Fishermen are throwing fish away, and they're losing millions of Dollars because of it

From HuffingtonPost by Dominique Mosbergen

The by-catch problem in the U.S. isn't just hurting our oceans, but our pockets too, according to a new report by Oceana.
The environmental group estimates the U.S. fishing industry loses at least $1 billion annually from the staggering amount of seafood that is unintentionally caught (and then discarded) by fishermen.
As the report notes, this figure seems especially high, considering that in 2012 the total amount of seafood landed by U.S. fishermen was worth about $5 billion in total.
"The fishing industry in the United States is an important part of the economy, generating $82 billion in sales and supporting 1.2 million jobs," the report reads. "Unfortunately, much of this value could be undercut by by-catch."

The economic analysis, which was made public Thursday, is a follow-up to an earlier Oceana report's estimate that 2 billion pounds of by-catch is discarded at U.S. fisheries every year.
According to that report, the use of unsustainable and indiscriminate fishing methods and gear in fisheries across the United States has meant that some fishermen are regularly throwing out a large percentage of everything they catch -- either because the fish (or other marine creatures) have been injured or prematurely killed during their capture, or because they weren't supposed to be caught at all.
Marine scientist and report co-author Amanda Keledjian told The Huffington Post that her team used the earlier report in their economic analysis, assessing what the value of the discarded fish would be if they were sold instead of thrown overboard.

The $1 billion figure was a "conservative estimate," she said, adding that if one considers the "indirect cost of by-catch," like reduced wages or the loss of jobs because of the lower number of fish brought to port, the "overall impact could very well be much higher."

Ultimately, Keledjian says she hopes the new report will draw attention to just what an ecological and economic disaster the by-catch problem is in this country.
Addressing industry criticism that Oceana's by-catch report did not adequately acknowledge the progress that the U.S. fishing industry has recently made with regard to by-catch, Keledjian said that the nonprofit's goal was to provide an "overview of the by-catch problem" in the U.S.
She added that although some fishermen and the government have made great strides to manage the issue, the problem of by-catch continues to contribute to overfishing and the decline of fish populations.
"There's been a lot of progress. ... But we're not finished yet -- and that's our point," she said. "It's important that we keep taking these steps to benefit the marine environment and the people whose livelihoods depend on it."

In its report, Oceana recommends that the government and the fishing industry devise new ways to "accurately count all catch, cap the amount of by-catch with science-based limits and control by-catch through effective management measures that will ensure limits are not exceeded and that by-catch is reduced over time."
By-catch is, of course, just one of many problems plaguing our oceans today.

In a new report released this week, the Global Ocean Commission warned that the oceans are in serious decline. Overfishing, illegal fishing, pollution and climate change are just a handful of the many problems facing our seas which the report highlights.

Read Oceana's "Wasted Cash: The Price of Waste in the U.S. Fishing Industry" report here.

Small miniatures : the secret life of marine microfaunia

Under a magnifier, a splash of seawater teems with life.

The planktonic soup includes bug-like copepods; long, glassy arrowworms; coiled filaments of cyanobacteria; rectangular algae called diatoms; fish eggs; and a big-eyed larval crab the size of a rice grain.

From NationalGeographic

"Small is beautiful," declared economist E. F. Schumacher.
Wise perspective for a planet where most organisms are built on a minor scale.
A dipperful of seawater can reveal a hodgepodge of tiny free-swimmers and nebulous drifters that fog the water column.
Many are microscopic.

As if you needed another reason not to drink sea water!

David Liittschwager, an accomplished award-winning photographer who has created numerous marine wildlife photos for National Geographic, has created an image showing the microfauna that exists inside a single drop of seawater!

By magnifying the water 25 times, he showed that the salty taste of seawater isn’t just salt – there are bacteria, worms, fish eggs, crab larva, diatoms, and a whole host of other creepy crawlies all fighting for a place on your tongue.

Dive-shield has a more accurate breakdown of the critters in this awesome shot.

