Saving Seafood

Scientist calls for more research into seismic surveys as they leave lobsters flat on their backs

July 26, 2019 — Research by the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies in Hobart and Curtin University in Western Australia found lobsters exposed to the air guns used in seismic surveys had damaged statocysts, an organ similar to the human inner ear.

One of the researchers, Ryan Day, said this left the lobsters with an impaired ability to right themselves when flipped over.

“They really rely on this ability to right themselves and to control when they are escaping from a predator,” he said.

The lobsters received the equivalent of a full survey passing within 300–500 metres.

“In all experiments we didn’t detect any sign of recovery, even one year after,” Dr Day said.

The results have prompted a renewed call by Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson for the practice to be investigated.

Read the full story at ABC

More work, less fish: Amount of fish caught for effort expended has declined since 1950

July 3, 2019 — Global fishing fleets have exploded in size and power since the 1950s, even as it takes more and more effort to catch fewer fish, according to recent research.

And while reducing fishing effort overall could lead to greater catches that require less work, achieving that goal is no simple task.

Between 1950 and 2015, the number of vessels plying the world’s waters doubled from 1.7 million to 3.7 million, while the amount of collective engine power of all vessels surged from 25 GW to 145 GW, with the portion of the world’s vessels that are motorized drastically increasing.

But the amount of fish caught for the effort expended – the catch per unit effort – dropped for most countries to one-fifth of what it was in 1950, according to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. And there could be one million additional motorized vessels by 2050 if current trends continue, according to the study.

“The stress we put on the oceans’ resources is rather large, and management needs to react – and we see some of that, but not yet globally,” Yannick Rousseau, a doctoral researcher at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania and the lead author on the study, told SeafoodSource.

Read the full story at Seafood Source