Collapsing fisheries

Talk about the ways of protecting oceans and oceanic resources.

Read the text again and answer the following questions

Vocabulary

consumption per capita – потребление на душу населения

terrestrial environment – наземная среда, окружающая среда

freshwater precipitation – пресноводные атмосферные осадки

enormous quantities – огромные количества

essential – жизненно важный, необходимый

coastline – береговая линия

demographic pattern – демографическая модель

wetlands – водно-болотные угодья, сильно увлажненная местность

seagrass bed – дно, покрытое водорослями

rainforest – тропический лес

rampant coastal development – бурное (угрожающее) освоение прибрежных зон

annihilation of reef ecosystems – уничтожение экосистемы береговых вал

pharmacopoeia - фармакопея

riverine - приречная полоса, прибрежный

flatlands – равнина с плоским рельефом

breeding - разведение, размножение

nursery area - питомник

1. What is the role of oceans on our planet?

2. How does the population influence on the oceanic environment?

3. What do coastal wetlands include?

4. What are coastlines effected by?

5. What is the role of coral reefs in life?

6. Where are the coral reef suffering especially greatly?

7. What are the reasons of damaging coral reefs?

8. What is coastal erosion caused by?

9. What does coastal erosion lead to?

Coastal, inland and ocean fisheries - the largest harvest of a wild food source on the planet - remain in serious trouble. Commercial fleets, totalling 4 million vessels (2.1 million with motors) landed 81.9 million tons of fish, shellfish and marine plants in 2006, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). This is a decrease of two million tons compared to 2005 and the third lowest annual take since 1994. Most stocks remain fully exploited or over-exploited. As of 2006, FAO reports that 52 percent of the world's commercial fish stocks are fully exploited, 19 per cent are over-exploited, with 8 per cent "significantly depleted" and one per cent slowly recovering. Only 20 per cent of stocks are considered under-exploited or moderately exploited (meaning there is some room for increasing catches).

Of the world's 15 major fishing regions, productivity has fallen over the past few years in all but four. Landings of the most valuable species of fish, including cod, tuna, and haddock, have dropped by one-quarter since 1970. In the four hardest hit regions - the northwest, the west-central and the southeast Atlantic, and the east-central Pacific - catches have plummeted by more than 30 per cent since 1989.

The alarming state of capture fisheries prompted FAO to warn: "the maximum wild capture fishery potential from the world's oceans has probably been reached and reinforces the calls for more cautious and effective fisheries management to rebuild depleted stocks and prevent the decline of those being exploited at or close to their maximum potential."

In the Black Sea over the 30-year period the number of commercially valuable fish species plunged from 26 to 5. Catches of commercial fish fell from 1 million metric tons in 1992 to around 100,000 metric tons in 2002. In many areas the sea no longer has any exploitable marine life. The Black Sea is well on its way to becoming a "dead" sea in terms of biological diversity due to pollution spilled over the past four decades (see "Coastal Pollution," below). All waters below 150-200 metres are without oxygen, and only 10 per cent of the total volume of near-surface water has enough oxygen to sustain life higher than micro-organisms.

In Southeast Asia nearly all waters within 15 kilometres of land are considered over-fished, according to Ed Gomez, Director of the Marine Science Institute of the University of the Philippines in Metro Manila. Trawlers, the strip miners of the sea, often precipitate the collapse of fish stocks from years of over-harvesting. But it is small-scale fishers and their families who often pay the price and are forced to use illegal and destructive fishing gear, such as poisons, dynamite and fine mesh nets to put food on the table.

Disappearance of the world's marine catch of fish and shellfish has ominous implications for the food supply of the world's 2.6 billion people who rely on seafood to supply 20 per cent of their daily animal protein intake. In Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, the sea provides up to 100 per cent of all animal protein in daily diets.

In the late 1990s, the world's fishing fleets were discarding around 20 million metric tons of fish and shellfish every year as by-catch from their operations. Most of the waste was due to trawlers which harvest enormous quantities of marine life in their relentless search for squid, shrimp or bottom dwelling fish (such as halibut, sole or flounder). This loss of potential protein (and income) amounted to one-quarter of the world's annual take from the seas. Newer estimates by FAO put the amount of discarded fish at between 7 and 8 million tons in 2004. The big decrease is due to the expansion of target species, thereby reducing the by-catch.

Can aquaculture substitute for the declining ocean fish catch? Production of farmed fish and shellfish has increased dramatically over the past 15 years. In 2006, FAO reported that 51.7 million tons of fish, shellfish and seaweeds were farmed (both marine and freshwater), representing more than a doubling of farmed organisms since 1994, when 21 million tons were farmed.

China continues to account for the largest share of farmed marine and freshwater species, with 70 of the total volume and over 50 per cent of the total value. Aquaculture and mariculture are now worth $78.8 billion a year (in 2006). Worldwide, the sector has grown by an average rate of nearly 9 per cent a year since 1970. In 2006, the top three producers were: China (with 34.4 million tons), India (with 3.1 million tons) and Vietnam (with 1.6 million tons).

Experts worry that aquaculture production, if left unregulated, will end up destroying coastal wetlands and mangrove swamps, necessary as breeding and nursery grounds for wild fish stocks and also the source of fry for aquaculture operations. Furthermore, since much of the production from fish farms is exported, up to three-quarters, this source of protein contributes little to the diets of local people.

Дата добавления: 2014-11-06