Prince of Wales launches fight to save overexploited oceans from overfishing

A report to be published this week by one of the Prince's charities, theInternational Sustainability Unit (ISU), will say that fisheries around the world could be pulled back from the brink of collapse by tackling wasteful fishing practices.

In a speech at the report's launch, the Prince will warn of "dire" long-term consequences unless action is taken to manage fish stocks more effectively.

He will use the opportunity to encourage governments, retailers and the fishing industry to adopt more sustainable practices, pointing to evidence that it could allow more fish to be taken from the seas rather than fewer.

The move comes on the back of the Prince's campaign save the rainforests, which has been credited with having played a significant role in getting the international community to sign up to initiatives to tackle deforestation.

Campaigners fighting to stop overfishing and end destructive policies such as discards, where fishermen throw dead fish back into the sea to avoid exceeding quotas, have backed the Prince's move.

While the Prince will not mention the European Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in his speech, environmentalists who blame the policy for encouraging discards have welcomed his decision to speak out on the wider issues.

A Clarence House spokesman said: "The Prince of Wales has been concerned about the marine environment for many years.

"He wants to focus on the fishing industry and how to promote a more sustainable approach to managing the marine environment.

"The work of the Prince's Charities' ISU's Marine Programme is about promoting sustainable approaches towards fisheries to preserve a long-term livelihood for the communities and industries that rely on them, to preserve the fish stocks, and to protect biodiversity and ecosystems in the sea."

Twenty five per cent of the world's fish stocks are now believed to be overexploited, depleted or recovering from depletion. Half of the world's fish stocks are already suffering catches at or close to the limit that allows them to be sustainable.

The report by the ISU will be launched at an event hosted by the Prince at Fishmongers' Hall in London on Friday, attended by 250 industry representatives and officials.

It will argue that the solution lies in readdressing the economics of fishing so governments and the industry recognise the benefits of preserving stocks.

It will highlight research that shows the oceans are capable of providing $50 billion (£31 billion) per year more value than they currently do if managed in an optimal manner.

Tony Juniper, special adviser to the ISU, said: "The automatic preconception that most people have is that sustainability is about taking less.

"What we have found, in fact, is that if fisheries were managed optimally then we could be taking more. The key to it is how you get the economics lined up.

"Then you can deliver value for the consumer, value for conservation and value for the fishing communities themselves to ensure they are rewarded for a hard job under tough conditions."

The report will analyse ways to keep fish stocks healthy while also providing more fish for consumers. It will argue that reducing supply for certain species would raise market prices, allowing fish stocks to recover while giving fishermen the ability to continue making a living.

Fishing a more diverse range of species could also help to reduce pressure, while new technology could be used to reduce by-catch – unwanted fish that are caught up in nets – and return them to the ocean alive.

It will also suggest removing subsidies for building new fishing vessels and fuel, which could help to control the number of fishing vessels operating. Currently the EU provides £2 billion a year in subsidies.

The Prince, who has a long record of environmental campaigning, has previously backed attempts to reform the CFP and has described the issue of by-catch and discards as "immoral".

Campaigners now hope that his international influence will persaude governments, regulating bodies, fishermen, seafood processors and retailers to adopt more sustainable fishing practices.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, the chef who led a campaign to change the CFP and is set to begin filming a third instalment of his Hugh's Fish Fight programmes for Channel 4, welcomed the Prince's involvement.

He said: "This is absolutely the right approach. If the world's fish stocks were sustainably fished they could be more productive, not less.

"The Prince's involvement in environmental issues has the ability to rouse political will and business commitment. It is extremely welcome that he is to continue to turn the spotlight on the problems and the solutions."

A spokesman for the Marine Conservation Society said: "We welcome this approach of tackling the economics to incentivise sustainable fishing. It is something that will work and should appeal to governments no matter what their political persuasion."

By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-charles/9046430/Prince-of-Wales-launches-fight-to-save-overexploited-oceans-from-overfishing.html

Researchers find plastic in more than 9% of fish in northern Pacific Ocean

The first scientific results from an ambitious voyage led by a group of graduate students from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego offer a stark view of human pollution and its infiltration of an area of the ocean that has been labeled as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.”

These are two lanternfish and several bits of plastic collected during the SEAPLEX voyage [Credit: J. Leicther]

Two graduate students with the Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition, or SEAPLEX, found evidence of plastic waste in more than nine percent of the stomachs of fish collected during their voyage to the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Based on their evidence, authors Peter Davison and Rebecca Asch estimate that fish in the intermediate ocean depths of the North Pacific ingest plastic at a rate of roughly 12,000- to 24,000 tons per year.


