecosystem components; almost all of the effects were positive! The purse-seine fishery (for coastal pelagic species) resulted in large increases in the Large planktivores, very little change in the small planktivores (they note that the fishery takes <4% of the small planktovore biomass), increases in salmon, deep-vertical migrators, misc pelagic sharks, large zooplankton, microzooplankton, and nearshore fish.” – Dr. Richard Parrish, retired NMFS fishery biologist in Monterey who has more than 50 years’ knowledge of CPS and the California Current.

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The paper A Case for Precautionary Management of Forage Fish, presented by Pew’s Peter Baker at the Managing Our Nation’s Fisheries Conference on May 8, is based on several assumptions about “forage fish” and predator species that are unproven. These unproven assumptions, as well as a lack of peer-review of the Lenfest Forage Fish Task Force that the paper extensively cites, should raise significant questions and engender in-depth review before its recommendations become standard practice in fisheries management.

The paper’s recommendations are based around the assumption that “forage fish” is a legitimate and useful categorization of species to be used in fisheries management, and that the various “forage species” can be managed under the same broad guidelines. Specifically, the paper recommends implementing restrictions intended to leave forage species biomass at 75 percent of unfished levels. The paper argues that adopting this conservative management strategy will lead to an increase in the amount of forage available and will benefit predator species.

However, these species have a variety of biological differences, and don’t have much in common outside of their common role in the marine food web. These significant differences–including fecundity, spawning periods, migration, predator-prey relationships, and habitat–are much more relevant variables for fisheries management than a shared trophic role.

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‘Mystery fish’ turns out to be 125-pound opah, a rare catch aboard Southern California half-day boat

Anglers and crew aboard a Southern California half-day boat were astonished last week to see what the captain had reeled from the depths: a stunningly gorgeous moon-shaped denizen with a speckled body and bright-red fins.

It was an opah, a species more commonly found in tropical and sub-tropical waters much farther offshore. Opah catches are rare off California, and extremely rare in coastal waters. To have landed one of these pelagic beauties from a half-day boat, within view of the shore, might be unprecedented.

Opah2Capt. Jeff Patrick of the Western Pride hooked the 125-pound opah on a sardine at a depth of about 250 feet, while on a rockfish excursion out of Davey’s Locker Sportfishing in Newport Beach.

The “mystery fish” was so feisty that he thought he had hooked a shark. The fight lasted 45 minutes and at one point the captain contemplated cutting the line because the rockfish had stopped biting and he wanted to relocate to a more productive area.

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MIKE CONROY: Squid Fishermen Fight Not ‘David vs. Goliath,’ More Like ‘Boy Who Cried Wolf’

Hearing claims of three squid brail (smaller boat) fishermen, one might think that the larger seine vessel squid fishermen are illegally catching all of the allowable quota.

But that’s just not the case. In fact, not only is there an abundance of squid in California’s waters – more than enough to go around – most of the brail-boat fishing fleet have no problem with the current management structure.

That’s because the squid resource is booming and most fishermen have been catching plenty of squid!

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The supergule inspired by world’s stickiest – which can hold up to 230 times its own bodyweight

The world’s stickiest fish, with an adhesive force up to 230 times its bodyweight, is set to inspire a new household superglue, according to researchers in North Carolina. 

The small Northern Clingfish is found in the Pacific, off the north west coast of the the US. 

It uses modified fins as a suction disk to hold onto the underside of rocks amid crashing waves.

It fastens itself to rough edges by using pads of tiny hairs called microvilli which are similar to those on a gecko’s feet.

Researcher Dylan Wainwright and his colleagues from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina said the method is quick, reversible and readily works underwater.

They said the fish’s technology could be used for adhesive devices in medicine, industry and the home.

The dusky coloured Northern Clingfish, also known as Gobiesox maeandricus, is a species of saltwater fish and measures about six-inches long.

Shaped like tadpoles with a wide, flattened head they have no scales and are covered with a thick coating of slime that makes them very slippery.

