Deal to limit Atlantic bluefin tuna catches not good enough, say environmentalists

BRUSSELS – Environmentalists on Monday said an international deal to reduce catches of Atlantic bluefin tuna didn't go far enough to protect the species from extinction.

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas decided at a meeting Sunday in Brazil to limit 2010 catch quotas to 13,500 tons to prevent overfishing of the much sought-after tuna, the European Union said.

The commission sets annual fishing limits in an effort to save the fish stock from extinction.

Signatory countries had previously agreed to cut catches from 28,500 tons to 22,000 this year, but scientists and environmental groups argued a total ban was needed to salvage a viable tuna stock.

"Only a zero catch limit could have maximized the chances that Atlantic bluefin tuna could recover to the point where the fishery could exist in the future," said Susan Lieberman, from the Pew Environment Group.

Raul Romeva, who sits on the European Parliament's fisheries committee, said European delegates to the Brazil meeting "deserve to be condemned" for agreeing to continue fishing the sushi favorite.

Curbs on Southern California fishing: Environmentalists applaud, commercial fishermen fume

Earlier this year, a documentary called "The End of the Line" explored the worrisome thought that the world's oceans could have their fish supplies decimated within the next half-century. Today in Southern California, that thought was on the minds of the members of a panel that met to discuss ways to keep fish populations swimming and fishermen in business.  Our colleague Louis Sahagun was there; here's an excerpt from his story:

In a move greeted with scattered applause and boos, a state blue-ribbon panel late today voted unanimously to approve landmark fishing restrictions for the Southern California coastline, creating a patchwork of havens for marine life needed to replenish the surrounding seas while leaving some waters open for fishing.

The five-member panel, which convened at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel in Los Angeles, voted to recommend to the state Fish and Game Commission a compromise intended to sustain the 250-mile coastline's economic and environmental health. The commission is expected to take up the plan in December. It has usually approved plans recommended by the panel.

In an interview, panel Chairwoman Catherine Reheis-Boyd said, "We're not going to make everyone happy, but this has to be done."

"It's agony to weigh the environmental goals against people's livelihoods," she said. "We have to consider the socioeconomic impacts, especially here in Southern California, where the urban-ocean interface is greater than anywhere else in the nation."

THERE'S MORE; READ THE REST.

Photo: Darci Conner, marine planner for the Marine Life Protection Act, right, hugs Sarah Sikich of Heal the Bay after a vote by the California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

So long, tiger shark: The Aquarium of the Pacific's most finicky resident moves on

We told you last month that a tiger shark -- a particularly finicky tiger shark, in fact -- had taken up residence at Long Beach's Aquarium of the Pacific.  The shark, a female, was born in captivity after its pregnant mother was caught accidentally in a fisherman's net in Taiwan.  Although the species is rarely kept in aquariums (only two other facilities in the U.S. have tiger sharks in residence), the renowned Aquarium of the Pacific decided to try its hand at caring for one of the still largely mysterious creatures.

The idea of caring for a tiger shark was one thing; as it turned out, actually caring for one in practice was quite another. The shark proved a difficult customer. Though members of its species are sometimes called "wastebaskets of the sea" for their propensity to eat oceangoing garbage like boat cushions and license plates, the juvenile female had a distinctly different appetite, regularly turning down delicacies like restaurant-grade ahi tuna, mahi-mahi, halibut and shrimp.  Our colleague Louis Sahagun caught up with Steve Blair, the aquarium's assistant curator, as he went through the daily routine of trying to get the creature to eat. "If she's having a tough day and not eating," Blair told Sahagun, "I'll probably be kind of grumpy when I get home that night." 

Perhaps Blair is having more pleasant evenings of late, because the tiger shark recently moved to another facility, our sister blog Outposts reports today.  She was moved, according to a statement released by the aquarium, in an effort to give her more space in which to swim.  (In an effort to protect her from larger sharks in the Aquarium of the Pacific's Shark Lagoon exhibit, she had been kept in a sequestered area within the larger pool.) 

