Saving Seafood

SeaWorld Publishes Decades of Orca Data to Help Wild Whales

April 23, 2019 — The endangered killer whales of the Pacific Northwest live very different lives from orcas in captivity.

They swim up to 100 miles (161 kilometers) a day in pursuit of salmon, instead of being fed a steady diet of baitfish and multivitamins. Their playful splashing awes and entertains kayakers and passengers on Washington state ferries instead of paying theme park customers.

But the captive whales are nevertheless providing a boon to researchers urgently trying to save wild whales in the Northwest.

SeaWorld, which displays orcas at its parks in California, Texas and Florida, has recently published data from thousands of routine blood tests of its killer whales over two decades, revealing the most comprehensive picture yet of what a healthy whale looks like. The information could guide how and whether scientists intervene to help sick or stranded whales in the wild.

Read the full story at NBC Washington

Impossible Choices: The Complicated Task of Saving Both Orca and Salmon

September 10, 2018 — Decades of politics and foot-dragging have stymied the recovery of threatened and endangered Chinook salmon, while an iconic population of killer whales that depends on them veered toward extinction. Now, a last-ditch effort to save the whales may also be what thwarts the recovery of Chinook.

The Southern Resident killer whales are dying. An extended family of 75 orcas living year-round in the sea surrounding the San Juan Islands near Seattle, their numbers never fully rebounded since aquariums that later became SeaWorld captured a third of them in the late 1960s.

And there are other culprits.

Cargo ships and whale-watching boats zip through the Salish Sea, adding noise that interferes with the whales’ ability to locate each other and their prey. The water they live in is toxic. The Puget Sound outside Seattle is tainted with flame retardant, and PCBs and pollutants gush from nearby rivers into the sea.

The Chinook salmon they eat to live are contaminated with mercury, lead and organic compounds like PCBs. The Washington state Department of Health advises humans to limit their consumption of Chinook salmon to eight ounces per week. But Southern Residents eat dozens of the fish per day.

Not only is their food toxic, there’s also less of it than ever before. Five populations of Chinook the whales depend on are listed as threatened; a sixth is endangered. And they’re smaller, declining in size by 10 percent since the late 1970s, according to research published February in the scientific journal Fish & Fisheries.

Read the full story at the Courthouse News Service

Florida, Alaska Senators Champion Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act

May 4, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — U.S. Senators Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, recently introduced the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act (S. 2764), a similar bill introduced in the House — H.R. 5248 — by Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla.

A press release from Rubio’s office said the bicameral legislation recognizes the sustainable and economically-valuable fishing practices of U.S. shark fishermen and promotes U.S. standards for shark conservation and humane harvest.

Sharks play an important role in maintaining the health of the ocean ecosystems for which Florida is known, Rubio noted in the statement.

“Sharks are already sustainably and humanely harvested in federal waters per U.S. law, providing sustained economic benefits to coastal communities through fishing, trade, and tourism. This bill will help promote those same standards for sustainable and humane shark harvesting among our global trade partners as well,” Rubio said in the release. “This bill protects international shark populations as well as the fishermen in Florida and throughout the U.S. who continue to fish by the rules.”

Both the senate and house bills are a contrast to other proposed legislation, such as H.R. 1456, directed at the sales of shark fins. Those bills, critics say, will do nothing to eliminate the sales of shark fins globally, punish the domestic seafood industry and could unintentionally create a market for the practice of shark finning by foreign fishermen.

“While the practice of shark finning is already banned in U.S. waters, we do have a small population of fishermen who legally harvest whole sharks for their meat, oil, and other products,” Murkowski said in the statement. “This legislation sets a strong policy example for global nations that wish to prevent shark finning in their waters, while respecting the cultures of communities that rely on subsistence, protecting the rights of American fisherman that operate in the legal shark fisheries, and supporting the efforts of shark conservationists.

“Together, we can find solutions to protect our fisheries, our communities, and our marine ecosystems, worldwide.”

According to Rubio’s office, the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act would:

  • Create a shark conservation and trade fairness certification for nations wishing to import shark products to the U.S.;
  • Prohibit the importation of shark products originating from any nation without a certification, and the possession of such products in the U.S. with limited exceptions for law enforcement, subsistence harvest, education, conservation, or scientific research;
  • Update the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act to reflect the U.S. commitment to promote international agreements that encourage the adoption of shark conservation and management measures and measures to prevent shark finning that are consistent with the International Plan of Action for Conservation and Management of Sharks; and
  • Direct the Secretary of Commerce to include rays and skates into the seafood traceability program to ensure that shark products are not smuggled into the U.S. falsely labeled as rays and skates, two closely related groups.

“Fishing is a long-standing profession and treasured American pastime,” Webster stated in the release. “We must pursue conservation, while balancing the needs of the industry and recreation. This bill recognizes the sacrifices American fishermen have made to rebuild and sustain our shark populations. It encourages other nations wishing to export shark products to the United States to adhere to the same high standards for conservation and management.”

Webster’s proposed legislation has 15 cosponsors. It passed the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans in April. It also has the support of several groups that have opposed H.R. 1456 and related bills. The Mote Marine Laboratory, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the Palm Beach Zoo, SeaWorld, Zoo Miami Foundation, the Florida Aquarium, the Southeastern Fisheries Association, Directed Sustainable Fisheries, Louisiana Shrimpers and Garden State Seafood all support Webster’s bill, according to Sunshine State News.

This story originally appeared on Seafood News, it is republished here with permission.

 

Sea turtles introduced to ocean will be tracked to help save species

August 3, 2016 — Sea turtles that hatched at SeaWorld in 2009 were introduced to the ocean on Monday.

The sea turtles were placed into the ocean 10-12 miles off the coast of San Diego. It is anticipated that the sea turtles will migrate south to normal feeding areas along the coast of Mexico and Central America.

Two of the turtles were fitted with satellite transmitters that will allow scientists from the National Marine Fisheries Service and Hubbs-Seaworld Research Institute to monitor their movement for at least a month.

Read the full story at CW6 San Diego