New animal cruelty laws in Switzerland deem recreational fishing as animal cruelty.

The law ban catch and release fishing as the authorities have found that this fishing technique is morally wrong as it in facts is the practice of torturing animals for fun. You will however still be able to fish if you kill and/or eat the fish you catch as this is not consider recreational fishing as it has another purpose than just your enjoyment. The new law also outlaws using live fish as bait. It does not appear to regulate other types of live bait items.

This new laws make the Swiss fishing laws some of the most strict / if not the strictest, in the world today.

I usually don’t like to write about rumours and speculations but sometimes they are interesting enough to warrant a few rows here in the news section. There is a growing speculation and fear among tuna fisherman that tuna fishing will be strictly regulated or banned before the end of the year.

The speculations state that a complete ban on Tune fishing in the entire Atlantic Ocean will be announced in November during the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna meeting in Morocco. This would be a result of plummeting tuna populations and increased pressure from environmental organisations. American fishermen are believed to be among those supporting a complete ban which might be true as the US have a very small tuna fishing industry. The only exception from the ban would be sport fishing.

There is also a rumour that the tuna fishing ban won’t be limited to the Atlantic but that a global tuna fishing ban might be close to being announced. It is unclear whether the ban would include all tuna species or only the blue fin tuna but the later seems more likely.

Personally I find the announcement of a global or even an Atlantic tuna fishing ban very doubtful even if I would appreciate the imitative. (Despite the fact that I love grilled tuna) A tuna fishing ban in the Mediterranean seems more likely but might also meet more resistance due to large fishing operations present there. It is also doubtful if such a ban would be respected in the Mediterranean as the fishermen there have a history of breaking the rules such as in this incident I reported about earlier this year.

What do you guys think? Will we see a Tuna ban before the end of the year? Is one needed?

Sharks are facing extinction on large parts of the Great Barrier Reef as well as in other parts of the world. The reason for this is ruthless fishing to provide the Asian markets with shark fins. The fins are removed from caught fish while they are still alive and the sharks are then flung back into the sea where they sink towards the bottom and to their death. Most shark species need to swim to be able to breathe and drowns after they have been thrown back without their fins. A very high number of sharks fall victim to Asian shark fishing vessels and end their life this way each year. This doesn’t just threaten the world’s shark populations but also constitutes an enormous waste of resources as most of the sharks (everything except the fins) is simple flung back into the sea without being used.

Many sharks fishing vessels ignore fishing rules and fish in protected areas and marine preserve which have led to plummeting shark populations in marine preserves as well. This does not only leave us without protected shark populations that might help restock the populations outside the preserves but also put stress on the eco system within the preserves. This might put other species in the preserves at risk as well.

An example of this illegal fishing was recently reported in north Queensland were a research trip done by Richard Fitzpatrick and his team showed that it was hard to find and catch sharks on the reefs off Cairns and Port Douglas.

Mr Fitzpatrick says the decline is the result of over-fishing on the reef.

The team found dead sharks thrown back into the sea in protected areas in the Cairns and Port Douglas, area like the cod hole which might indicate that shark fishing vessels fish within protected areas. They also found sharks that simply had their tail fins cut of and most likely had been killed by people who don’t like sharks and that simply wanted to kill them. It is however possible that they where fished for their tailfins and that they where caught for commercial reasons but if that was the case it is likely that the other fins would have been harvested as well.

The shark fin trade is to a large extent a black market and no one has a good overview of it and how big it really is. This is making it extremely hard to take actions against this fishing and the only way to create effective shark preserves might be to create large patrolled areas that are off limit to all non authorized vessels. A more desirable method to target the problem would be campaigns designed to limit the demand for shark fins. The question is how and if an effective campaign like that can be created,

A series of photos have been published of an orangutan fishing using a spear while hanging out over the water from a branch. The orangutan in the pictures is a male living in a sanctuary on the island of Kaja in Borneo. This reserve offers home for animals that have been displaced and homeless by logging and other development. As orangutan have a hard time spearing swimming fish it spears fish stuck in nets and lines. Another orangutan used the method to “catch” floating fruit. It is believed that the orangutans have learned this by observing local fishermen. You can see the pictures by clicking here.

Orangutans are highly endangered and some scientist warns that they might be gone from the wild within 10 years of not drastic measure are taken to protect them.