 Curled like a fishhook, a larval blenny (Entomacrodus species) is transparent and nearly colorless beneath the photographer’s lights.

Although these fish inhabit offshore Hawaiian surface waters during their early days, as adults they live in shallow, surf-beaten tide pools along rocky shores.

Others would be visible except they're virtually transparent.

A larval swordfish measuring less than an inch has a long way to go to reach a length of up to ten feet (three meters) which it may attain over its lifespan of perhaps 10 to 20 years.

In these early days it eats fish larvae and tiny crustaceans called copepods—and is always at risk of becoming a snack for larger fish.

Gelatinous shape-shifters lazily ride the currents.

 This larval flounder swims with other fish for now, hidden from predators by transparency (the color is an effect of lighting).

It will soon be a bottom dweller that shimmies into the sand, gazing upward. Eyes start out one on each side; as the skull develops, one migrates to join the other.

Familiar forms in miniature—wide-eyed fish larvae, baby squid and octopuses—dart freely.

  No bigger than a quarter, a Glaucus nudibranch preys on toxic Portuguese men-of-war, appropriating their stinging cells for its own defense.

Camouflaged in blue and silver, this sea slug was caught off Hawaii but drifts in mild waters worldwide.

Their lives are precarious.

Fish eggs gathered from near the sea surface in a fine-mesh net house embryos (visible, right) and oil globules to nourish the hatchlings.

Some wear shells or exude toxins against predators; others are active only after dark.

 Pea-size and big-eyed, the larva of the slender mola is easy pickings for larger fish.

But as an adult it will grow into a cone-shaped creature three feet (0.9 meters) long.

But untold numbers succumb to hungry mouths—each other's or those of bigger foe.

This young octopus surfaces under cover of darkness to feed near the sea surface.

When mature, it will stick to the seafloor, strong-arming prey and popping into hidey-holes for shelter.

To see the show, photographer David Liittschwager joined scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration off the island of Hawaii.

Photographer David Liittschwager discusses the diversity of life and the intersections between art and science as he gathers and photographs some of the creatures that inhabit the waters beneath the Golden Gate Bridge.

Inhabitants must specialize to survive in these open, nutrient-poor waters—making for rich diversity.

 This jellyfish relative called a blue button isn’t one organism but many, joined at the gas-filled hub that keeps the colony afloat.

Each tentacle has a specialized role in the cooperative—catching prey, digesting, or reproducing.

The pigment blocks ultraviolet rays.

Liittschwager sampled with a bucket and fine-mesh net; at night, he lowered lights as lures.
What squirmed toward the glow?
"A genuine riot of life," he says.
The scientists kept some animals on board to confirm identities; the rest they returned to the sea.

A larval crustacean (a shrimp or a lobster) seeks prey with its bulbous eyes; its spearlike rostrum serves for defense.

Condenser lenses cast focused beams to outline see-through specimens; side lighting rendered a baby flounder iridescent, and a backlight exposed its developing bones and organs.
Tinkering with light, Liittschwager captured the nearly invisible.

The other side of the Ice

The Other Side of the Ice - Official Trailer [HD] from HOLE IN THE WALL PRODUCTIONS

Onward: Visit the World's largest open-ocean fish farm

Located off the coast of Panama, the world's largest open-ocean fish farm raises hundreds of thousands of cobia fish in colossal underwater pods.
Brian O'Hanlon, whose company runs the farms, hopes to bring this sustainable aquaculture approach to more coasts, and cobia to more plates.

Read more about cobia and this style of fish farming:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/special-features/2014/04/140430-other-white-meat-fish-aquaculture-cobia/

Hawaiian traditional surfing

Hawaiian traditional surfing from Jonathan Clay
Hawaiian surf-pro Tom Pohaku-Stone surfs a traditional wooden surfboard that he himself shaped.
This is a sequence from the "Oceans" episode of the BBC's documentary series "Human Planet".