I have some interesting news about fish, some good and some bad.  And the good news is so promising that it makes me hopeful. 

     But first the bad news.  A recent study, the most detailed ever conducted of the world’s oceans and its fish populations, showed that 14 of the 170 fish species studied were in a state of ‘collapse,’ meaning that their numbers had been so decimated by overfishing that only 10% or fewer of their original numbers remain.  Researchers predicted that the world’s oceans will be completely overfished by the middle of this century if current trends continue.  

     Now for the good news.  The study documented that, thanks to wise management efforts, some of the world’s fisheries are rebounding.   

     For example, in the United States, strict federal regulations against overfishing are working.  Haddock, a species whose numbers had been dwindling just a few years ago, have recovered so well that experts say the haddock population off the New England coast is as healthy as it’s ever been.

     And in Kenya, two actions taken by traditional fishermen, working with fisheries scientists, resulted in the recovery of overfished species.  First, a type of fishing gear that captured fish before they were mature enough to reproduce, was banned.  Then the fishermen agreed not to fish at all in a certain area.   Fish reproduced safely within that area and  then began to spread out to repopulate the overfished seas.  Kenya’s fish recovery also meant that in less than 10 years the fishermen doubled their income.  

     The U.S. and Kenyan examples show that careful management of our fisheries works.  We can see that employing the knowledge that scientists already have, while also working with fishermen, can bring about sustainable fishing practices that bring declining fish populations up to healthy levels.  And doing so is not just good for the fish and for the ecosystem, of course, but for the fishermen as well.

     In other words, if we have the will to prevent the collapse and even extinction of many kinds of fish, we can succeed!–April Moore  

         

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 at 9:45 am and is filed under Good news for Mother Earth!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.