By Rowland Benjamin

The effects on fish stocks:

Fish: Blue fin tuna.
Status: endangered.
Location: Atlantic Ocean
Reasons: commercial overfishing.
Comments: numbers have declined by 98 percent since beginning of commercial fishing around 1960.

Fish: Blue marlin.
Status: endangered.
Location: Atlantic Ocean.
Reasons: commercial overfishing by gillnets, purse-seine nets, and long lines.
Comments: still being caught at 4 times the maximum sustainable level, could become extinct within 10 years.

Fish: Green wrasse.
Status: probably extinct.
Location: Mascarene Islands in the Indian Ocean.

Fish: Reunion angelfish.
Status: probably extinct.
Location: Mascarene Islands in the Indian Ocean.
Comments: hasn't been seen for 15 years despite extensive searches.

Fish: White marlin (Tetrapterus albidus).
Status: endangered.
Location: Atlantic Ocean.
Reasons: commercial overfishing by gillnets, purse-seine nets, and long lines.
Comments: only 13 percent of population at its maximum sustainable level, but still being caught at 8 times the maximum sustainable level, could become extinct within 5 years.

Fish: Atlantic Cod
Status: endangered to near extinction
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Reasons: commercial overfishing
Comments: closure of Canada cod fish industry due to collapse of Atlantic cod. Over 10 years later, stocks have not rebounded.

Fish: Swordfish
Status: threaten
Location: Atlantic Ocean
Reasons: commercial overfishing by long lines
Comments: introduction of a 10 years conservation plan on strict limits of commercial swordfish species imposed in 1999, seen remarkable stock recovery in just 3 years. Biologists believe fish has multiplied to the extent of 94% mark needed to guarantee survival and allowed controlled commercial fishing to continue indefinitely.

Biodiversity Rich Marine Areas

1. South Japan, Taiwan and China 2. Western Australia 3. Gulf of Guinea 4. Great Barrier Reef 5. Hawaiian Islands 6. Gulf of California 7. Lord Howe Island 8. North Indian Ocean 9. New Caledonia 10. Eastern South Africa 11. Cape Verde Islands 12. West Caribbean 13. Red Sea and Gulf of Aden 14. Philippines 15. South Mascarene Islands 16. St Helena and Ascension Islands 17. Sunda Islands 18. Easter Island

Fish stocks: Australia (2002)

Fish: Brown tiger prawn
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: Northern Prawn Fishery established in 1960s. Prawns were assessed as overfished during 1997 to 2001. No formal recovery plan for stocks but adoption of a five-year strategy to rebuild spawner levels at target level by 2006.

Fish: Tropical rock lobster
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: Stocks was fished down through 1990s and average fishing mortality rate was 33% in 2000. New management initiatives such as extended seasonal closure increase minimum size and study of methods to reduce effort.

Fish: Sandfish (bëche-de-mer)
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: excessive removals in 1995 and totally protected. They are readily visible to divers on shallow reefs and are easily collected. They are very prone to overfish.

Fish: South East Fishery Orange Roughy
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: long-lived and slow growing species, prone to overfishing from aggregating and slow recovery. Even in absence of fishing, most stocks will take many years to rebuild to target-biomass levels.

Fish: Redfish
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: Adult biomass is significantly depleted and young fish have been overfished before they can contribute to stock's potential yield.

Fish: Blue warehou
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: no formal recovery plan for stocks. No quota control in Tasmania's waters.

Fish: Eastern gemfish
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: been overfished for over a decade. More adults and juveniles fish are still taken as by catch which further reduces the ability of the stock recovery.

Fish: Southern scallop
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: variability in both reproductive success and juvenile survival rates.

Fish: Southern blue fin tuna
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: stock status concerns existed for over two decades. High prices for southern blue fin tuna have been an incentive for substantial catches by countries. Total removals of blue fin tuna continue to hamper fish survival to rebuild the parent stock.

Fish: School shark
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: long-lived, slow growing and slow to increase in numbers. Stocks unlikely to rebuild for decades.

Fish: Black teat fish (species of bëche-de-mer)
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: excessive removals from Torres Strait in 1995 led to total protection of the species.

Fish: Surf redfish (species of bëche-de-mer)
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: excessive removals from Torres Strait in 1995 led to total protection of the species.

Fish: Silver trevally
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: silver trevally in commercial landings have a mean size of about 25cm. Commercial landings have declined consistently since mid-1980s.

Fish: Bigeye tuna
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: catch levels at unsustainable levels.

Fish: South Tasman Rise Orange Roughy
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: staged closure unless there is strong evidence stock levels are higher.

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