Tuna population collapse fears fail to curb Japan’s appetite – ‘This is undermining Japan’s own national interests’

By MALCOLM FOSTER, Associated Press28 February 2013 TOKYO (AP) – It is the king of sushi, one of the most expensive fish in the world – and dwindling so rapidly that some fear it could vanish from restaurant menus within a generation. Yet there is little alarm in Japan, the country that consumes about 80 […]

Shark kills number 100 million annually, research says – ‘They are not reproducing fast enough to keep up with the rate we are pulling them out of the ocean’

By Matt McGrath, Environment correspondent, BBC News1 March 2013 (BBC) – The most accurate assessment to date of the impact of commercial fishing on sharks suggests around 100 million are being killed each year. The researchers say that this rate of exploitation is far too high, especially for a species which reproduces later in life. […]

Japan whale poachers spill oil during illegal refueling operation – ‘The time has come for the Australian government to intervene and put a stop to this insanity’

17 February 2013 (Sea Shepherd Australia) – In the early hours of the 17th of February, while the SSS Sam Simon was tailing the South Korean owned Sun Laurel, fuel bunker ship to the Japanese whaling fleet, the Sam Simon crew noticed the smell of diesel fumes coming from the wake of the Sun Laurel, […]

XKCD: More ships in the oceans than fish, by weight

How much would the sea level fall if every ship were removed all at once from the Earth’s waters? – Michael Toje About six microns—slightly more than the diameter of a strand of spider silk. […] Sea levels will likely rise a few feet by the year 2100. Current fish wet biomass is about 2 […]

UN widens effort to fix environmental woes – ‘It is becoming more and more clear in the minds of the public that climate change is a clear and present danger that will require us to act’

18 February 2013 (Reuters) – A new United Nations plan to involve all nations in marshalling science to fix environmental problems ranging from toxic chemicals to climate change will be put to the test from Monday at talks in Nairobi. The 40-year-old U.N. Environment Programme will open its annual governing council to all the world’s […]

As New England fisheries struggle, debate heats up over how to help – ‘I really just don’t see a way at the moment’

By JESS BIDGOOD15 February 2013 GLOUCESTER, Massachusetts (The New York Times) – B. G. Brown, a second-generation fisherman who chases cod and haddock from this port city, spent a recent morning rigging up his 31-foot commercial vessel to be manned alone. He had just lost his only crew member to the more lucrative lobster fishery, […]

Collapse of New England cod fishery forces historic fishing cuts in catch rates – ‘We’re doomed, as they say’

By David Ariosto, CNN31 January 2013 (CNN) – An old wooden carving known as “the Sacred Cod” hangs in the Massachusetts State House. That figurine has stared down at lawmakers for more than two centuries as a reminder of how important cod fishing has been to New England, where generations have made a living by […]

Narwhal tusk-smuggling ring cracked by U.S. Justice Department

By Ned Potter5 January 2013 (ABC News) – The narwhal, a kind of Arctic whale, has been called “the unicorn of the sea” because of the long, straight, often spiraling tusk that males of the species can grow.  It is illegal to import the tusks into the United States because narwhals are listed by the […]

Bluefin tuna sells for record $1.76 million in Tokyo

By MALCOLM FOSTER4 January 2013 TOKYO (Associated Press) – A bluefin tuna sold for a record $1.76 million at a Tokyo auction Saturday, nearly three times the previous high set last year. In the year’s first auction at Tokyo’s sprawling Tsukiji fish market, a 222-kilogram (489-pound) tuna caught off northeastern Japan sold for 155.4 million […]

Outrage over Hong Kong’s ‘shark fin rooftop’

Hong Kong, 3 January 2013 (AFP)  – Hong Kong conservationists expressed outrage Thursday after images emerged of a factory rooftop covered in thousands of freshly sliced shark fins, as they called for curbs on the “barbaric” trade. The southern Chinese city is one of the world’s biggest markets for shark fins, which are used to […]

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