Their results were published June 27 in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series.

During the SEAPLEX voyage in August 2009, a team of Scripps graduate students traveled more than 1,000 miles west of California to the eastern sector of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre aboard the Scripps research vessel New Horizon. Over 20 days the students, New Horizon crew and expedition volunteers conducted comprehensive and rigorous scientific sampling at numerous locations. They collected fish specimens, water samples and marine debris at depths ranging from the sea surface to thousands of feet depth

Of the 141 fishes spanning 27 species dissected in the study, Davison and Asch found that 9.2 percent of the stomach contents of mid-water fishes contained plastic debris, primarily broken-down bits smaller than a human fingernail. The researchers say the majority of the stomach plastic pieces were so small their origin could not be determined.

“About nine percent of examined fishes contained plastic in their stomach. That is an underestimate of the true ingestion rate because a fish may regurgitate or pass a plastic item, or even die from eating it. We didn’t measure those rates, so our nine percent figure is too low by an unknown amount,” said Davison.

The authors say previous studies on fish and plastic ingestion may have included so-called “net-feeding” biases. Net feeding can lead to artificially high cases of plastic ingestion by fishes while they are confined in a net with a high concentration of plastic debris. The Scripps study’s results were designed to avoid such bias. The highest concentrations of plastic were retrieved by a surface collecting device called a “manta net,” which sampled for only 15 minutes at a time. The short sampling time minimizes the risk of net feeding by preventing large concentrations of plastic from building up, and also by reducing the amount of time that a captured fish spends in the net. In addition to the manta net, the fishes were also collected with other nets that sample deeper in the water column where there is less plastic to be ingested through net feeding.

The new study focused on the prevalence of plastic ingestion, but effects such as toxicological impacts on fish and composition of the plastic were outside of the study’s goals.

The majority of fish examined in the study were myctophids, commonly called lanternfish because of their luminescent tissue. Lanternfishes are hypothesized to use luminescence for several purposes, including counter-illumination (thwarts predators attempting to silhouette the lanternfish against sunlight), mate attraction and identification and illumination of prey. Such fish generally inhabit the 200- to 1,000-meter (650- to 3,280-foot) depth during the day and swim to the surface at night.

“These fish have an important role in the food chain because they connect plankton at the base of the food chain with higher levels. We have estimated the incidence at which plastic is entering the food chain and I think there are potential impacts, but what those impacts are will take more research,” said Asch.

Rather than a visible “patch” or “island” of trash, marine debris is highly dispersed across thousands of miles of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. The debris area cannot be mapped from air or space, so SEAPLEX researchers collected samples in 132 net tows (130 of which contained plastic) across a distance of more than 2,375 kilometers (1,700 miles) in an attempt to find the boundaries of the patch. The region, a “convergence zone” where floating debris in water congregates, is generally avoided by mariners due to its calm winds and mild currents. The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre has been understudied by scientists, leaving many open questions about marine debris in the area and its long-term effects on the marine environment.

“This study clearly emphasizes the importance of directly sampling in the environment where the impacts may be occurring,” said James Leichter, a Scripps associate professor of biological oceanography who participated in the SEAPLEX expedition but was not an author of the new paper. “We are seeing that most of our prior predictions and expectations about potential impacts have been based on speculation rather than evidence and in many cases we have in fact underestimated the magnitude of effects. SEAPLEX also clearly illustrates how relatively small amounts of funding directed for novel field sampling and work in remote places can vastly increase our knowledge and understanding of environmental problems.”

Author: Mario Aguilera
Source: University of California - San Diego
http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2011/07/researchers-find-plastic-in-more-than-9.html

High risk of mass extinction in world’s oceans

Creating conditions associated with every previous major extinction

June 2011: The world's oceans are at high risk of an unprecedented number of marine species extinctions, according to an international panel of experts.

The panel's report was the result of a workshop considering the cumulative impact of all stressors affecting the ocean. The experts examined the combined effects of pollution, acidification, ocean warming, over-fishing and hypoxia (deoxygenation).


The scientific panel concluded that:
The combination of stressors on the ocean is creating the conditions associated with every previous major extinction of species in Earth's history.

The speed and rate of degeneration in the ocean is far faster than anyone has predicted.

Many of the negative impacts previously identified are greater than the worst predictions.

Although difficult to assess because of the unprecedented speed of change, the first steps to globally significant extinction may have begun with a rise in the extinction threat to marine species such as reef-forming corals

'The findings are shocking'
Dr Alex Rogers, scientific director of the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) which convened the workshop said: ‘The findings are shocking. As we considered the cumulative effect of what humankind does to the ocean the implications became far worse than we had individually realised.

