Sea Notes

Finding Bluefin Nurseries (and What It Means)

New confirmation today that Atlantic bluefin tunas get together on their feeding grounds but are born in nursery areas on opposite sides of the ocean. And a new chance for you to take action to protect these threatened fishes.

In an article published today in Science, researchers used the chemical composition of otoliths -- the bones in the ears of tunas -- to identify precisely where young fish spent the first year of their life. Turns out there are distinct nurseries in the Gulf of Mexico and the Eastern Mediterranean to which parent fish return to give birth.

This is further confirmation of data gathered  in more than a decade of field tagging of adult tunas by Dr. Barbara Block and other scientists at the Tuna Research and Conservation Center, a collaboration between the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Stanford University.

And it lends new urgency to calls for better management of these critical habitats -- and better protection of tunas while they're in those waters.

Action is happening on two fronts. First, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas meets next month in Morocco to discuss declining tuna stocks and ways to better manage species.  To date, the commission has failed to incorporate the new scientific findings into its management practices as it presides over the collapse of bluefin tuna populations in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean. (Remember what happened to North Atlantic cod?)

Second, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes that bluefin spawning grounds and juvenile bluefin feeding groups be given additional protection in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic coast. It is taking public comment on policies that would define "essential fish habitat" for bluefins and other highly migratory Atlantic species, including several kinds of sharks and other tunas.

It recommends that key waters be designated as a federal "Habitat Area of Particular Concern" (HAPC) that would "highlight the importance of the area for bluefin tuna spawning and provide added conservation benefits."

The aquarium, and other ocean conservation organizations, called three years ago for just such a designation in the Gulf of Mexico. It could happen now -- with your help. Through November 18, you can weigh in with comments on the NMFS proposal. Here's how.

From Protectors to Pirates

This has to be one of the most bizarre of all the unintended consequences of global overfishing:

Efforts by fishermen in Somalia to protect their tuna-rich waters from plundering by multinational fleets have created a flotilla of pirates who grabbed global headlines this week when they seized a cargo ship carrying more than they bargained for -- a freighter filled with tanks, grenades and other armaments.

According to Jeffrey Gettleman, writing in the New York Times, "The piracy industry started about 10 to 15 years ago, Somali officials said, as a response to illegal fishing (my emphasis). Somalia’s central government imploded in 1991, casting the country into chaos. With no patrols along the shoreline, Somalia’s tuna-rich waters were soon plundered by commercial fishing fleets from around the world. Somali fishermen armed themselves and turned into vigilantes by confronting illegal fishing boats and demanding that they pay a tax.

"'From there, they got greedy,' said Mohamed Osman Aden, a Somali diplomat in Kenya. 'They starting attacking everyone.'"

It's not easy being a tuna these days -- not in the Mediterranean or most other places, for that matter. Steve Palumbi's microdocumentary, Tuna and the Can, makes that abundantly clear.

But it's not so great to be a human whose relies on tuna fishing for food and a livelihood. If we don't get a handle on how we manage tuna fisheries, creating a generation of pirates in Somalia may be the least of our troubles.

Friday's Featured Film: Ocean Odyssey

Since President Bush was able to find time to see the Smithsonian's new Ocean Hall today, it seemed appropriate to give you a peek inside as well. This is a clip from Ocean Odyssey, a high-definition film of marine life that screens in the hall, created by Feodor Pitcairn. It's designed to "transport you into the realm beneath the waves."

The Sant Ocean Hall (free to the public as are all Smithsonian exhibits) opened to the public today.

Speak up for Endangered Species

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) was enacted nearly 35 years ago to protect vulnerable species like sea otters and also "the ecosystems upon which they depend." Now the Act is being threatened by a proposed change to the rules that seeks to eliminate the requirement for independent scientific review of projects that could threaten wildlife.

Threatened and endangered marine creatures like sea otters rely on the ESA to provide a Federal Management Plan to secure a brighter future for these animals, and the funding necessary to make that happen.

Please go to our Take Action website before September 15th  and let the US Fish & Wildlife hear your voice in support of the best protection for our endangered species.

www.oceanaction.org

Monday's Inspirational Photo: Tap Dance

Here's some good news! We've finally remembered that we pay our water companies to pipe drinkable water right into our homes, where we dispense it via the tap! What a great idea!

Reports show that the market for bottled water is finally slowing down, and the demand this year is finally showing signs of abating.

Our one-time use of plastics has really grown out of control, and even though recycling is really gaining popularity, it doesn't put those bottles back into their original format. Plastic containers that have contained food or liquid beverages can never be used for that purpose again. Some are calling this process down-cycling - where a plastic item starts life anew lower down the food chain - perhaps as carpeting or a children's play area.

More tap water, less disposable plastic -- it's great for the environment and keeps those plastic bottle caps away from our wildlife who can mistake it for food. Let's all tap dance!

