Mid Term

fishery

(1) one or more stocks that are treated as a unit for conservation and management purposes and identified on the basis of geographical, biological, technical, commercial, recreational, or economic characteristics; and (2) any fishing for such stocks.

What is the estimated annual current global fish catch?

200 million tons

Boston Globe and Oceana investigate fish fraud (video) - discuss perspectives of reporter, restaurant owner, fishing boat captains

Fish substitution is often a result of corrupt business strategy. There are a lot of opportunities for mislabeling as many species are difficult to tell apart as they can cook alike and taste alike. Typically, DNA analysis is necessary to determine if fish are mislabeled. In the video the reporters were trying to catch mislabeled cod in cape cod restaurants. 48% of the fish surveyed were mislabeled. Some restaurants did not know that they were substituting their fish or they need to substitute in order to meet demand because some fish are hard to find on the market or too expensive. Fish mislabeling hurts commercial fishermen by taking away their ability to distribute their catch.

"Reconstructing the fish catch" video

Fish tends to be a major source of food for most people. Catch statistics account for mainly industrial fisheries. The small boats are not monitored, but they have significant effects. Catch reconstructions is a method to estimate total catches taken by a country in their own waters and it is compared with what the country reports as its official statistics on fisheries catches. Data sources that are not directly fisheries, but instead takes into account taxes and nutrition surveys.

What is his rationale for recommending seafood over terrestrial animals for consumption?

Fish use their energy to grow because they do not need to resist gravity. Land animals burn their energy by resisting gravity. A land meat diet has far greater ecological impacts such as harm towards land conservation.

Why are fish stocks improving in certain regions?

Intensive management shows stocks are above target levels or rebulding. Management works, increase capacity to assess stocks and use assessments to inform management. Examples include: gear restrictions, capacity reduced, total allowable catch reduced, total fishing effort reduced, closed areas, catch shares, fisheries certification, community co-management.

Harvest

total number or poundage of individuals caught and kept from an area over a period of time.

Why is it difficult to define a "fish"?

A fish is an organism with scales, fins, lives in water, and tends to be cold-blooded. Fish are very diverse and difficult to define.

Approximately how many living species of fishes are found on the planet?

About 28,000 living fish species

Discuss why organizations such as Seafood Watch are placing the American lobster on the "Avoid" list

American lobster is not sustainable and has been placed on the avoid list for their threat to the right whale species. Gear used to catch lobster is a threat to the north Atlantic right whale, which is endangered.

Jo Anastasia

Aquadvantage salmon is genetically modified to grow faster

"No Seafood by 2048" - really? What does this mean?

Boris Worm hypothesized that ~ 30% of global fisheries have collapsed, in another 20-30 years all of the global fisheries will have crashed. He didn't account for individual fisheries (only looked at catch data)🡪 results in potentially inaccurate data

How have Pauly and colleagues sought to improve this estimate?

Daniel Pauly and his colleagues are using catch reconstruction by taking into account smaller fisheries, and indirect evidence such as tax data and nutrition data.

Discuss why Atlantic salmon fall into all three of the following categories (Best Choice, Good Alternative, Avoid).

Different country or regions and farming methods (indoor recirculating tanks (good), marine net pen)

Why has the global fish catch (historically) been grossly underestimated?

Doesn't typically account of small-scale fisheries, recreational fishing, illegal fisheries, and discarded bycatch. In the developed world the catch is underestimated by 30-50% and in developing countries by 100-200%.

Discuss the FDA's guidelines for consuming seafood (through the lens of mercury accumulation)

Don't eat seafood if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or are a small child. Best choice to avoid mercury : cod, flounder, lobster. Good choices: halibut, stiped bass, Choices to avoid: shark, swordfish.

"Rebuilding Global Fisheries" video

Dr. Boris Worm found that the fisheries are in trouble but exploitation rate is declining by reducing catches, implementing closed areas, gear restrictions, catch shares, and community based management. Analysis based on stock abundance and exploitation rate, ecosystem surveys+ models, catches from the whole world. Regions with best recovery: California, new England, Iceland. Developing nations also showed positive signs (ex. Kenya). Fisheries and oceans can be recovered by easing exploitation rate

Briana B

Genomics allow for fishery management to accurately identify stock, trace resources, understand micro-evolution, and understand the consequences of climate change.

What is the evidence for fish stocks improving?

Good management, stocks are above target levels or rebuilding.

How does mercury enter marine food chains?

Harmless mercury is converted to methylmercury (toxic) by bacteria in the ocean.

How did the mudskipper video drive home this point?

Mudskippers "walk" on land, disproving that fish are completely aquatic, and it can breath air (spends most of its life on land🡪 in mud).

How did Atlantic cod become overfished? Which species replaced cod over time? Why?

New technology (trawls, sonar radars, planes, rapid filleting machinery, international fishing vessels). Mid-1970s: Exclusive Economic Zone set zone around U.S. where there were no international fishing boats, countries that were allowed to fish in this zone just fished more. Mid-1990s= complete collapse.

Examples of rebranded seafood

Oilfish renamed blue cod. Rockfish renamed Pacific red snapper. Asian carp🡪 tuna, goose fish🡪 monk fish

What are the consequences of mislabeled seafood (to consumers and the species themselves...)

People don't know what they are eating, could potentially be allergic. Consequences for species that are under protection and are illegal to sell. Mislabeling contributes to illness as some of the seafood replacements are indigestible.