Working together WWF and Greenpeace have obtained evidence that the tune fleet working in the central Mediterranean is using airplanes to find tune. This practice is internationally banned in the Mediterranean as it allows the oversized fishing fleet to catch to much tuna and make to big damage to the tuna population. Read more about this here

Blue fin tuna fetches a very high price on the international market and the species is becoming increasingly threatened by over fishing. Illegal fishing operations are common. Although attempts are being made to internationally limit the fishing and restrict the fishing quotas (or even ban fishing for a few years) little progress is made due to the economic value of this fish. Recently however a number of encouraging actions have been taken by individual nations and private interests. One such action is that one of the biggest sea food whole sellers in the UK that sell to a lot of top restaurants etc have stopped selling blue fin tune due to the unsustainable fishing for this species.

Credit: NMFS File Photo

Russia has proposed a five year long ban on fishing sturgeon in the Caspian Sea, News.com.au reports. According to non-governmental organisation Caviar Emptor, the Beluga Sturgeon population has declined by 90 percent during the last 20 years. Russia has suggested that all countries bordering the Caspian should impose a ban and that the ban should last for at least five years. According to Andrei Krainy, head of Russia’s state fisheries agency, Russia is ready to ban even scientists from fishing sturgeon in the Caspian Sea. The Caspian Sea is home to roughly 90 percent of the total sturgeon population. The sturgeon is primarily fished for its caviar eggs, a world-famous delicates.

You can read the full article here: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23444657-1702,00.html

The Caspian Sea is an enormous body of water without any outflows. Its coastline is shared by Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Its salinity is about 1.2%, while the average salinity of the ocean is 3.5%. The Caspian Sea is fed by over 130 rivers, including the famous Russian river Volga which is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, watershed and discharge. The Caspian Sea is home to several endemic species of fish, such as the Caspian roach and the Caspian white fish (also known as Kktum). The Caspian Sea is also where you will find the Caspian seal, one of very few seal species that live in inland waters instead of living in the ocean.

A video about the snakehead situation in the Potomac river. In certain areas of the river snakeheads now are established and competing with local fish species such as local bass. Hopefully they will be kept confined to certain parts of the river and won´t spread to other parts of the country. We will just have to wait and see. in the meen time the snakehead is turning into a popular game fish luring sport fishers to the area. For more info see the almost 3 min long video.

Releasing caught snakeheads are illegal and catches should be reported to the local fish and wildlife service.

For reasons unknown, massive groups of Humboldt Squid have left their native waters in South America and can now be found all the way up to Alaskan waters. The Humboldt Squid is most commonly found between Tierra del Fuego at the southernmost tip of the South American and the U.S. state of California. Recent findings do however suggest that the species is spreading north into the waters of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and even Alaska.

The Humboldt Squid can reach a size of 2 meters (7 feet) and weigh 45 kg (100 pounds). Due to its impressive size, it is known under names such as Jumbo Squid and Jumbo Flying Squid. In Spanish speaking parts of South America, it is called Diablo Rojo which means Red Devil. The creature is equipped with 10 arms and a really sharp beak. It is known for its aggressiveness, but research suggests that these animals are only aggressive during feeding time. During feeding frenzies, they have no problem retorting to cannibalism. When not feeding, they seem to be fairly docile.

If you want to learn more about this aggressive predatory squid and its newfound wanderlust, KQED has devoted the Season 2 Web Premiere of the program QUEST to the Humboldt Squid (Dosidicus gigas). QUEST is a TV, radio, web, and education series that explores science, environment and nature in Northern California. You can find the episode here: http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog/2008/03/26/quest-season-2-web-premiere-the-fierce-humboldt-squid/

Purse seine fishing regionally banned by the United States Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council

According to a report from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the United States Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council has decided to ban so called purse seine fishing in parts of the Western Pacific. The council is concerned about the large boats with massive nets that use the purse seine fishing technique in the Western Pacific and fear that they might deplete the local fish populations, especially when it comes to the popular foodfishes yellowfin tuna and skipjack tuna. The ban concerns all federal waters off Guam, the Northern Marianas and American Samoa and in this area all purse seine fishing will be illegal within 75 nautical miles of the shore.

You can fin more information here

The Yellowfin tuna is a popular food fish and is known to reach a length of 239 meters (94 inches). It lives in the upper 100 meters (330 feet) of the ocean and is found in both tropical and subtropical parts of the world. The severe depletion of the Bluefin tune has become a problem for the Yellowfin tuna, since consumers have begun to purchase Yellowfin tuna as a replacement for Bluefin tuna.

The Skipjack tuna is smaller than the yellowfin and can only reach a length of roughly 100 cm (3.3 feet). It is a popular foodfish world wide, but especially sought after in Japan where it is used to make traditional katsuobushi, which is an important ingredients in dashi (a type of fish stock).