Orange roughy going extinct.

[donco6]

Fish stocks in international waters are being plundered to the point of extinction, a leading conservationist group has said.

"Given the perilous overall state of marine fisheries resources and the continuing threats posed to the marine environment from over-fishing and damaging fishing activity, the need for action is immediate," Simon Cripps, director of WWF's global marine programme, said.

Illegal fishing "by highly mobile fleets under the control of multinational companies" was identified as one of the worst threats to marine life.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4996268.stm

So what part of "illegal" do these corporations not understand?

[dmkinsey]

1. the oceans will be exploited until there's nothing left

It's really depressing.

[Ezlivin]

2. Endless resources - the oceans have it all for us to plunder

First the fish, then all the oil.

Pretty soon we'll be able to swim anywhere without a fear of being attacked by sharks.

Of course fishing will be a sport as dead as hunting dodo birds.

[godhatesrepublicans]

3. hey, dry land has been exploited to death for 1000s of years, ...

... why should the oceans fare any better? As a species, humanity has been a lousy steward of the planet. When we primates lose our grip on the planet, I wish the next species to develop and dominate better luck with it.

I'm hoping it turns out to be squirrels. They seem like responsible mammals. :-)

[Coventina]

4. I just hope we don't take down the whole planet with us.

Which is very likely......

:-(

[godhatesrepublicans]

5. Nah, the planet recovered from what took out the dinosaurs, ...

... it'll recover from us. HUMANITY is screwed, but the Earth will be fine. Oddly enough I take some comfort in that. Not enough to forget about the drowning polar bears and the extinction of the Bengal Tiger, but it does help.

As trite as it is, I'll swipe a quote from The Matrix I always think of when I watch nature shows. You know the one.

“I’d like to share with you a revelation, I’ve had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species that I realized you aren’t actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with its surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply, and multiply until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague, and we...are the cure.”

[ChickMagic]

23. Squibbons!

I watched a Discovery Channel episode where they postulated future species.
Flish were pretty cool. Land dwelling squid were squibbons brachiating
from tree to tree. I vote for squibbons!

[tatertop]

6. They were originally called Slimehead

The name Orange roughy is a marketing ploy.
Likewise, the Patagonian toothfish is now called
the Chilean Sea Bass.

[RaleighNCDUer]

11. Yep. And 30 years ago they were junk fish - the stuff you threw

back because it was worthless.

But having all but wiped out the tuna and cod and whatever we turned to the junk fish like slimehead and toothfish and swordfish, and now are wiping them out, too.

We need a 10 year moratorium on all commercial fishing. Worldwide.

[tatertop]

18. Poor Patagonian toothfish! (He never did anything wrong.)

Looks like we just cannot wait to empty the oceans.
Wonder where we'll be at in ten years.

[Lisa]

26. fishing down the food chain ... (n/t)

[ChickMagic]

24. Monkfish

are Angler fish butts. Monkfish just has a better
marketing ring.

[jpak]

7. The US ought to ban imports of orange roughy

Every time I see OR fillets in the supermarket, I think "Passenger Pigeon"...

[GDAEx2]

8. Missing from the BBC article is the fact that...

...Orange Roughy do not reach sexual maturity until they are between 23 and 40 years of age.
You don't suppose that has anything to do with the depletion of the fishery, do you? :banghead:
link: http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/bestfishguide/species/orangeroughy.asp

<>

[RebelOne]

9. Usually the orange roughy sold in the supermarkets are farm-raised.

[noonwitch]

10. Well, that's good, I'll still be able to buy, cook and eat it!

Orange Roughy is yummy.

[godhatesrepublicans]

12. How? they take 20 years to hit puberty!

I'm not disputing you, but what do they do, hormone the hell out of them? And if so, eeeewww!

[RebelOne]

14. They must do something to speed up growth.

Because I have seen packages marked farm-raised.

[godhatesrepublicans]

17. then you're braver than I am for eating it! :-)

Jeez, I have to google this when I have time. And people worry about hormones in milk and chicken...

[pitohui]

15. farm raised also endangers wild fish

don't know the deal w. orange roughy but w. atlantic salmon the farm-raised salmon has actually become a source of disease that infects the few remaining pure wild stocks -- also the farm-raised salmon are fed 3 (some sources have said 6 but i'll quote the more conservative quote) times their weight in other fish to produce one pound of salmon so they are not an efficient or sustainable source of seafood

people won't stop eating their salmon tho, sigh

[jpak]

19. Nonsense - there is no such thing as farm-raised OR

It's a wild-caught fishery - period.

http://www.mar-eco.no/learning-zone/backgrounders/deepsea_life_forms/orange_roughy_story

http://library.thinkquest.org/22403/data/medium/species/orangeroughy.html

http://www.starfish.govt.nz/science/facts/fact-orange-roughy.htm#the

http://www.oceansalive.org/eat.cfm?subnav=fishpage&fish=70

[pitohui]

13. the tragedy of the commons

i see no hope of saving the oceans alas, yes, need for action is immediate but who is going to stop these pirates?

greenpeace and world wildlife fund? bless their hearts, they don't stand a chance

[Bucky]

21. Greenpeace needs some armed nuclear submarines & a license to kill

That would be awesome, altho not terribly greenpeaceful

[donco6]

27. I was gonna say . . .

defeats the "peace" part! But maybe they should review their mission. . .

The Greenguerillas?

Greenattack?

Greensword - get it? Greensward? huh

Earth Liberation Front is already taken.

[Bucky]

29. GreenSword is a cool name, but GreenAttack is vicious!

either will do, but with the latter, you definitely got to capitalize the S, lest people read "greens word", which would be dumb.

[BreweryYardRat]

25. Any militant anti-fishery groups out there?

I might be willing to sign on.

[Bandit]

16. Bottom Trawling

Companies that continue to pursue this form of fishing are bordering on being criminal. Senator Stevens from alaska has a vested interest in maintaining this fishery. His son Ben Stevens is part owner of a small fleet of bottom trawlers. The bottom trawls destroy the ocean floor as they are dragged along. Completely different from hook and line fishing which makes up the great portion of Alaskan bottom fisheries. Hook and line catch individual fish without causing total devestation to the bottom. When you drag a huge trawl along the bottom you destroy everything in it's path and catch many endangered species that would not otherwise be caught with hook and line. It is very easy to target specific species with hook and line but Trawls take everything there is.

[donco6]

22. Yes, there are pics at the link of results.

Bottom trawling is just bad for everyone and everything.

[Obamarama]

20. Extinction...its what's for dinner. eot

[Jamison]

28. Just another ill caused by overpopulation.

These fish are paying the price of extinction because there are too many human mouths to feed on this planet.