Be able to differentiate between: pop-up satellite tags, SPOT smart positioning tags, acoustic tags (all three are mentioned in the tuna video viewed before lab)

Pop-up satellite tags do not require the tuna to be recaptured in order to get data pertaining to position data, pressure data, and temperature data by sensing the environment around the fish and detaching to come to the surface to send signals to the satellites. Data allows for mapping of tunas, showing a gulf population and a Mediterranean population that overlap in the Atlantic Ocean. Acoustic tags are placed on white sharks to identify the shark and are used with a satellite tag that give their long distance journeys. Tagging a shark: SPOT tag when the shark breaks the surface, the circuit breaks and sends a ping for the sharks location. The longer the shark stays on the surface, the better the data read.

Please know a couple examples of "rebranded seafood" - they do not have to be directly from this exercise (we have talked about examples in other sections of this course)

Rockfish is the original name, renamed pacific red snapper.

Improvements on "No Seafood by 2048" study / limitations

Scientists later reevaluated and added stock assessments, research trawl data, ecosystem models, catch data (data tends to be found in first world countries that are wealthier). Dr. Ray Hilborn disagreed with Worm's findings because it only looked at catch data. Added scientific assessments that track the abundance of individual fish stocks and surveys that measure the abundance of fish stocks.

Discuss the various perspectives portrayed in the video (charter boat captain, recreational fishers, fishery management council representative, pew charitable trust).

Since recreational fishing of summer flounder became popular in the 80's the populations have decreased but have since stabilized. Captains believe there are more fish now that ever. Management have increased rules regarding the catch of summer flounder, giving fisherman a narrow range of size for which the flounder can be to be kept. 90% catch is tossed back into the ocean. Stocks are still much lower than they should be. Fisherman are lobbying for changing regulations, to be less strict. They believe scientists don't understand the population rebound. But fisherman are looking at only small fish stocks while scientists are looking everywhere.

Which additional species / fishing gears discussed in class have also received the "Avoid" tag for similar reasons?

Snow crab, Summer flounder, Atlantic cod

What types of seafood does the author recommend for human consumption?

Stay away from overharvested fish and turn towards smaller fish like anchovies or mussels and clams.

According to Paul Greenberg, what are the health benefits of consuming seafood?

The average Americans each much more meat than fish, but many eat fish oil supplements. Most omega 3 supplements come from small fish that comes from the reduction industry. If we left the small fish in the water there would be many more big fish to eat. Fish are low in fat, high in protein, and a low calorie way of getting good nutrients. Small fish are low in mercury and pollutants. Seafood has many ecological advantages.

Why is Georges Bank considered one of the most productive marine ecosystems on the planet historically?

The bank is shallow, therefore there was a lot of sunlight which resulted in more plants. Nutrient rich Labrador current meets gulf stream. Current rotate clockwise (forms washing machine that keeps everyone on the bank) complex sediment types deposited by glaciers (cover for fishes to hide).

How was Atlantic bluefin tuna originally managed by ICCAT? How was this problematic?

The commercial fisheries were separated into west and east, but the fisheries overlap and this was problematic for understanding stocks and population sizes

"NJ Ocean Trawl Survey" (video): How relevant to NJ Fisheries Management?

The new jersey marine fisheries biologists conduct ocean stock assessment surveys by trawling 39 stations. They take data and samples that are shared with various regional fisheries. They sort commercial and recreational species of fish from the Atlantic ocean to inventory the recreational species to take stock assessments that are used to set regulations for fishing. They take data for inventory, size, weight, samples for aging, otoliths, gut contents, all to help make regulations.

GMRI scientist video (how have otoliths and tagging improved our understanding?)

The otolith is a crystal in the inner ear of the bluefin tuna, it can determine were fish were spawned because the otolith has little chemical signatures unique to where the fish were born. The bluefin tuna are highly migratory, and the otoliths accumulates material overtime, creating rings that show the age of the fish. Aging is important to determine when the fish can reproduce, showing how long the fish should be before you can keep it (we want fish to have reproduced before being harvested).

Which two groups are thought to be the precursors to fishes? Why?

The tunicates ("sea squirts") have a larval stage much like that of tadpoles. Lancelets because they filter feed and are a link between invertebrates and vertebrates.

What did the very first fish to appear in the fossil record look like?

The vert first fcishes are lost in the fossil record but are probably like the Lancelot.

How does the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission establish fishing regulations?

They divide the fisheries up by species or species group and each states elects a state director, legislator, and governor's appointee who vote on fishing regulations.

Examples of frequently mislabeled seafood

Typically labeled as "wild salmon, is actually farmed salmon. Typically labeled "swordfish" is actually mako shark. Typically labeled "rock cod" but is actually spiny dogfish. Typically labeled "cod" is often haddock.

stock

a group of the same species that behave (migrate, reproduce) as a unit and are genetically unique

Recruitment

a measure of the weight or number of fish that enter a defined portion of the stock, such as the spawning stock or fishable stock

Opah

first completely warm-blooded fish

Overfishing

harvesting from a stock at a rate greater than the stock's reproductive capacity to replace individuals removed through harvest.

Katie

indigenous people used seafood as a treatment for different ailments, but the practice of using fish in ethnomedicine is impacted by fishing regulations.

Shelly

majority of seafood consumed in the USA is imported from China, Thailand, Canada, etc.

Esther Lee

seafood fraud is the mislabeling of seafood to supply cheaper fish or unethically sourced.

Janet

size selection in fish; harvesting bigger fish moves the population to be smaller in size (Ex. Zebrafish)

Christopher

size-selective fishing (largest fish are preferentially harvested to maximize yield or comply with size regulations)/ gives smaller fish a chance to reproduce. Results in directional selection (larger fish tend to produce the most eggs/ may result in collapse of fishery)🡪 propose balanced harvesting

Briana

the impacts of pollution on seafood consumption; humans are secondhand consuming plastic that the seafood had ingested

Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY)

the largest average catch that can be captured from a population under existing environmental conditions on a sustainable basis

Catch

the total number or weight of individuals captured, including individuals that are both retained and discarded.