Reference no: EM133161646

Overview

The importance of ocean fisheries (the term includes fish, crustaceans, squid and shellfish) probably seems distant to many of you sitting here in the middle of the country amidst the Rocky Mountains where the fish you're most likely to eat are trout. Even your eText gives the issue short-shrift. The reality is that the oceans provide many of the world's poorest countries most of their protein and a total of 16% all the world's protein. There are 28 major fishing nations including Japan, Indonesia, China, Russia, Spain, England, the U.S., etc. and many of the fish stocks they utilize are either fully exploited (57%) or over exploited (30%), sometimes to the point of complete collapse. In fact, the world's most productive fishery, one that was first exploited by the Vikings, the Great Banks cod fishery off the coast of northern New England, collapsed completely about 20 years ago and it has not recovered despite complete cessation of fishing. A similar crash occurred to the King Crab fishery in Alaska, numerous Atlantic and Pacific salmon stocks, Maryland blue crabs, the East Coast oyster fishery, the anchovy fishery off the western coast of South America, the blue fin tuna fishery, etc.

Science Digest and Science News are particularly good Web sources for this issue but Google is never to be dismissed.

Why are so many of the world's fisheries in serious trouble?

How are the world's oceans and fisheries managed from a global perspective and by whom? Who determines legal catch and yields?

Which particular management actions have proven best for sustaining fish stocks while simultaneously providing high yield?

Why is the impending crash of shark stocks in many areas so important to marine ecosystems and what is the major reason they are being so intensely exploited?

A lot of little fish you probably seldom eat and don't know much about such as herring, anchovies, sardines, menhaden comprise a group called forage fish. Why are they important?