They are characterised by their large suction disc formed by the union of the pelvic fins and adjacent folds of flesh.

The research team carried out experiments on 22 samples of Northern Clingfish, caught off the rocks of San Juan Island, Washington, and measured the fishes’ adhesive force on eight surfaces.

Seven of the surfaces had varying sizes of grit on them, and the eighth was made from glass, to see how the fish performed on an extremely smooth layer.

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Sublime spots for sardines

Be the envy of every dolphin, get yourself a beautiful plate of sardines.

Typically used for bait, these little treats take to Mediterranean flavors so well. And if you’re not up for rowing out to buy direct from a bait barge in the bay (umm, that’s illegal), you can paddle over to a few San Diego restaurants making headway on the sardine trend:

What’s the big appeal of sardines? “They taste like fish,” said Trey Foshee, who has served the tiny, oily fish a trillion ways at George’s at the Cove/George’s California Modern. “A lot of fish that’s found in restaurants—the halibuts, the soles, a lot of white fish—they’re geared for people who think eating fish is healthy but they don’t like the taste of fish.” His La Jolla kitchen is currently grilling sardines, plating the filets atop fennel cream, marinated mussels, Japanese squid and wild fennel, and presenting the dish underneath a glass filled with cedar smoke. 1250 Prospect St. La Jolla. (858) 454-4244 orgeorgesatthecove.com.

One of the top “boat-to-throat” sustainable-seafood advocates in town is Sea Rocket Bistro, a two-roomed, low-key neighborhood spot. The kitchen leaders have changed since it opened in 2008—Tommy Fraioli is the captain now, and he recently won the San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival’s Chef of the Fest title. But the San Diego-caught sardines stay on the menu: Find them with a bit of heat-coloring and smoke from their time on the grill. They’re served with their head-on, and festooned with a cucumber and tomato salad with vinegar, lemon, paprika and pickled shallots. 3382 30th St. North Park. (619) 255-7049 or searocketbistro.com.

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Squid fishermen wrap up another banner year

HALF MOON BAY — It’s a great time to be a calamari lover.

California fishermen have capitalized on favorable ocean conditions with a historic three-year haul of market squid, whose cylindrical bodies are most recognizable in appetizer form: sliced, breaded and deep-fried. These small squid make up the state’s largest fishery by both weight and value, having brought in roughly $68.5 million in 2011.

Fishermen netted a record-breaking 133,642 tons of the cephalopods during the 2010-11 season, then topped that mark the following year with 134,910 tons, according to the California Department of Fish and Game. This season’s catch was also robust, though it is expected to fall a bit short of those staggering totals.

More than 80 percent of the state’s market squid are typically caught in Southern California around the Channel Islands, and most of the rest are netted in Monterey Bay. But this year brought unprecedented fishing activity to the San Mateo County coast, said Mike McHenry, one of only a couple of people who fish squid out of Pillar Point Harbor north of Half Moon Bay.

“This is by far the biggest season we’ve ever seen up in this country,”

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Is Fish Poop Critical To The Ocean?

Professor Deborah Steinberg of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) has dedicated her professional life to investigating crustaceans and their role in the “biological pump,” which is the process by which marine life transports carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and ocean’s surface to the deep sea. This cycle removes the carbon to a depth where it contributes nothing to global warming.

In a new study published in Tuesday’s issue of Scientific Reports, professor Steinberg partnered with Dr. Grace Saba of Rutgers
University and retrained her focus from crustaceans to small forage fish in order to gain an understanding of their role in this carbon removal process.

The research pair collected their data off the coast of southern California on an exploratory expedition aboard the research vessel Point Sur. Building on Steinberg’s knowledge of copepods and other small, drifting marine animals, gleaned from two decades of research, the team wanted to explore whether forage fish like crustaceans played a discernible role in the biological pump through their consumption of photosynthetic surface algae and subsequent release “fecal pellets”.
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