Why do we keep hearing global fisheries are collapsing?

Some marine scientists say many of the world’s fish stocks are nearing collapse…but the data suggest otherwise. So why is the media still reporting that we’re on the verge of a fisheries apocalypse?

Peter Kareiva, Cool Green Science Blog, provides insight into this question, along with an article published in Science Chronicles by world-renown scientist Ray Hilborn.

Hilborn, an aquatic and fishery sciences professor at the University of Washington, writes in his article:

“If you have paid any attention to the conservation literature or science journalism over the last five years, you likely have gotten the impression that our oceans are so poorly managed that they soon will be empty of fish — unless governments order drastic curtailment of current fishing practices, including the establishment of huge no-take zones across great swaths of the oceans.

“To be fair, there are some places where such severe declines may be true. A more balanced diagnosis, however, tells a different story — one that still requires changes in some fishing practices, but that is far from alarmist. But this balanced diagnosis is being almost wholly ignored in favor of an apocalyptic rhetoric that obscures the true issues fisheries face as well as the correct cures for those problems.”

Read both reports here.

Dr. Doyle Hanan Talking Sardine Research on KNX-AM Los Angeles

Dr. Doyle Hanan was interviewed today on KNX-AM 1070 (Los Angeles) about the sardine research project. You can listen here.

Sardine count on Central Coast: Science, business mix

Money on the line for county fishermen in aerial photo project

By MIKE HORNICK, The Californian
October 2, 2010

Moss Landing-based fisherman Andy Russo is a skipper, not a scientist. But he’d swap a line and net for a test tube and white lab coat if it put more sardines in his next catch.

It just might.

Russo is helping scientists with a project that could help his bottom line.

Since August, the California Wetfish Producers Association, a nonprofit industry group, has been flying aerial photography missions on the Pacific coast from Canada to Mexico, capturing images of massive sardine schools below the water’s surface. Russo and other fishermen take occasional hauls from the schools to establish density and weight.

The fishing purse seiner Eileen approaches schools of sardines, which appear as black masses on this enhanced photo.

Read the rest of the story from the Salinas Californian here.

Judge rules MLPA officials must release public records

photo credit: TheTruthAbout…

By Ed Zieralski

September 30, 2010 at 8:56 p.m.

A Sacramento County Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that the Blue Ribbon Task Force and the Master Plan Team for the Marine Life Protection Act South Coast Region are “state agencies” and must adhere to the California Public Records Act.

Judge Patrick Marlette ruled in favor of San Diego’s Robert C. Fletcher, saying the agencies must release all requested documents related to the South Coast Region of the Marine Life Protection Act by Oct. 10.

The Blue Ribbon Task Force and the Master Plan Team have been charged with drawing up proposals for enactment of the Marine Life Protection Act.

Read the rest of the story at the San Diego Union-Tribune here.

Pilot Jeff Laboff Talking Sardine Research on KTVA Ventura

Pilot Jeff Laboff was recently interviewed on KTVA-AM 1520 (Ventura) about the sardine research project.  You can listen here.

Berkeley Chef Loves Sardines from Monterey Bay

Chef Alice Waters

Founder-owner of Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, CA:

“As fishing worldwide has become more industrialized, it is very important to buy from local sustainable fisheries. I happen to love the sardines that come from Monterey Bay.

“At Chez Panisse, we like to fillet them, cure them lightly with salt, and marinate them with garlic, lemon, herbs, and good olive oil. They are delicious served slightly warmed on garlicky grilled toast.”

See more at Sunset magazine here.

Researchers Encourage Greater Sardine Consumption, But Not Tuna

Thursday, September 23, 2010, 01:30 (GMT + 9)

A team of researchers from Spain and the United States are recommending a reduction in the consumption of tuna and an increase in intake of sardines, as both fish contain roughly the same nutrients. At the same time, scientists stress that consuming 100 grams of tuna will cause nearly 100 times more damage to the environment than 100 grams of sardines.

This was indicated by Enric Sala, a marine ecologist at the Centre d’Estudis Avançats of the Superior Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) in Spain and the National Geographic Society, as well as Daniel Pauly, of the University of British Columbia in the United States

The experts co-directed the investigation, the results of which will be released in October in America, within an edition of the National Geographic magazine and after, in December, it will be released in the Spanish version, reports the newspaper La Vanguardia.

“If we preserve the marine ecosystems so that future generations can continue to eat fish as we do, we should consume less larger species such as tunas,” said Sala.

Read the rest of the story here.