‘This is a very serious situation demanding unequivocal action at every level. We are looking at consequences for humankind that will impact in our lifetime, and worse, our children's and generations beyond that.'

Marine scientists from institutions around the world gathered at Oxford University under the auspices of IPSO and the IUCN. The group reviewed recent research by two world ocean experts and found firm evidence that the effects of climate change, coupled with other human-induced impacts such as over-fishing and nutrient run-off from farming, have already caused a dramatic decline in ocean health.

A new extinction event inevitable if damage continues

Increasing hypoxia (low oxygen levels) and anoxia (absence of oxygen, known as ocean dead zones) combined with warming of the ocean and acidification are the three factors which have been present in every mass extinction event in Earth's history.

There is strong scientific evidence that these three factors are combining in the ocean again, exacerbated by multiple severe stressors. The scientific panel concluded that a new extinction event was inevitable if the current trajectory of damage continues.

The time to protect the blue heart of our planet is now
The report sets out a series of recommendations and calls on states, regional bodies and the United Nations to enact measures to better conserve ocean ecosystems, and in particular demands the urgent adoption of better governance of the largely unprotected high seas which make up the majority of the world's ocean.

Dan Laffoley, Marine Chair of IUCN's World Commission on protected Areas and senior adviser on Marine Science and Conservation for IUCN, and co-author of the report, said: ‘The world's leading experts on oceans are surprised by the rate and magnitude of changes we are seeing.

‘The challenges for the future of the ocean are vast, but unlike previous generations we know what now needs to happen. The time to protect the blue heart of our planet is now, today and urgent.'

Frightening truth about our oceans

Τhe rate at which carbon is being absorbed by the ocean is already far greater now than at the time of the last globally significant extinction of marine species, some 55 million years ago, when up to 50 per cent of some groups of deep-sea animals were wiped out.

A single mass coral bleaching event in 1998 killed 16 per cent of all the world's tropical coral reefs.

Overfishing has reduced some commercial fish stocks and populations of by-catch species by more than 90 per cent.

New science also suggests that pollutants including flame retardant chemicals and synthetic musks found in detergents are being traced in the Polar Seas, and that these chemicals can be absorbed by tiny plastic particles in the ocean which are in turn ingested by marine creatures.

The experts agreed that adding these and other threats together means that the ocean and the ecosystems within it are unable to recover, being constantly bombarded with multiple attacks.


http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/ocean-extinction.html

Oysters at risk in acid oceans

THEY have formed a succulent and nutritious part of the human diet for thousands of years. But a new report is warning that plentiful supplies of oysters and mussels could disappear over the next century because the oceans are becoming increasingly acidic.

Dr John Baxter, the co-editor of an international report into the acidification of the world's seas, said increasing levels of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere by industrialised countries was gradually changing the acid level of waters across the world.


If the trend continued, the shells of thousands of species would be eroded and the creatures eventually wiped out - creating a huge knock-on effect on other fish and marine life.

As lobsters and crabs have shells with a different chemical composition, it is not clear how they will be affected by increasingly acidic sea water, the report says.

But as well as shellfish eaten by humans, certain types of plankton at the bottom of the marine food chain and coral reefs would also face serious ecological damage.

The first major marine areas to be affected, says the report, are the northern oceans, which are home to a wide variety of important marine life.

The Arctic Ocean is expected to be the first to reach a dangerous level of acidification with 10 per cent of its area hitting the threshold at which damage will occur by the end of this decade.

Dr Baxter, the principal adviser in marine ecology for Scottish Natural Heritage, presented the report, Ocean Acidification: Questions Answered, at a scientific meeting last week. SNH co-funded the report, alongside Natural England, the UK Ocean Acidification Research Programme and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

Baxter said: "The only way around this is for the amount of CO2 being released into the atmosphere to be reduced.

"To a certain extent, this can be done by carbon capture - when carbon released from power stations is trapped underneath the seabed and stopped from being released into the atmosphere - but, other than that, we just have to start using less fossil fuel.

The alternative is pretty worrying."


He said that while some animals and plants may adapt to the new environment, many would be wiped out.

"We just don't know what species adapt, if any," Baxter said, adding that the last time there had been serious ocean acidification, 55 million years ago, around 80 per cent of sea species had become extinct.

While ocean acidification occurs naturally, studies show it has increased far more rapidly in the past 150 years.

