The world population continues to grow, and at the same time, the per capita consumption of seafood is constantly increasing. To meet the growing demand, the first step was to decimate natural fish stocks through a ruthless fishing industry. To mitigate this effect, but also, and probably primarily, to open up new areas of profitability, a rapidly growing industry has invested in aquaculture. However, aquaculture cannot grow infinitely either. More or less suitable areas on land and along coasts have become scarce. In addition, prices for fish meal and fish oil from a special type of fishing for feed in fish farms keep increasing, a clear sign that a crucial raw material is becoming scarce. The growth of aquaculture has long passed its peak [1], and global warming will impose additional limits.
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Nicht Sushi ist das Problem, sondern…
Eine sehenswerte Doku auf ARD [1] spitzt die Probleme von Lachszucht und Thunfischfang auf den Sushi-Boom zu. Das mag einige Konsumenten dazu motivieren, etwas weniger Sushi zu essen. Die wirklichen Probleme löst das jedoch nicht.
Die Fischindustrie hat es wiederholt verstanden, Fisch in so verarbeiteter Form auf den Markt zu werfen, dass auch Fischerverächter zugreifen. Hauptsache, Umsatz und Marktanteile wachsen, egal, was für Folgen das für die Fische und deren Umwelt hat.
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Surfer für Strandschutz
In Peru setzen sich Surfer für den Schutz perfekter Wellen ein und damit für den Schutz der Küsten – ein schönes Beispiel fürs Schützen beim Nutzen. Es zeigt freilich auch, dass Strandschutz weltweit zu kurz greift.
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Small fisher(wo)men make a big difference
Small-scale artisanal fisheries are largely underestimated in terms of their catch volumes and contribution to the local economy — and at the same time they are adversely affected by industrial fishing, offshore aquaculture, tourism and other uses of coastal waters. Assessing the value and importance of small-scale fisheries is a crucial step towards countering the threats they face. This also benefits fishes, because if fisheries can minimise the suffering of the animals concerned, small-scale fisheries are more likely to succeed than their industrial competitors, which use heavy fishing gear.
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Neues aus dem Tierreich
#1: Fernsäugende Wale
Wale sind Säugetiere, haben aber keine Zitzen. Walmütter spritzen ihre sehr fette Milch ins Wasser, aus dem die Jungen sie trinken.
Mehr dazu… (mit Dank an «Wir schützen die Meere».#2: Warum der Blauhai blau ist
Eine spezielle Nanostruktur von Tausenden kleiner, spitzer Schuppen dieser Haiart (Prionace glauca) führt zur blauen Färbung. Die Schuppen enthalten Guanin-Kristalle, die blaues Licht reflektieren, und kleine Bläschen mit den Farbstoff Melanin, der das Licht anderer Wellenlängen absorbiert. Je nach Wasserdruck und Temperatur kann sich die Farbe aber auch verändern; der Blauhai erscheint dann tiefblau, grünblau oder golden.
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Bottom trawling: ‚improved‘ and therefore ‚green‘?
We recently discussed US fisheries biologist Ray HiIborn’s criticism of David Attenborough’s film ‘Ocean’, in which bottom trawling is portrayed as a very harmful fishing method — unjustifiably so, according to Hilborn, who claims that bottom trawling is a ‘vital method of procuring healthy protein’. [1]
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Is fish welfare easier to achieve in fisheries than in aquaculture?
Research has shown that it is impossible for almost all animal species to experience welfare in aquaculture [1]. Should we therefore focus on improving fish welfare in fisheries? It depends.
The fishing gear and methods vary greatly, depending first of all on the intended catch and, secondly, on the target species.
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Vor dem Sex Gehirn trainieren!
Den satten industrialisierten Volkswirtschaften gehen schleichend die Menschen aus, die Anzahl der Geburten pro Jahr sinkt unter die Anzahl der Verstorbenen. Hat das vielleicht hat es mit einer Abnahme der durchschnittlichen Intelligenz zu tun?
Eine Studie an Moskitofischen (Gambusia holbrooki) zeigt, dass kluge Männchen bessere Chancen haben, ein Weibchen anzulocken und zu begatten. Intelligenz wirkt offenbar nicht nur indirekt als Selektion, also dadurch, dass intelligentere Individuen rascher und mehr Futter finden und damit auch Vorteile bei der Paarung haben. Die Autoren der Studie vermuten eine direkte Wirkung: «Ein besseres Gehirn könnte einem Tier helfen, mehr Partner zu finden, mehr Sex zu haben und schliesslich mehr Babies zu bekommen.» Tests ergaben, «dass sich intelligentere Männchen mit mehr Weibchen paarten und mehr Nachkommen zeugten als weniger gescheite Fische».
Also, Männer: trainiert euer Gehirn, nicht nur eure Fitness!
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Ecologically responsible fishing without social responsibility?
Screenshot from MSC’s website: the promised benefit may work for the owner of the trawler, but for the workers? Let alone artisanal fishermen… In an open letter, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) was recently accused of enabling labour rights violations in its certified fisheries.
The authors of the letter [1] are members of the Seafood Working Group (SWG), a global coalition of human rights, labour, and environmental organisations, including Global Labor Justice (GLJ), a Washington-based NGO. The letter criticises ’systematic exploitation and hazardous conditions‘ and calls for ‚urgent reform of MCS’s social policies and certification processes‘.
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Ocean life on Earth and elsewhere
Whales filter seawater to feed on krill, tiny zooplanktonic crustaceans. When the whales were decimated, it was assumed that the krill population would flourish, but in contrast, their population declined at the same time. A recent study by the University of Washington [1] found that whale excrement contains a significant amount of iron and non-toxic copper, both essential but scarce nutrients for phytoplankton, which in turn is the food source of krill. In other words, whales have always provided the basis for their own prey and that of many other marine animals. The critical role that whales play in the complex marine food web was jeopardised by industrial whaling.
On other places in space, there could also be life in the oceans, but it would not be easy to detect . A study at the University of Reading [2] suggests that the physics of alien oceans could prevent deep-sea life from reaching the surface for us to see. In the case of a moon of Saturn, its ocean forms layers that are so distinct that they slow the upward movement of material from the seabed. The absence of tangible biological signatures on the surface does not therefore mean that there is no life in an alien deep sea. Whether this is good news for billionaires exploring extraterrestrial havens is another question; for those who remain on Earth and depend on healthy oceans, the international ban on whaling is a glimmer of hope and should be defended against the greed of some nations.
PS: In Humpback whale songs, researches recently detected ‚the same statistical structure as human language‘. The assumption that language ability is reserved for Homo sapiens is obviously anthropocentric, professor Chomsky.
Title picture:
A Whale shark (Rhincodon typus) filter-feeding plankton at night (credit: Arturo de Frias Marques / Wikimedia Commons)References:
[1] ‚Whale poop contains iron that may have helped fertilize past oceans‘, ScienceDaily, 06.02.2025
[2] ‚Alien ocean could hide signs of life from spacecraft‘, ScienceDaily, 06.02.2025
[3] ‚Humpback whale songs are structured like human language‘, Sience.org, 06.02.2025
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