Deep-Sea Fishing Not Sustainable - Study

[coyfish9906]

Oops. I ment to say 150 - 250 my bad

[osirissail]

In my perception and experience North American fishermen are very cautious and very regulated in order to attempt to preserve the fish stocks within the economic interest boundary (200nm from shore). However, other countries of the world had no interest in conservation or interest in anything other than filling their holds with maximum possible catches. And they have been known to poach the waters of countries trying to conserve their resources.
- - Still even in North America there are fishing techniques like scallop and shrimp fishing that are ecologically very destructive to the food chain and over the decades stocks have significantly decreased even with quota limits.
- - It has become a decision many times of either putting our fisherman out of work or allowing natural resource depletion which is a tough call for any politician/bureaucrat.

[coyfish9906]

Your right...lol I just got heated when I read that "study" . I do know other countries do that and we do have a few techniques that are harmful if we don't check them. Ie; drift neting on some of the larger fleets but if done responsibly they could find a better way to catch these fish. I guess I take it a little personel because these studies have affected me personally. Changing of laws forcing me to loose employment, jumping ship to ship till I got tired of it and now im buyin a sailboat and a fishin rod to get away from it. And live the dream ....so maybe its wrkn out lol

[Chief Engineer]

This is just another example....like man induced global warming/cooling....Homeland Security....Terror threat levels.....that the politicians use to keep us in a constant state of fear.

This, coupled with the media sensationalism over every weather issue and the never ending 9-11 coverage....keeps the sheeple in a state of panic.

[seahag]

I have a hard time believing Orcas eat 2-3 tons of salmon per day. What is the source on that statistic?

[zeehag]

welcome seahag--- hhmmmm...my name in english.....

[osirissail]

Wikipedia on Orcas says:
"On average, a killer whale eats 227 kilograms (500 lb) each day.[72]"

Sea World, which keeps and feeds Orcas says:
FOOD INTAKE
1.At SeaWorld parks, adult killer whales eat approximately 2% to 4% of their body weight in food per day.

At SeaWorld, average size for adult males is 6.6 m (21.7 ft.). Two adult male killer whales at SeaWorld weigh 4,340 kg (9,570 lb.) and 5,380 kg (11,860 lb.)

- - Take their average weight = 10K lb Orca => 200 lb to 400 lb of food. Of extra interest is that they can swallow whole a seal or sea lion. I wouldn't want to be snorkeling with those guys around.
- - We have a season pass to Sea World and never tire of watching the Orca show which is downright impressive. Those guys are huge.

[seahag]

Hi Zee,
Picked that name for some reason before noticing you, but have read a lot of your stuff over the last couple years. thanks for the note.

Scott

[seahag]

[QUOTE=osirissail;774557]Wikipedia on Orcas says:
"[I]On average, a killer whale eats 227 kilograms (500 lb) each day.[72]"

Works for me Osiris--means the 2-3 ton per day thing is only off by about 800-1200 percent, a slight mistake...

And this is total food intake, not just salmon. Throw in a decent seal and I bet Shamu doesn't eat a half dozen salmon that day.

[s/v Beth]

I stand corrected. I got that figure from the "scientists" at the whale watching in Friday Harbor, but even a large male (largest recorded 20,000+ lbs), lets just say he is bulk loading during the salmon season (which they do) 5% is 1000 lbs. As I looked into the feeding habits of wild resident orcas- the science is just not there. We don't know. Even the diet content is not for sure. For a former zoologist I sure got burned on that one. My apologies.
They do eat salmon and other fish, and so do I. We have the opportunity to make our world better or worse however, and that is what separates us. I guess that was the point.
BTW Seahag, if you would study the habits- certain pods do not eat mammals, they eat almost all fish (from what they can tell) Other Orca pods seek out and live on seals and other marine mammals. The transiecent ones seem to be the opportunist with the mammals, while the resident ones seem to eat lower on the food chain. They just don't throw in one thing or another. Sharks around here on the other hand...
One more sign of their intelligence in my opinion.