More than 440 billion metric tons of CO2 has been released into the atmosphere since the end of the first industrial revolution in the 1830s - with half of this generated in the past 30 years.

As atmospheric CO2 increases, more of it is dissolved in the oceans, causing chemical changes which make sea water more acidic. While it is unlikely the world's seas will ever become positively acidic - like lemon juice or vinegar - even a fairly mild level of acidification would have a significant effect on the world's ecosystem.

"Carbonate levels in sea water, which are presently high enough to allow calcium carbonate structures like shells and skeletons to stay intact, can drop to levels that will mean these hard structures will begin to dissolve," the reports says.

"If levels of atmospheric and oceanic CO2 continue to rise at current rates… by 2100 it is likely that the entire Arctic Ocean will be in a state that can dissolve unprotected calcium carbonate structures."

Evidence had already been found that the shells of one species - the planktonic foraminifera - are already 30-35 per cent lighter than their pre-industrial-era counterparts, demonstrating that the effect has already begun.

Environmental groups said acidification was a growing danger to marine life. Richard Dixon, director of WWF Scotland, said: "Climate change would already be much worse if the oceans weren't absorbing huge amounts of the carbon dioxide we are spewing into the atmosphere, but the consequence is that the planet's seas are becoming more and more acidic. This is potentially disastrous for marine life around the globe, devastating much of the base of the food chain and further endangering fish-stocks that many human populations rely on.

"We spend a lot of time worrying about droughts, floods and ice caps, but what's happening to the oceans may actually be the most dangerous impact of climate change."

Duncan McLaren, chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, added: "Ocean acidification threatens not only coral reefs and marine biodiversity, but also the commercial fisheries that depend on them."



By Jane Bradley


http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/environment/Oysters-at-risk-in-acid.6615795.jp

Oysters at risk in acid oceans

THEY have formed a succulent and nutritious part of the human diet for thousands of years. But a new report is warning that plentiful supplies of oysters and mussels could disappear over the next century because the oceans are becoming increasingly acidic.

Dr John Baxter, the co-editor of an international report into the acidification of the world's seas, said increasing levels of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere by industrialised countries was gradually changing the acid level of waters across the world.


If the trend continued, the shells of thousands of species would be eroded and the creatures eventually wiped out - creating a huge knock-on effect on other fish and marine life.

As lobsters and crabs have shells with a different chemical composition, it is not clear how they will be affected by increasingly acidic sea water, the report says.

But as well as shellfish eaten by humans, certain types of plankton at the bottom of the marine food chain and coral reefs would also face serious ecological damage.

The first major marine areas to be affected, says the report, are the northern oceans, which are home to a wide variety of important marine life.

The Arctic Ocean is expected to be the first to reach a dangerous level of acidification with 10 per cent of its area hitting the threshold at which damage will occur by the end of this decade.

Dr Baxter, the principal adviser in marine ecology for Scottish Natural Heritage, presented the report, Ocean Acidification: Questions Answered, at a scientific meeting last week. SNH co-funded the report, alongside Natural England, the UK Ocean Acidification Research Programme and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

Baxter said: "The only way around this is for the amount of CO2 being released into the atmosphere to be reduced.

"To a certain extent, this can be done by carbon capture - when carbon released from power stations is trapped underneath the seabed and stopped from being released into the atmosphere - but, other than that, we just have to start using less fossil fuel.

The alternative is pretty worrying."


He said that while some animals and plants may adapt to the new environment, many would be wiped out.

"We just don't know what species adapt, if any," Baxter said, adding that the last time there had been serious ocean acidification, 55 million years ago, around 80 per cent of sea species had become extinct.

While ocean acidification occurs naturally, studies show it has increased far more rapidly in the past 150 years.

More than 440 billion metric tons of CO2 has been released into the atmosphere since the end of the first industrial revolution in the 1830s - with half of this generated in the past 30 years.

As atmospheric CO2 increases, more of it is dissolved in the oceans, causing chemical changes which make sea water more acidic. While it is unlikely the world's seas will ever become positively acidic - like lemon juice or vinegar - even a fairly mild level of acidification would have a significant effect on the world's ecosystem.

"Carbonate levels in sea water, which are presently high enough to allow calcium carbonate structures like shells and skeletons to stay intact, can drop to levels that will mean these hard structures will begin to dissolve," the reports says.

"If levels of atmospheric and oceanic CO2 continue to rise at current rates… by 2100 it is likely that the entire Arctic Ocean will be in a state that can dissolve unprotected calcium carbonate structures."

