Read and learn in HD High Defintion (pause and read!) Saving Tunas Turtles & Sharks Vanishing Wildlife Monterey Aquarium
Tuna management and conservation
There are five main tuna fishery management bodies: the Western Central Pacific Ocean Fisheries Commission, the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas and the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna. The five met together for the first time in Kobe, Japan in January 2007. Environmental organisations made submissions on risks to fisheries and species. The meeting concluded with an action plan drafted by some 60 countries or areas. Concrete steps include issuing certificates of origin to prevent illegal fishing and greater transparency in the setting of regional fishing quotas. The delegates are scheduled to meet at another joint meeting in January or February 2009 in Europe.
Years of poor management and over-fishing has left tuna in a perilous state. Of the 23 commercially exploited major tuna stocks identified nine are classified as fully fished, four are classified as overexploited or depleted, three are classified as critically endangered, three are endangered and three are vulnerable to extinction. All 23 stocks are heavily fished.
In August 2008 Greenpeace assessed John West owned by private equity firm MW Brands as the seller of the least sustainable tinned tuna sold in the United Kingdom.
Association with dolphins
Many tuna species associate with dolphins, swimming alongside them. These include yellowfin tuna in the eastern Pacific Ocean, but not albacore or skipjack. The reason for the association is believed to be the avoidance of dolphins by sharks, which are predators of tuna. Swimming near dolphins reduces the likelihood of the tuna being attacked by a shark.
Fishing vessels can exploit this association by searching for pods of dolphins. They encircle the pod with nets to catch the tuna beneath.[16] The nets are prone to entangling dolphins, thus injuring or killing them. As a result of public outcry, methods have been made more "dolphin friendly", now generally involving lines rather than nets. However, there are neither universal independent inspection programs nor verification of "dolphin safeness" to show that dolphins are not harmed during tuna fishing. According to Consumers Union, the resulting lack of accountability means claims that tuna that is "dolphin safe" should be given little credence.
Turtles (Please see my other "Saving Tunas Turtles & Sharks" video DESCRIPTION for more on turtle conservation!)
Fragile ecosystems
Sea turtles play key roles in two ecosystems that are critical to them as well as to humans—the oceans and beaches/dunes. If sea turtles were to become extinct, the negative impact on beaches and the oceans would potentially be significant.
In the oceans, for example, sea turtles, especially green sea turtles, are one of the very few creatures (manatees are another) that eat a type of vegetation called sea grass that grows on the sea floor. Sea grass must be kept short to remain healthy, and beds of healthy sea grass are essential breeding and development areas for many species of fish and other marine life. A decline or loss of sea grass beds would mean a loss of the marine species that directly depend on the beds, which would trigger a chain reaction and negatively impact marine and human life. When one part of an ecosystem is destroyed, the other parts will follow.
Beaches and dunes are a fragile ecosystem that does not get many nutrients to support its vegetation, which is needed to help prevent erosion. Sea turtles contribute nutrients to dune vegetation from their eggs. Every year, sea turtles lay countless numbers of eggs in beaches during nesting season. Along one twenty-mile (32 km) stretch of beach in Florida alone, for example, more than 150,000 pounds of eggs are laid each year. Nutrients from hatched eggs as well as from eggs that never hatch and from hatchlings that fail to make it into the ocean are all sources of nutrients for dune vegetation. A decline in the number of sea turtles means fewer eggs laid, less nutrients for the sand dunes and its vegetation, and a higher risk for beach erosion.
Saving Sharks
Modern fishing practices pose the greatest threat to the survival of sharks. Because sharks produce few young each year and are slow to reach reproductive maturity, they can't withstand the growing pressure of the global fishing fleet.
It's estimated that 100 million sharks, skates and rays are caught and killed each year—and that half of these are accidental victims of fishing gear that targets other species of commercial fish. New scientific studies estimate that some populations of large sharks and other top ocean predators have fallen by as much as 90 percent due to accelerated fishing activities in recent decades.
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Wow, that baitball is incredible. Thanks for sharing !!
jknapps 2 years ago
and the fish in the huge tank at the end of the video are incredible!
ulena1 3 years ago
This is a great video - and you can pause and read and learn most of the information.
ulena1 3 years ago