Fishing Practices /whales/ 'dolphin safe' tuna/ Polar bears
Industrial
fishing practices have decimated every one of the world's largest and
most economically important species of fish.
Fully 90 percent of each of the world's large ocean species, including
cod, halibut, tuna, swordfish and marlin, has disappeared from the world's
oceans in recent decades. While unsustainable fishing practices are commonly
employed by many countries, Asian nations are arguably the most persistent
and destructive in employing illegal fishing techniques. Indeed, Asian
fishing corporations encourage the indigenous populations of Pacific island
nations and Indonesia to employ dynamite and cyanide to harvest a handful
of highly prized fish, killing thousands of other, unmarketable fish and
entire reefs in the process. This practice has turned as much as 90% of
these countries' reef systems into lifeless rubble.
The Japanese not only continue to catch and process whales and dolphins for consumption, they accuse whales of unfairly competing with hungry humans for limited marine resources. Chapter 16: “I wonder whether you know that whales consume more than three to five times the marine resources (that humans do). I also have to point out that there are 800 million human beings that are undernourished.” —Japan’s agricultural minister Tsutomotu Takebe, Reuters, July 4 2002.
This author will not be surprised when certain individuals within Japan's Agricultural Ministry accuses whales of indulging in 'unsustainable environmental practices'. The Japanese people are not to blame as a nation for this; indeed they will be the ones who will most suffer from the impact of methyl mercury.
-Key Ocean Fish Species Ravaged -The first paper to use historical data dating to the beginning of large-scale fishing, in the 1950. Myers and Worm, Nature, May 15 2003. PDF full document.
April 2005. Click for article (popup window)
- Chapter
9
Actual events in Taiji, Japan
Illegal fishing practices around Australia (Aust. Govt. web site)
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Chapter 10
Extract: Both men knew that in the Western Pacific, yellow fin tuna were caught by netting the easily spotted schools of spinner dolphins that swam with them.
The author had two separate altercations with the Vanuatu government over the capture and protection of marine mammals, specifically, dolphins. Whilst dolphins are now protected under Vanuatu law, the country has a shipping registry based in New York. Despite being a signatory to CITES, Vanuatu does not monitor the activities of registered vessels, specifically those that kill dolphins in tuna nets, or deliberately trap and kill dolphins for consumption. When there's that much money to be made, why be picky, hm?
The powerful US Tuna Boat Association implemented a disingenuous marketing strategy that has resulted in canned tuna being labelled as 'dolphin safe'. While today, US registered vessels routinely free dolphins from tuna nets, tens of thousands of dolphins still die annually. The US tuna industry circumvents the issue by setting 'acceptable dolphin kill rates'. Anything below the acceptable kill rate is considered 'dolphin safe'. Thus, they have redefined the problem into non-existence.
Asian fishing vessels keep all of their catch. This author has personally seen the contents of the holds of Taiwanese ships fishing in Vanuatu waters, and can testify that a significant percentage of the contents include several species of endangered and protected species (including turtles, dugongs and toothed whales such as spinner or common dolphins, pilot and false killer whales).
Links to Florida Museum so called 'Dolphin safe' labeling and tuna fishing practices. "The Bush administration has decided that a controversial fishing method involving encircling pods of dolphins with mile long nets to catch tuna has "no significant adverse impact" on the dolphins. Conservation groups say the determination, which will allow tuna from Mexico to be sold in the U.S. under a "dolphin safe" label, could spell disaster for imperilled dolphin populations.
On December 31, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced that after new research, it had concluded that the tuna purse seine industry practice of encircling dolphins to catch tuna has "no significant adverse impact on dolphin populations in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean." The announcement came less than a month after a conservation group released an unpublished NMFS report indicating that thousands of dolphins, particularly baby dolphins, are still dying in tuna nets in the eastern tropical Pacific.
- Chapter 12
Cumulative build-up of what’s known as persistent artificial compounds – toxins…” Polar Bear PCBs and DDT, Actual figures in 1992 were around 64ppm, not 200. I projected 25 years into that future.
-Chapters 2-4 Colburn, Dumanoski and Myers, Our Stolen Future 1996
- Chapter 18
Updated figures on toxins in Polar Bears, including charts.
Farm-raised salmon, a growing staple of American diets, contains significantly higher concentrations of PCBs, dioxin and other cancer-causing contaminants than salmon caught in the wild and should be eaten infrequently.
- Eric Pianin, Study: Salmon Contains Higher Amounts of Contaminants, Washington Post January 8, 2004
Quote:
He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary.
Upon the earth there is not his like, who is made without fear.
He beholdeth all high things: he is king over all the children of pride.
See also toxins
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