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Sustainability of Deep Sea Fisheries MCBI has been involved in convening leading scientists to examine key issues regarding the sustainability of deep-sea fishing. In 2006 we held a scientist workshop on what is known and unknown about the demography of deep-sea target species (e.g., orange roughy, grenadiers) and nontarget species (deep-sea sharks, corals and sponges) affected by deep-sea fishing. The workshop focused on examining life-history and demographic characteristics of deep-sea species, both are vitally important factors that determine whether or not deep-sea species will be able to recover from to overfishing and seafloor disturbance. The participants engaged in examining the existing scientific literature and analyzing data with innovative statistical tools to gauge the vulnerability of deep-sea benthic and benthopelagic species on the continental slopes and seamounts of the world’s oceans. Results of this work were presented at the 2007 American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in San Francisco at a session chaired by MCBI Chief Scientist, Lance Morgan, “The World's Last Wildlife Hunt: Deep-Sea Fisheries.”
We explored the economic impacts of deep-sea fishing and invertebrate life history characteristics, with the goal of determining under what, if any, circumstances deep-sea species can be fished sustainably. The idea was that if deep-sea species cannot be fished sustainably, fishermen would be compelled to rapidly deplete local populations to economic extinction and then move on to new areas, a process termed serial depletion, and that this finding would force governments and intergovernmental organizations that regulate fishing to adopt new and more stringent management measures for the high seas and deep waters within nation’s exclusive economic zones.
Press generated by the AAAS Meeting on Sustainability of Deep Sea Fishing: A great deal of positive press was generated by the AAAS symposium "The World's Last Wildlife Hunt: Deep-sea Fisheries." Articles regarding the symposium ran in over 200 papers and web sites and has been reported in the USA, the UK, Germany, Netherlands, India, Namibia, South Africa, and Australia. Here are just a few: Our Opinion: Deep-sea fish are on the line — February 21st, 2007 The overfishing off California and other coastlines around the world has been well-documented, with destructive practices ranging from trawling of the ocean bottom to the lack of proper fishery management plans to help individual species make a comeback. More... Overfishing Imperils Fish in Deep Waters— February 21st, 2007 With declining catches close to shore, commercial fishing is turning to deeper waters, threatening species that live in the cold and gloom of the deep oceans, according to researchers. More... The Last Wild Hunt: Deep-sea Fisheries Scrape Bottom of the Sea — February 17th, 2007 At a 9 am press conference at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting (AAAS) on February 18th, an international team of leading fisheries economists, biologists, and ecologists will call for the abolition of government fuel subsidies that keep deep-sea fishing vessels moving to deeper waters. More... For more press, see our web page:
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