America's Oceans Fished Dry

America’s Oceans Fished Dry

By Wolfgang Weitlaner, pressetext.austria, weitlaner [at] pressetext.at

[This article published by pressetext.deutschland is translated from the German on the World Wide Web, http://www.pressetext.de/pte=031209024 and http://pressetext.de/pteprint.me?pte=031209024.]

Portland/ Oregon (pte, December 9, 2003) – Several top experts of ocean biology warn of the threatening collapse of the oceans before America’s two coasts. Both the Atlantic and the Pacific are in a deplorable state, the scientists declared. The decisions of politicians made 30 years ago are responsible. At that time, the immense oceans represented never ending resources, the Register Guard http://www.registerguard.com reports from Eugene/ Oregon.

In the oceans before the American coasts, that scenario takes place that already marks discussions in Europe within the EU-Fisheries commission: the extreme decline of fish stocks. “The word `emergency situation’ is not an exaggeration”, declared Jane Lubchenko, ocean biologist from Oregon State University and one of the 18 scientists of the Pew Oceans Commission http://www.pewoceans.org. The 1969 Stratton commission, a group that studied the condition of oceans, summarized their findings in a report. “The resulting conduct led to the present state of the oceans today”, the ocean biologist explains. The Pew Oceans commission concluded that the oceans and the animals living in the oceans are gravely endangered.

The fishers in Oregon are especially stricken. The number of snappers, particularly the Bocaccio-rock fish (Sebastes paucispinus), has fallen to only three percent of the stock. The local government has withdrawn licenses from 92 of 209 commercial fishing fleets. This year almost 13,000 square kilometers in the Pacific were declared a restricted area for commercial fishing. In 1995, almost 10,000 square kilometers of oceans before the New England coast were declared a protected zone after the Kabeljan fishery nearly came to a standstill. The establishment of protected zones alone will not bed enough, according to the data of the researchers. They urge genuine marine national parks that may not be fished by anyone. “We need a new ocean ethic”, Lubchenko says. This can only be really carried out by law.