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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: overfishing

overfishing stories: 16 news summaries

(Newser) - You might suspect a sushi restaurant that doesn’t specify what sort of tuna you’re eating of trying to pawn off an inferior species. Not so. Researchers using novel DNA barcoding technology found that though nearly a third of tuna sold in 31 US restaurants was the prized—and... More »

Overfishing Plagues
Filet-O-Fish's Main Ingredient

New Zealand's hoki center of overfishing controversy

(Newser) - What exactly is the fish in a Filet-O-Fish sandwich? It’s a bug-eyed creature from New Zealand called the hoki, and it is apparently under pressure from overfishing, the New York Times reports. New Zealand—while not specifically citing that cause—has been cutting the allowable catch as conservation groups... More »

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environment McDonald's fast food fish New Zealand overfishing hoki

'Makeovers' Spell Doom
for Oceans' Ugliest Fish

Even the once-shunned are now overfished

(Newser) - Don't like the sound of slimefish fillets? How about some orange roughy instead? Efforts to "rebrand" ugly, unpopular types of fish to make them more palatable to consumers have been successful—too successful, the Washington Post reports. Many species once considered "trash fish" have become dangerously depleted... More »

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fish marine life overfishing fishery fishermen

(Newser) - Victims of shark attacks have gathered in Washington to lend a hand to their one-time foes, reports the Washington Post. The survivors plan to lobby senators to pass a bill setting new restrictions on shark fishing in US waters. A third of the world's shark species are now classified as... More »

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conservation shark marine life shark attack shark population overfishing

(Newser) - The Mediterranean Sea is in crisis because of global warming, according to Greenpeace. The group says its latest research documents the catastrophic effect climate change is having on the environmentally crucial body of water, which it dubs a “sea of hell.” Rising temperatures have sent foreign species like... More »

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climate change environment pollution global warming Mediterranean Sea overfishing puffer fish


 Forget Fur: 
 New Celeb 
 Cause Is Food 

Overfishing, too much meat are the top causes

(Newser) - Protesting fur is so last decade. Celebrities are now championing their favorite food-related causes, whether it's Paul McCartney asking Brits to cut back on meat, Jamie Oliver refusing to serve endangered bluefin, or celebs lining up to publicize a new film about overfishing, the Guardian reports. Why now? Government inaction... More »

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PETA sustainability overfishing bluefin tuna commercial fishing Food, Inc. The End of the Line

EU Trims
Tuna Catch,
Experts Warn:
'Not Enough'

New quotas well above sustainable limit

(Newser) - The European Commission completed a deal this week cutting back on the fishing of bluefin tuna, the Economist reports, but not sharply enough to save the species, scientists argue. The deal gradually reduces the legal catch from 28,500 tons this year to 19,950 tons in 2010—but conservationists... More »

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tuna fish fishing European Commission overfishing fishery bluefin tuna

OPINION

 Widen Palate to 
 Reverse Overfishing 

But all's not lost, if we can limit overfishing

(Newser) - Call him a snob, but Mark Bittman prefers wild fish to their bland, farmed brethren—yet at the rate things are going, “by midcentury, it might be easier to catch our favorite wild fish ourselves rather than buy it in the market,” he writes in the New York ... More »

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food fish fishing Mark Bittman overfishing

 Bluefin Swim Toward Extinction 

Politicking produces bad management of big tuna

(Newser) - Bluefin tuna are disappearing from the Atlantic and Mediterranean because of overfishing and an ineffectual world agency that's failed in its sole mission of protecting the fish, the Economist reports. Up to 60,000 tons are hauled in each year, legally or otherwise, when the limit should long have been... More »

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Atlantic Ocean tuna fishing overfishing fishery bluefin tuna

Overfishing Could Force You to Hold the Anchovies

UK conservation society puts briny salad-topper on ever-growing list of fish to avoid

(Newser) - Anchovies have made a list of "fish to avoid," the Guardian reports—and not for their salty pungency, but because overfishing has left stocks at unsustainable levels. The UK’s Marine Conservation Society—which ranks fish after assessing biology, stock status, and the impact of the farming or... More »

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fishing North Sea sustainability overfishing fishery Marine Conservation Society monkfish anchovy

Glossies

 Bluefin Tuna Tricked
 Into Spawning

Australian aims to overcome fish shortage by simulating breeding grounds

(Newser) - A seafood entrepreneur thinks he can solve the world's bluefin tuna shortage by making the fish feel frisky, Time reports. German ex-pat Hagen Stehr, the baron of a $230-million Australian seafood empire, is simulating the tuna's breeding grounds in a hatchery—a "fishy virtual reality" with 14 hours of... More »

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endangered species environmentalism tuna fishing sushi food industry overfishing

Trawler Dumps Endangered Fish, Sparking Eco-Outrage

Vessel jettisoned 80% of its catch to comply with EU rules

(Newser) - Film of a British trawler dumping 10,000 pounds of dead fish caught in Norwegian waters back into the sea has outraged Norway as well as environmentalists, the Guardian reports. The boat dumped nearly 80% of its catch, including cod and other endangered fish, to comply with EU quotas. Conservationists... More »

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United Kingdom Norway fish fishing fishing boat overfishing

 Jellyfish Surge
 Is Ocean
 Call for Help

Ocean is 'sending us a message,' warns expert

(Newser) - Jellyfish populations are surging because of rising sea temperatures and overfishing, which leaves them with few predators and no competition for plankton, reports the New York Times. Fishermen are finding nets “filled with more jellyfish than fish,” said one, and swimmers are reporting increasing numbers of jellyfish... More »

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beach ocean animal attack jellyfish ocean temperature overfishing

 Fish Found at Record Depth

New device can retrieve live creatures from high-pressure deep-sea zones

(Newser) - Scientists have captured a live fish from a record 7,500 feet under the Atlantic Ocean, the BBC reports. A new device allows recovery of live creatures from much farther down than was previously possible. The expedition to learn more about life around hydrothermal vents deep beneath the ocean also... More »

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Atlantic Ocean ocean fish marine life seabed marine biology overfishing

Blue Crab Disappearing
From Chesapeake Bay

Longtime fishermen lament lost way of life

(Newser) - Overfishing and water pollution have put the Chesapeake Bay's signature blue crab on the brink—along with fishermen who have long depended on it. Stocks are down 65% since 1990, the AP reports, as officials in Maryland and Virginia struggle to enact a patchwork of laws to reduce the harvest,... More »

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environment fishing Baltimore Washington, DC overfishing blue crab Chesapeake Bay

Overfishing Oceans Leads
to 'Rise of Slime' 

Depleted stocks
throw ecosystems
out of whack

(Newser) - Overfishing results in more than just the depletion of one species—it can mean the degradation of entire ecosystems. As the populations of large, predatory fish such as sharks and tuna decline, their prey flourishes, with sometimes-devastating results. The Christian Science Monitor looks at the problem of the world's increasingly... More »

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environment ocean fish fishing environmental impact environmental damage overfishing

16 Stories