Key Ocean Fish Species Ravaged, Study Finds

["Johannes Schneider" <Johannes.Schneider@xxxxxxx>]

Key Ocean Fish Species Ravaged, Study Finds

By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 15, 2003; Page A01

Industrial fishing practices have decimated every one of the world's biggest
and most economically important species of fish, according to a new and
detailed global analysis that challenges current fisheries protection
policies.

Fully 90 percent of each of the world's large ocean species, including cod,
halibut, tuna, swordfish and marlin, has disappeared from the world's oceans
in recent decades, according to the Canadian analysis -- the first to use
historical data dating to the beginning of large-scale fishing, in the
1950s.

The new research found that fishing has become so efficient that it
typically takes just 15 years to remove 80 percent or more of any species
that becomes the focus of a fleet's attention. Some populations have
disappeared within just a few years, belying the oceans' reputation as a
refuge and resource of nearly infinite proportions.

Full:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57139-2003May14.html