Collaborative Sardine Research Program Concludes Aerial Summer Survey

Local Sardine Fishermen Collaborate with Scientists to Improve Knowledge of Natural Resource

San Pedro, CA, Sept. 20, 2010 – San Pedro fishermen Nick Jurlin on the FV Eileen and Robert Terzoli on the FV Maria T made their final point sets –fishing for science– just hours before the summer sardine research project ended and the fall directed fishery began, at 12:01 AM September 15.

Sponsored by California’s wetfish industry, the summer aerial sardine survey, whose purpose is to provide a minimum estimate of sardine abundance, documented sardine schools from Cape Flattery in Washington State to Southern California, encompassing the area around all of the Channel Islands, where sardines were plentiful.  But the project was unable to conduct point sets in Monterey due to persistent fog and uncooperative fish.

Despite this, the project accomplished its overall goal of conducting three replicates of the aerial survey.

“Three repetitions provide enough information to establish a variance,” said Dr. Doyle Hanan, retired senior marine biologist supervisor for Department of Fish and Game, who directed field operations in California. “This will reduce uncertainty and provide a more accurate estimate of sardine abundance.”

Conducted in cooperation with the Northwest sardine industry, the project covered 66 random transects in all, with 40 in California. Transects were scientifically pre-determined and flown at an altitude of 4,000 feet, extending from the coast out 35 miles, and staged at 15-mile intervals. The high-tech camera systems installed in or attached to the planes photographed the ocean surface with 60 percent overlap, providing seamless coverage. The cameras were equipped with a 24 millimeter lens, covering about a one-mile swath of ocean every 15 miles. The total area of the survey encompassed about 1,000 miles along the west coast.

The survey was conducted as a two-stage project: Stage 1 consisted of aerial surveys to photograph sardine schools visible on the ocean surface along transects.  Stage 2 consisted of ‘point sets’, where fishermen wrap and harvest sardine schools of various sizes, which are weighed and biological samples taken at the dock. The fishing activity also is photo-documented, and point set photos are used to correlate the volume of fish caught to the area measurement of schools identified in the aerial photos to develop a minimum estimate of absolute biomass.

In all, California fishermen harvested a total of about 1,238 of the 2,100 metric tons allocated for the summer research project in California. Twenty-six point sets on schools ranging from five – 75 tons met the stringent requirements for use in the survey.  Fishermen were required to capture 90-100 percent of the school, and the pilot was required to photograph the vessel approach to the targeted school as well as the capture process.

The good news is the research succeeded overall.  However, the forces of nature battled the project every step of the way in California. A perfect storm of problems thwarted the research project in the Monterey area. Although the fog lifted just long enough to accomplish transects, fishermen standing by to conduct point sets were stymied, first by the persistent marine layer, then by fish behavior — as the only sardines spotted in the bay were congregated in the shallows near Santa Cruz in schools too large to conduct valid point sets. The final blow came when the owner of United Flight Services was killed along with his son in a tragic plane crash on Labor Day weekend, grounding the planes the association had chartered before the end of the research period.

The first photo in this series shows FV Eileen approaching a sardine school near Santa Cruz Island. The second photo shows the process of wrapping the school.  Fish were weighed and biological samples were taken at the dock. Fish were processed at Tri-Marine and State Fish Companies at cost, and the proceeds will help to fund the research. Approximately 861 metric tons remaining in the research quota at the end of the project will automatically be added to the fall directed fishing quota.

The research was approved by the Pacific Fishery Management Council, which issued Experimental Fishing Permits to selected vessels to participate in the harvest of sardines outside the open fishing period. The sardine industry initiated the summer sardine research in 2009 and expanded it into Southern California in 2010.

FV Eileen approaching sardine school

FV Eileen wrapping school

Ventura County Star: New study shows healthy sardine population along coast

Sardine Fishermen Hope Research Shows There are More Fish in the Sea

By Judith Wellner

Mid-County Post

Sept. 2, 2010

Sardine season has ended in the Monterey Bay, and fishermen are struggling to make ends meet due to the low fishing quotas and the shortening of fishing season. Quotas have dropped by more than 50 percent in the last few years.

In 2007, fisheries were allowed to harvest 152 metric tons of sardines. The number dropped to 66 metric tons in 2009. This year, it’s 72 metric tons.

Diane Pleschner-Steele, executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association (CWPA), says that while government statistics say sardine stock assessments for the past three years have declined sharply, many fishermen – especially in the Pacific Northwest – report massive schools of sardines, which they believe aren’t being accurately counted.

Read more here.