Last chance for stuttering plastics bill

We have been following the progress of a bill to reduce plastic bag litter in California and have encouraged our Ocean Action Team to support a scheme that will result in less litter and healthier oceans.  AB 2058, which has just become AB 2769, has one final shot this week at making it through the legislative process before "close of business" in the California Assembly.

If you are a California resident and have a minute please Take Action before Friday August 29! This bill also proposes a statewide system of litter reduction measures which will benefit all our communities, in addition to keeping harmful trash like plastic bags out of our waterways and ocean.

Derelict and Deadly

We're always on the look out for good news, here at Sea Notes Blog. So today, here is an encouraging story. We've been following bill SB 899 in the California legislature that seeks to address the issue of lost and abandoned fishing gear -- known as derelict fishing gear. This gear is not only a source of marine trash and pollution, but can also be a deadly hazard to many forms of marine life.

We're pleased to report that the bill has made it through all the various committees and hearings in the California Assembly and has now been sent to Governor Schwarzenegger for his approval or veto. We're really hoping that the Governor's strong commitment to our oceans will see this bill approved.

You can go to our website now and send him a letter, and let him know you support removing this treacherous trash today!

Monday's Inspirational Photo - A story of survival

This weekend, I took my first trip along the Big Sur coastline, since the devastating fires passed through that we reported on over a month ago. I was eager for a glimpse of one of the fire's surprising lessons; that the population of California condors living in our area had "gone native" and found their own food supply in troubled times.

Biologists from Ventana Wildlife Society, the local organization responsible for the introduction of condors back to their former home, were delighted when access to the region was once again open, and they were able to account for almost all the birds. In fact, one that had been "missing" until only this past Friday, hopped right onto the cliff in front of me, as I watched number 35 above, all within sight of the fire's lightening-triggered starting point.  

With most of the birds accounted for, staffs' attention must turn to the rebuilding of the condor Sanctuary in the Big Sur back country. This facility is critical to the work they do, both to maintain the health of the released birds, but also as a "training area" for young birds before release. The fire swept through the non-profit's facility, totally destroying the large aviary, along with other important structures and equipment. The condors are captured each year at the sanctuary and tested for lead poisoning. Feeding on carcasses of animals shot with lead bullets was one of the main causes for the almost complete extinction of the species. Sadly, this still continues to be an issue and the flock is closely monitored.

Find out more about Ventana Wildlife Society and the incredible work they are doing to bring back this amazing bird at their website and keep your fingers crossed that the condors that are yet to be heard from will show up on the radar soon!

An Elegant Outcome

It used to be a desolate place, covered with oil rigs, its waters polluted.

Today, it's a wetland in recovery with a growing population of marine animals, plants and birds -- including elegant terns like these.

That's the story of Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve -- the largest coastal wetland restoration project west of the Mississippi River. It's told well in the Los Angeles Times this week by reporter Susannah Rosenblatt and photographer Mark Boster. There's a bonus video of the wetland in the online version, too.

Since more than 90 percent of all historic coastal wetlands are gone, restoration projects like Bolsa Chica are critical to the survival and health of many species. And, judging by some of the wetlands links on conservation websites in Southern California, a lot of folks are working to bring back some of what we've lost.

The Bolsa Chica story isn't the only good news for coastal projects in California this week. The state unveiled a new license plate whose proceeds will pay for parks and open space projects in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Department of Motor Vehicles is now accepting orders for the plate, which features an image of birds flying past the Golden Gate Bridge. If 7,500 people order plates by July 2009, the new design will go into production and the money will start flowing.

Two Tales of Bluefin Tuna

Following up on yesterday's post about the fishermen's strike in Japan:

Russ Parsons of the L.A. Times blogs about how strikes and high fuel costs are affecting the availability of tuna and other fresh seafood in the U.S. He also quotes Jesse Marsh of our Seafood Watch fisheries research team on the possible long-term impacts if fuel prices remain high.

Our Stanford University colleagues in Barbara Block's research lab are also blogging, this time about their success in placing electronic data tags on Pacific bluefin tuna during last week's expedition out of San Diego. They put 112 new tags on bluefin, for a total of nearly 550 tagged bluefin in the Pacific since their Tag-A-Giant program began. (Monterey Bay Aquarium partners with Stanford on the program.)

As data come back documenting the migrations of these Pacific fish, we'll begin to get a better picture about their migrations across the ocean. Similar work by the Block lab in the Atlantic has resulted in more than 1,000 tags on giant bluefin over the past decade -- and a comprehensive picture of their travels through the Western Atlantic, the  North Atlantic, Mediterranean and Caribbean.

There's data enough to support a dramatic reduction in fisheries quotas -- if the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas can muster the political will to impose it. Sadly, the commission seems unable to do more than preside over a collapse more dramatic than the 90 percent decline it's already suffered.

Calls for a moratorium on bluefin tuna fishing in the Atlantic were ignored last year. Since then, the European fishery was closed early and European chefs have begun to boycott bluefin tuna. ICCAT has another chance this November. We'll be watching.