[coyfish9906]

Your correct but I hope u don't think going after fishermen to make it better...there are better ways to do that

[seahag]

Oh, it's not a problem Newt, just seemed slightly off, but good learning nonetheless!

Salmon eatin' but seldom catchin',
Scott

[osirissail]

As much as I and others are impressed by the Orcas both at Sea World and off the Pacific NW - saw them off Victoria a few years ago - these huge mammals are indeed, Killers.
- - There are several YouTube and other reports on the Orcas killing Sperm Whales calves off, I believe, Monterey, Calif. Some really brutal action.

- - Back to Deep-Sea Fishing Not Sustainable - Even without a "study" it has been obvious to those tied to the seas and oceans that catches have been declining rapidly for decades. There are the famous Georges Banks off the Northeast Coast of the US and also the Grand Banks off Canada where the fish stocks were virtually wiped out two decades ago.
- - Cruising the Bahamas is great, the waters are gin clear and the reefs brightly colored - but - no fish except tiny little ones.
- - Same thing in most of the eastern Caribbean - locals are eating small sand sharks and nurse sharks as other fish stocks are so depleted there isn't enough to satisfy demand. On the other hand, Trinidadian "Bake and Shark" sandwiches are fabulous especially after hiking the river gouges of the north coast.
- - So what can "we" do - nothing or at best not much. The 7 billion humans will continue to eat themselves to extinction just like many other species in history. However, I personally don't chose to eat certain seafood items as a personal statement against the blatant overfishing or destructive fishing techniques. Scallops are one such item as the fishing techniques have wiped out most of the fish nursery reefs along the US east coast.
- - Also, "Chilean Sea Bass" which is a fake name given to the Patagonian Toothfish which is a protected specie so that it can be sold to restaurants and fish stores. When I explain to the restaurant owner that he is selling an illegally caught protected fish specie, the typical answer is "so what?"

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by avb3

OK, I am starting to feel like a broken record, bringing up these types of subjects more then once.

The problem is, we, as humans, need to find a way that makes us work with our environment, and not continually impact it to the point where choices we may want to make are no longer available.

I'm no tree hugging, dope smoking left wing wacko who hangs goofy banners from bridges or towers. Corporations are not the enemy, and governments don't conspire against us (OK, some do, but not the democratic ones).

I do enjoy a lot of modern societies conveniences, and mostly without feeling too guilty.

But when you see once again another study that causes concerns about our oceans, one starts thinking about cumulative effects.

We're not going to find the solutions on this forum, but every time the awareness level is raised, perhaps we can be part of the change towards real sustainability. We won't be going back to the days of " living in harmony with our environment", but at least we may have a better understanding of what needs to change to mitigate our impact, both individually and collectively.


Thus endeth this epistle, and I now climb off my soap box... for now

individuals going out recreationally for deep sea fishing isn't the problem. There's nothing wrong with taking what you eat.

If you aren't making active choices to significantly shrink your imprint on the environment, you ARE part of the problem you're complaining about. Sorry.

I live on a boat and lived quite comfortably using my AC only rarely with the use of two well-placed fans while I slept. Doing that instead of keeping an 1100 sq ft condo air conditioned all summer substantially shrank my footprint. Choosing a smaller car instead of an SUV did that. Washing my clothes in cold water shrinks my footprint. Recycling shrinks my footprint.

Rather than lectures, people need practical solutions that are easy to execute.

[coyfish9906]

Im done with this thread before I get any angrier....commercial fishermen will always have a bad rep unfortunately. I guess boycotting eating fish and putting the real fishermen who care about the ocean as myself out of wrk is easier then stoping our fuel consumption or carbon monoxide emissions or the millions of other things u could do like toughing up the laws in other countries were the over fishing is taken place , what ever helps u sleep