Evidence had already been found that the shells of one species - the planktonic foraminifera - are already 30-35 per cent lighter than their pre-industrial-era counterparts, demonstrating that the effect has already begun.

Environmental groups said acidification was a growing danger to marine life. Richard Dixon, director of WWF Scotland, said: "Climate change would already be much worse if the oceans weren't absorbing huge amounts of the carbon dioxide we are spewing into the atmosphere, but the consequence is that the planet's seas are becoming more and more acidic. This is potentially disastrous for marine life around the globe, devastating much of the base of the food chain and further endangering fish-stocks that many human populations rely on.

"We spend a lot of time worrying about droughts, floods and ice caps, but what's happening to the oceans may actually be the most dangerous impact of climate change."

Duncan McLaren, chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, added: "Ocean acidification threatens not only coral reefs and marine biodiversity, but also the commercial fisheries that depend on them."



By Jane Bradley


http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/environment/Oysters-at-risk-in-acid.6615795.jp

Scientists discover new species 7 kilometres down in one of the world’s deepest ocean trenches

World's deepest fish

October 2010. Scientists investigating in one of the world's deepest ocean trenches - previously thought to be void of fish - have discovered an entirely new species. The findings by a team of marine biologists from Aberdeen, Tokyo and New Zealand, have shed new light on life in the deepest places on Earth and the global distribution of fish in our oceans.


7 kilometres deep
The expedition to the Peru-Chile trench in the South East Pacific Ocean revealed a new species of snailfish living at 7000m, never before caught or captured on camera. Mass groupings of cusk-eels and large crustacean scavengers were also discovered living at these depths for the first time.

During the 3 week expedition on the research vessel Sonne, the team of scientists employed state-of-the-art deep-sea imaging technology, including an ultra-deep free-falling baited camera system, to take a total of 6000 images between 4500 and 8000 metres deep within the trench.

HADEEP
The expedition is the seventh to take place as part of HADEEP - a collaborative research project between the University of Aberdeen's Oceanlab and the University of Tokyo's Ocean Research Institute, with support from New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric research institute (NIWA).

The HADEEP team has been investigating extreme depths across the globe for 3 years. Their findings to date have included capturing the world's deepest fish on camera for the first time. These latest discoveries provide a new insight into the depths at which fish survive and the diversity of populations which could exist in the deepest points of oceans across the globe.


Dr Alan Jamieson from the University of Aberdeen's Oceanlab, who led the expedition said: "Our findings, which revealed diverse and abundant species at depths previously thought to be void of fish, will prompt a rethink into marine populations at extreme depths.

Previous discoveries
"This expedition was prompted by our findings in 2008 and 2009 off Japan and New Zealand where we discovered new species of snailfish known as Liparids - inhabiting trenches off Japan and New Zealand at depths of approximately 7000m - with each trench hosting its own unique species of the fish. To test whether these species would be found in all trenches, we repeated our experiments on the other side of the Pacific Ocean off Peru and Chile, some 6000 miles from our last observations.

"What we found was that there was another indeed unique species of snailfish living at 7000m - entirely new to science, which had never been caught or seen before. A species of cusk-eel - known as Ophidiids - also gathered at our camera and began a feeding frenzy that lasted 22 hours - the entire duration of the deployment.

"Further research needs to be conducted to decipher whether this is also an entirely new species of cusk-eel that we have discovered. Our investigations also revealed a species of crustacean scavengers - known as amphipods - which we previously did not know existed at these depths in such great numbers. These are large shrimp-like creatures of which one particular group, called Eurythenes, were generally far larger and occurred much deeper in this trench than has ever been found before."

Surprising finds
Dr Niamh Kilgallen, an amphipod expert from NIWA said:" The sheer abundance of these big amphipods was overwhelming, particularly at 7000 and 8000m, which is much deeper than they have been found in any other trench. It begs the question of why and how they can live so deep in this trench but not in any other."

Dr Toyonobu Fujii, a deep-sea fish expert from the University of Aberdeen said "How deep fish can live has long been an intriguing question and the results from this expedition has provided deeper insight into our understanding of the global distribution of fish in the oceans."

Dr Jamieson added: "These findings prompt a re-evaluation of the diversity and abundance of life at extreme depths. Furthermore, it is now apparent that each of the deep trenches across the globe hosts a unique assembly of animals which can differ greatly from trench to trench. The immense isolation of each trench draws parallels with island evolution theory popularised by Darwin's finches."

