porpoises

Looks are everything

Posted by Willie — 25 June 2009 at 1:55pm - Comments

The Great White shark: more threatened than threatening © CC  hermanusbackpackers

A couple of stories in the press today caught my eye. Both are about what we internally refer to as 'charismatic megafauna' (the big animals people tend to be interested in and care about), but they are also both damning indictments of our failure to protect our oceans and the life that depends on them.

Firstly – in the week of the International Whaling Commission meeting in Madeira, Portugal – whilst lots of countries get together to talk lots and try not to upset each other too much,  the BBC reports that a highly-endangered species of porpoise is being pushed ever closer to extinction.

Last edited 1 January 1970 at 1:00am
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Gill netting

Last edited 23 September 2016 at 4:55pm

Giant tuna were plentiful on the Dogger bank on the 1950s

Tunny - giant blue fin tuna - caught off the Dogger Bank in 1953, when an estimated 3-4,000 were caught each year. Since then they have disappeared from the North Sea.

Gill netting

Bycatch - wasteful and destructive fishing

Last edited 11 January 2007 at 5:09pm

Most fishing gear is not selective. This means that as well as the 'target' species of fish it catches, any number of 'non-target' species may also be hauled in. This 'incidental' catch of other species is referred to as 'bycatch'.

Globally, it's estimated that a quarter of what is caught is wasted - thrown back into the sea dead because it has no commercial value. Fishing quotas mean that fishermen targeting a particular species or size of fish will throw back any 'non-target' or 'too small' fish that they catch.

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