- HALIFAX (CP) -- Fish stocks
throughout the world could face near extinction by 2050 if more isn't done
to stem the increasing strain on all species, especially those in deep
waters, says a report to be released Friday.
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- The article, to be published in Science Magazine on Friday,
says authorities must try to contain a trend that has trawlers venturing
further offshore and destroying habitats as they search for large species.
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- The paper, called the Future for Fisheries, describes
measures that should be taken to "bring fisheries back from the brink
and reduce the danger of extinction for many species."
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- The world's fisheries have become so stretched because
boats have been moving into deeper water to find larger, high-priced fish,
such as tuna and groupers, as smaller species become fished out.
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- Daniel Pauly, one of the article's authors, said that
over the last 50 years the international fishery has moved into deeper
waters - a trend that could foreshadow stock losses similar to what happened
to the cod in Canada.
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- "You have one fishery collapsing after the other,"
he said in an interview from his office at the University of British Columbia.
"The parts of the world that were not fished are now fished... This
is a very powerful trend."
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- Pauly and his colleagues suggest there are things that
can be done to prevent further erosion of stocks, and for the first time
have linked the availability of cheap oil to the expansion of the world's
fisheries.
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- The scientists argue that boats will continue to ply
deep waters further offshore if there is a ready supply of inexpensive
fuel.
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- But economists and geologists have predicted that fuel
prices will rise, possibly making the fishery prohibitive for large trawlers
that are heavily dependent on cheap oil.
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- "If fuel energy becomes as scarce and expensive
in the next decades as suggested by a number of independent geologists,
then we should expect the most energy-intensive among industrial fisheries
to fold," the paper says.
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- The authors argue this might protect stocks that are
now under threat and could lead to the creation of spontaneous reserves
or protected areas with little or no fishing.
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- Fish stocks might also be helped internationally if heavy
fishery subsidies were reduced if not eliminated, something that could
lead to a significant reduction in the number of boats on the water, says
Pauly.
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- "If you don't subsidize so much, then most of the
fisheries can rebuild because there's less fishing effort on them,"
he said.
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- The article also states that agencies and governments
have to introduce regulatory reforms to protect resources that are already
under threat. Namely, Pauly argues more marine protected zones should be
created, the fishing effort should be reduced overall and gear that destroys
habitats should be restricted.
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- Without such measures, the scientists contend many fisheries
will be exhausted in the next four decades and marine geography will be
stripped of valuable nutrients and plankton.
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- "I'm not too optimistic," said Pauly. "If
we chose ecology first, then that bleak ending will not happen. If we continue
what we have, then we're in trouble."
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- Copyright © 2003 Canadian Press
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