The HADEEP project is funded by the Nippon Foundation, Japan, and NERC, UK.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/deep-sea-fish.html

Scientists discover new species 7 kilometres down in one of the world’s deepest ocean trenches

World's deepest fish

October 2010. Scientists investigating in one of the world's deepest ocean trenches - previously thought to be void of fish - have discovered an entirely new species. The findings by a team of marine biologists from Aberdeen, Tokyo and New Zealand, have shed new light on life in the deepest places on Earth and the global distribution of fish in our oceans.


7 kilometres deep
The expedition to the Peru-Chile trench in the South East Pacific Ocean revealed a new species of snailfish living at 7000m, never before caught or captured on camera. Mass groupings of cusk-eels and large crustacean scavengers were also discovered living at these depths for the first time.

During the 3 week expedition on the research vessel Sonne, the team of scientists employed state-of-the-art deep-sea imaging technology, including an ultra-deep free-falling baited camera system, to take a total of 6000 images between 4500 and 8000 metres deep within the trench.

HADEEP
The expedition is the seventh to take place as part of HADEEP - a collaborative research project between the University of Aberdeen's Oceanlab and the University of Tokyo's Ocean Research Institute, with support from New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric research institute (NIWA).

The HADEEP team has been investigating extreme depths across the globe for 3 years. Their findings to date have included capturing the world's deepest fish on camera for the first time. These latest discoveries provide a new insight into the depths at which fish survive and the diversity of populations which could exist in the deepest points of oceans across the globe.


Dr Alan Jamieson from the University of Aberdeen's Oceanlab, who led the expedition said: "Our findings, which revealed diverse and abundant species at depths previously thought to be void of fish, will prompt a rethink into marine populations at extreme depths.

Previous discoveries
"This expedition was prompted by our findings in 2008 and 2009 off Japan and New Zealand where we discovered new species of snailfish known as Liparids - inhabiting trenches off Japan and New Zealand at depths of approximately 7000m - with each trench hosting its own unique species of the fish. To test whether these species would be found in all trenches, we repeated our experiments on the other side of the Pacific Ocean off Peru and Chile, some 6000 miles from our last observations.

"What we found was that there was another indeed unique species of snailfish living at 7000m - entirely new to science, which had never been caught or seen before. A species of cusk-eel - known as Ophidiids - also gathered at our camera and began a feeding frenzy that lasted 22 hours - the entire duration of the deployment.

"Further research needs to be conducted to decipher whether this is also an entirely new species of cusk-eel that we have discovered. Our investigations also revealed a species of crustacean scavengers - known as amphipods - which we previously did not know existed at these depths in such great numbers. These are large shrimp-like creatures of which one particular group, called Eurythenes, were generally far larger and occurred much deeper in this trench than has ever been found before."

Surprising finds
Dr Niamh Kilgallen, an amphipod expert from NIWA said:" The sheer abundance of these big amphipods was overwhelming, particularly at 7000 and 8000m, which is much deeper than they have been found in any other trench. It begs the question of why and how they can live so deep in this trench but not in any other."

Dr Toyonobu Fujii, a deep-sea fish expert from the University of Aberdeen said "How deep fish can live has long been an intriguing question and the results from this expedition has provided deeper insight into our understanding of the global distribution of fish in the oceans."

Dr Jamieson added: "These findings prompt a re-evaluation of the diversity and abundance of life at extreme depths. Furthermore, it is now apparent that each of the deep trenches across the globe hosts a unique assembly of animals which can differ greatly from trench to trench. The immense isolation of each trench draws parallels with island evolution theory popularised by Darwin's finches."

The HADEEP project is funded by the Nippon Foundation, Japan, and NERC, UK.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/deep-sea-fish.html

Rescuing our oceans in the International Year of Biodiversity

2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity. It is also the year when international agreements and meetings have failed many of our most iconic species – like Atlantic bluefin tuna and polar bears - whilst admitting they have monumentally failed to halt the loss in overall biodiversity, and that even high-profile conservation for tigers has not worked.


Behind the headlines and charismatic species of course, is a much bigger problem, thousands of less photogenic or less media-friendly species are being lost around the world, pushed to the brink of extinction by human activity.

We are bad enough at failing to notice or take action on land, but when we get to the world's oceans, we're even worse. What goes on out at sea is out of sight and out of mind. Direct threats like fishing and dredging, and less direct threats like climate change and pollution all exact a deadly toll on the world's marine life. From the smallest corals to the biggest whales, they are feeling the impact. The statistics are shocking:

90% of big fish (sharks, tuna, cod, salmon, etc) have gone from our oceans since the middle of last century. Most species of albatross and turtles are endangered.Some whale species still have not recovered from commercial whaling last century, others are still being hunted today, and yet others are at risk of extinction from ship strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, or pollution and habitat destruction.Entire ecosystems have been changed, with bottom trawling having ripped up oyster beds, and trashed coral covered seamounts.

