Wild Life Forensics Atlantic Herring Presenters: Dr. Kenneth I. Daniels Tamar Singh

Overfishing “ ……….Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing and that night they caught nothing. John 21: 3

Overfished, Career change. “ …………..Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Matthew 4:19

The Decline of Somali Fishermen Thousands of Somalis once made their living as fishermen. The once-abundant supply of fish it held. Foreigners exploit fisheries off Somalia's coast, and the lack of a governing body to stave them off, many of these fishermen are finding their nets empty. It's estimated that $300 million worth of seafood is stolen from Somali waters altogether every year—a$300 million worth of seafood is stolen depressed economy as Somalia's. Some local fisherman believe there will be no fishing industry to speak of if the practice goes on unchecked—so over-plundered are the fish populations in Somali waters.

A Path to Piracy And without the ability to bring home even a sufficient amount of fish to eat, many of these fisherman justifiably grow desperate. But even from here, it's not a simple jump to pirating. Initially, many of the now- termed "pirates" were vigilante patrol squads, steering their boats to fishing vessels they found illegally snagging seafood or dumping toxic waste in Somali waters and demanding they pay a tax. After this proved ineffective, something closer to organized piracy developed.

Somali PIRATES

OVERFISHING Many marine ecologists think that the biggest single threat to marine ecosystems today is overfishing. Our appetite for fish is exceeding the oceans' ecological limits with devastating impacts on marine ecosystems. Scientists are warning that overfishing results in profound changes in our oceans, perhaps changing them forever. Not to mention our dinner plates, which in future may only feature fish and chips as a rare and expensive

Facts of Overfishing  Factory Ships:  Smaller and smaller mesh nets  Smaller sizes of fish caught  Used for animal food  Used for fertilizer  Exhausted stock unavailable for the food web  Local fishermen “caught nothing”

Factory Fishing Use advanced technology Helicopters to locate schools of fish Radar to locate schools Small mesh size nets Pirate fishing in “third world “ sea areas Other animals caught and discarded > 20,000 porpoises per year

OVERFISHING

Factory Ship

Factory Ships A factory ship, also known as a fish processing vessel, is a large ocean-going vessel with extensive on-board facilities for processing and freezing caught fish. According to the FAO, there are about 38,400 vessels greater than 100 tons in the world's factory fishing fleet. [1]processingFAO [1] Contemporary factory ships are automated and enlarged versions of the earlier whalers and their use for fishing has grown dramatically. Some factory ships also function as mother shipswhalersmother ships

Factory Ship

Local Fishery, idle fleet

Atlantic Herring

Altantic Herring ( Clupea harengus) Fully matures at 4 years Large scale fishing Gulf of Maine Migration summer feeding –Gulf of maine, Georges Bank, Scotian shelf, to New England and Mid-Atlantic areas during winter.

Herring Harvest in Maine Coastal stock, Declined by 470,000 mt in 1968 to 36,000 mt in (Table 22.1, Figure 22.2 [Fig 22.2 Data]).Table 22.1,Figure 22.2 [Fig 22.2 Data] Offshore fishery collapsed in 1977, Gradual increase from the 1980s to 1990s Peaked at 133,000 mt in Landings declined during , averaging 109,000 mt. The USA has accounted for about 72% of landings since 1978, but during the last decade has accounted for 85% of the total herring.

Distribution, Atlantic Herring Clupea harengus

Herring in the food Chain Atlantic herring is a major forage species off the groundfish such as cod, hake, haddock, flounder, monkfish, and dogfish, bluefin tuna, swordfish, and bluefish, as well as striped bass, black sea bass, Atlantic salmon, sharks and skates, and even squid. Many species of seabirds and marine mammals also rely heavily on herring as a major food source. 1 The recovery of overfished groundfish and pelagic fish species may depend on the abundance and availability of herring as a food source.

The ultimate Price of “no Herring” We all need striving Herring populations, otherwise we lose everything we have. We need to follow the science advice we now have because the cost of overfishing HERRING is way too high in the long run.

Herring, food for Whales

Forensics Tagging evidence of intermixing during different phases of ther annual migration. No current genetic evidence that the gulf of maine and Georges Bank stocks are separate stocks.

From No HERRING to Human PIRACY

References ^ a b BBC (2006) Factory fishing: facts and figures a bFactory fishing: facts and figures ^ US Court of Appeals (2002) Can a fish processing barge qualify as a "vessel in navigation". ^Can a fish processing barge qualify as a "vessel in navigation". ^ FAO (2004) The Status of the Fishing Fleet The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture. ^The Status of the Fishing Fleet ^ The Guardian (2006) Dinosaur fish pushed to the brink by deep-sea trawlers ^Dinosaur fish pushed to the brink by deep-sea trawlers ^ Nature (2003) Rapid Worldwide Depletion of Predatory Fish Communities ^Rapid Worldwide Depletion of Predatory Fish Communities ^ Nature (2005) Decline of Pacific tuna populations exaggerated Page 434:E1-E2, 28 April ^Decline of Pacific tuna populations exaggerated ^ FAO (2000) World Review of Fisheries and Aquaculture The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture. ^World Review of Fisheries and Aquaculture

References ceans/time-and-tuna-are-running-out ceans/time-and-tuna-are-running-out friendly-tuna-is-it-a-meaningless-label/ The friendly-tuna-is-it-a-meaningless-label/