ROFFS™ Fishy Times Newsletter – 46th Edition – Fisheries Body Raises Bluefin Quota, Bird’s Eye View of Coastal Erosion & Biodegradable Fishing Nets NEWS Fisheries Body Raises Quota on Endangered Bluefin Article re-posted from Miami Herald November 17, 2014 (Article by: Colleen Barry AP | Photo credit: photos.com)

A multi-nation fisheries body on Monday raised the quotas for endangered Bluefin tuna in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea to the dismay of conservationists, who said the move puts early signs of population recovery at risk.

Next year’s quota for Bluefin tuna off the United States, Canada and Mexico was raised by 14 percent to 2,000 metric tons by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas at the end of an eight-day meeting in the Italian port city of Genoa. It raised the quota for the larger population of Mediterranean Bluefin tuna by 20 percent to 15,821 metric tons next year, with additional 20 percent increases each of the following two years.

The fisheries body’s scientific committee said “gradual and moderate” increases in the catch would not jeopardize the stock health. But the Pew Charitable Trusts said the western Bluefin tuna population off the U.S., Canadian and Mexican coasts “remains severely depleted,” 15 years into a 20-year rebuild, and that scientific assessments indicate the increased catches could reverse the recovery trend.

PLEASE CLICK HERE for more on the raising of the bluefin tuna quota on our website now… Above: Bluefin tuna swimming.  Photo credit: Photos.com Choosing Extinction – the Hawaiian Monk Seal Article re-posted from Alert Diver Online (article by: Doug Perrine | Photos credit: Doug Perrine)More than 20 million years ago, a weasel-like progenitor to today’s monk seals foraged in Canada’s lakes. By 15 million years ago, the animal’s descendants had evolved into seals similar to present-day monk seals. By 8 million years ago, monk seals had spread to both sides of the North Atlantic and to the eastern-central Pacific. When the Isthmus of Panama separated the two oceans about 3 to 4 million years ago, the species diverged into the Caribbean monk seal on one side of the continent and the Hawaiian monk seal on the other, while seals in the eastern Atlantic region evolved to become the Mediterranean monk seal. At that time, the lower five of the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) had not yet emerged from the sea, so monk seals inhabited what is now known as Kauai and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI), stretching out past Midway to Kure, colonizing new islands as they appeared. Hawaiian monk seals had no terrestrial enemies until humans arrived in the MHI around 1,000 years ago. It is believed that within a century Polynesian settlers and their dogs had all but extirpated the seals from the MHI. Today the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) lists the Hawaiian monk seal as critically endangered, but some islanders are protesting recovery plans proposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Above: This young female monk seal became a public safety hazard and had to be removed from the MHI population after being illegally fed by humans. Photo Credit – Doug Perrine. PLEASE CLICK HERE to read more on the Hawaiian Monk Seal on our website now… A Bird’s Eye View of Coastal Erosion Article re-posted from National Wildlife Foundation November 14, 2014 (article by: Kelly Wagner | Photos credit: kdw/NWF)Each day I pass an egret on the way to work that lingers in the watery ditches in my town. It amuses me that this elegant bird seems to give little concern to the cars that are passing within ten feet of it. It doesn’t know that I am heading to NWF’s New Orleans field office that has one focus—to restore its wetlands habitat in the Mississippi River Delta before the wetlands disappear. Recently, I got to see the devastating wetland loss from the egret’s perspective. The Mississippi River Delta, where the mighty Mississippi River meets the Gulf of Mexico, supports more than 400 species of birds. For millions of birds, the delta’s food-rich habitats are critical stopping places before their grueling nonstop flight across the Gulf. But human activities have disrupted the natural balance of the wetlands in the delta and they are receding at alarming rates—nearly a football field of wetlands disappears every hour. Last week, we took local officials up in a flight provided by SouthWings.org to get an aerial view of how quickly the Gulf is encroaching inland. It was an eye-opening experience that only pictures can convey. PLEASE CLICK HERE to read more about the bird’s eye view of coastal erosion on our website now… Above: photo credit – kdw/NWF