In some fishing nets 80% or more of what is caught and killed are non-target species. This means the deaths of millions of sharks and hundreds of thousands of whales, dolphins and porpoises every year.And in our determined race to keep our fish counters full we are reaching ever further afield, ever deeper down, and exploiting previously unpalatable species.

Our oceans can't take it. That's why Greenpeace is campaigning against the destructive activities going on in our seas, as well as promoting a sensible solution: Marine Reserves.

Marine Reserves are protected areas at sea, off limits to all destructive activity, including fishing. They are the chance for our oceans to get some respite, and for species to thrive and replenish. They work. It’s a simple concept – but protected areas yield more species, bigger numbers of each species, and bigger animals. They also make sense – the current situation is basically a right to free plunder anywhere on our high seas (outside national waters) – that results in a competing race for resources, with some short term profit for a few people, and long term losses for our seas.

Seas which are vital to the health of our entire planet. As well as being the source of a key form of protein – particularly important for those in the global south, our seas help to sustain life and play a crucial role in buffering some of the worst effects of Climate Change (impacts which are themselves affecting marine life too).

That's why Greenpeace has relaunched its Roadmap To Recovery for the oceans. We've updated our 2006 report to include an Emergency Rescue Plan, and suggest areas on our high seas that we should protect, and why.

Marine Reserves are vital, but they need to be big, covering somewhere around 40% of our oceans, and they need to be fully protected. And they need to be established quicker. Since we launched the initial report in 2006 we have seen some great advances in the creation of large Marine Reserves in national waters, like Kiribati, Hawaii and the Chagos Archipelago. But we need to do much more, and protect our high seas too.

That’s why we’ll be in Japan and at the CBD meeting to call for the real protection of our oceans, via networks of High Seas Marine Reserves. Maybe, just maybe, the international year of biodiversity can end on some good news.

If we want healthy seas, a healthy planet, thriving populations of species we care about, and for future generations to be able to eat responsibly-sourced fish – we need to act now.

Take action: sign our marine reserves petition.
Willie Mackenzie - oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/rescuing-our-oceans-in-the-international-year/blog/26666

Rescuing our oceans in the International Year of Biodiversity

2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity. It is also the year when international agreements and meetings have failed many of our most iconic species – like Atlantic bluefin tuna and polar bears - whilst admitting they have monumentally failed to halt the loss in overall biodiversity, and that even high-profile conservation for tigers has not worked.


Behind the headlines and charismatic species of course, is a much bigger problem, thousands of less photogenic or less media-friendly species are being lost around the world, pushed to the brink of extinction by human activity.

We are bad enough at failing to notice or take action on land, but when we get to the world's oceans, we're even worse. What goes on out at sea is out of sight and out of mind. Direct threats like fishing and dredging, and less direct threats like climate change and pollution all exact a deadly toll on the world's marine life. From the smallest corals to the biggest whales, they are feeling the impact. The statistics are shocking:

90% of big fish (sharks, tuna, cod, salmon, etc) have gone from our oceans since the middle of last century. Most species of albatross and turtles are endangered.Some whale species still have not recovered from commercial whaling last century, others are still being hunted today, and yet others are at risk of extinction from ship strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, or pollution and habitat destruction.Entire ecosystems have been changed, with bottom trawling having ripped up oyster beds, and trashed coral covered seamounts.

In some fishing nets 80% or more of what is caught and killed are non-target species. This means the deaths of millions of sharks and hundreds of thousands of whales, dolphins and porpoises every year.And in our determined race to keep our fish counters full we are reaching ever further afield, ever deeper down, and exploiting previously unpalatable species.

Our oceans can't take it. That's why Greenpeace is campaigning against the destructive activities going on in our seas, as well as promoting a sensible solution: Marine Reserves.

Marine Reserves are protected areas at sea, off limits to all destructive activity, including fishing. They are the chance for our oceans to get some respite, and for species to thrive and replenish. They work. It’s a simple concept – but protected areas yield more species, bigger numbers of each species, and bigger animals. They also make sense – the current situation is basically a right to free plunder anywhere on our high seas (outside national waters) – that results in a competing race for resources, with some short term profit for a few people, and long term losses for our seas.

Seas which are vital to the health of our entire planet. As well as being the source of a key form of protein – particularly important for those in the global south, our seas help to sustain life and play a crucial role in buffering some of the worst effects of Climate Change (impacts which are themselves affecting marine life too).

That's why Greenpeace has relaunched its Roadmap To Recovery for the oceans. We've updated our 2006 report to include an Emergency Rescue Plan, and suggest areas on our high seas that we should protect, and why.

Marine Reserves are vital, but they need to be big, covering somewhere around 40% of our oceans, and they need to be fully protected. And they need to be established quicker. Since we launched the initial report in 2006 we have seen some great advances in the creation of large Marine Reserves in national waters, like Kiribati, Hawaii and the Chagos Archipelago. But we need to do much more, and protect our high seas too.

That’s why we’ll be in Japan and at the CBD meeting to call for the real protection of our oceans, via networks of High Seas Marine Reserves. Maybe, just maybe, the international year of biodiversity can end on some good news.

If we want healthy seas, a healthy planet, thriving populations of species we care about, and for future generations to be able to eat responsibly-sourced fish – we need to act now.

Take action: sign our marine reserves petition.
Willie Mackenzie - oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/rescuing-our-oceans-in-the-international-year/blog/26666

STIRRING THE OCEAN: CALCULATING THE ROLE OF THE OCEANS' SWIMMERS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
6/28/10

CONTACT: Jean-Luc Thiffeault (608) 287-6419, jeanluc@math.wisc.edu

STIRRING THE OCEAN: CALCULATING THE ROLE OF THE OCEANS' SWIMMERS

MADISON - The world's oceans, we know, are constantly shaken and stirred by the winds and the tides and other physical forces of nature.

But what about fish and other swimming marine life? Do they stir the ocean, too?

Since the question was first posed by pioneering oceanographer Walter Munk in 1966, some rough "top down" calculations have emerged suggesting that marine swimmers - everything from whales to krill - could contribute a significant portion of the mechanical energy for all ocean mixing. The simple math: total the mechanical energy of all the estimated marine swimmers in all the world's oceans and you get a figure that suggests as much as a third of all the vertical mixing in the world's oceans is produced by marine life.

Another and perhaps more precise way to approach the problem is to model the influence of a single swimmer on a fluid particle and multiply. That is the approach described this week in the journal Physics Letters A by mathematicians Jean-Luc Thiffeault of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Stephen Childress of New York University.

"The method we use is essentially the one Einstein applied to Brownian motion in his famous 1905 paper," notes Thiffeault. "Many small kicks due to passing swimmers cause a parcel of water to undergo a kind of drunkard's random walk."

While the problem may seem arcane, it assumes real importance in settings like fish farms and ocean aquaculture where large concentrations of confined fish can be at risk from bacterial infections caused by microbes that, in the open, mixed ocean, wouldn't be an issue.

"Oceanographers want to know how things mix vertically in the ocean," says Thiffeault, explaining that the ocean is like a layer cake, with tiers of water from top to bottom that have different temperatures and concentrations of nutrients, such as iron.

"Because of the ocean's stratification, water doesn't want to move vertically, but it eventually must, otherwise there would be no life on earth," says Thiffeault. "This is called vertical transport. The question is where does it come from?"

In their study, funded by the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research, Thiffeault and Childress examine the role of swimming marine life by simplifying things a bit and assuming that an individual swimmer will come in the shape of a sphere or cylinder. The effect of the swimming object on a particle of water is then calculated as it passes by.

"Our initial model is really too simple," says Thiffeault. "The numbers we're getting are very small in the open ocean, where there isn't a high density of marine life."

But the numbers go up when other factors are woven into the equation. For example, a single krill may not have much effect, but the tiny crustaceans are never alone. They gather in large, sometimes massive concentrations. And many marine swimmers, jellyfish, for example, also drag water with them when they swim, a phenomenon that could amplify the effect of the swimmer.

The model constructed by the two mathematicians in their Physics Letters A report is far from complete. Such things as viscosity, wakes, schooling, boundary layers and, most importantly for applying the model to ocean mixing, buoyancy and stratification effects, still need to be built in to the model.

Stratification, for example, becomes important in the mixing equation as water is moved up or down by a swimmer: "If water dragged upwards by an organism doesn't warm up, it will sink again" and negate the potential mixing effect of the swimmer, Thiffeault explains.

According to Thiffeault, there are two camps on the influence of marine swimmers: those who believe they have a significant effect on ocean mixing and those who discount the idea.

"We're trying to remain agnostic about the role of marine life in ocean mixing, but as a mechanism it could be applied to many other problems such as sedimentation. In one direction or another, it should be an interesting result."

###

- Terry Devitt (608) 262-8282, trdevitt@wisc.edu