Hawaii researchers explore previously unseen coral, find nursery groups for parrotfish and butterflyfish

Scientists over the past month explored coral reefs in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands that until recently were considered too deep for scuba divers to reach.

Divers swam among previously unseen reefs as deep as 250 feet during a monthlong research trip to the islands by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration vessel Hiialakai.

They unexpectedly found nursery grounds for juvenile reef fish like parrotfish and butterflyfish. They also were able to collect specimens that may help them identify new species.

"We were seeing reefs that no human has ever laid eyes on before," Randall Kosaki, the research mission’s lead scientist and diver, said Tuesday. "We literally have better maps of the moon than we do of coral reefs in the Hawaiian archipelago."

Eighty-four percent of all coral under U.S. jurisdiction lies in Hawaii’s waters. About 15 percent are in state waters around the main Hawaiian islands. Another 69 percent are in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands — a stretch of mostly uninhabited atolls that President George W. Bush made a marine national monument in 2006.

Aquarium of the Pacific's newly acquired tiger shark is a tough customer

Tiger sharks are "consummate scavengers, with excellent senses of sight and smell and a nearly limitless menu of diet items," according to National Geographic.  Those in the know even sometimes refer to the indiscriminate eaters as "wastebaskets of the sea," and they've been known to eat items as unappetizing as boat cushions and license plates. If you believe their reputation, these creatures will eat just about anything.

Not so for the Aquarium of the Pacific's recent addition, our colleague Louis Sahagun reports.

The aquarium is new to caring for tiger sharks; in fact, nearly all aquariums are, since the species is rarely kept in captivity (only two other aquariums in the U.S. have tiger sharks in residence). But the shark in question, a 5-foot-long juvenile female, was born in captivity (her mother was accidentally caught in a fisherman's net in Taiwan and, soon after, gave birth to a litter of live-born young), and "because it was young and small, we felt we had a reasonable chance of success," Perry Hampton, the aquarium's director of animal husbandry, explained. "If nothing else, we could push back the boundaries of knowledge about caring for this species in aquariums."

The aquarium took the plunge, and the shark arrived there in February. Since then, dealing with her has been nothing short of a challenge.

Your morning adorable: Piglet squid smiles for the camera

We don't normally think of the words "planktonic" and "squid" in connection with the word "adorable."  We were a bit startled, then, to see this charming close-up photo of a rarely-seen creature called the piglet squid. 

Piglet squid are typically found in deep water -- 320 feet or deeper from the ocean's surface. The one in the photo was found in the San Pedro Channel, midway between the mainland and Santa Catalina Island, during a twice-yearly class conducted by the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in which members of the public are allowed to participate in an undersea trawl conducted by aquarium scientists.

Piglet squid are planktonic animals, defined by Cabrillo Marine Aquarium's director, Mike Schaadt, as those creatures that float "at the mercy of ocean currents." They're about the size of an avocado, and those bushy eyebrow-type protuberances are actually eight tentacles and two "arms." A row of pigment-containing, light-reflecting cells called chromatophores are responsible for the appearance of a smile on this particular specimen, and its bright eyes are the result of two light-emitting organs called photophores, which are located behind each of its eyes.

The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium is in San Pedro and is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday.

-- Lindsay Barnett

Photo: Gary Florin / Cabrillo Marine Aquarium

Shark attack victims defend the animals on Capitol Hill

Nine survivors of shark attacks are in Washington today to lobby the Senate -- on behalf of sharks.  The group, which was organized by a shark attack victim who works for the nonprofit Pew Environment Group, is asking for new restrictions to be placed on fishing for sharks.

The bill they are lending their support to is called the Shark Conservation Act of 2009.  It's already passed a House vote and, if enacted, would strengthen a ban on a practice called "finning," in which a shark's fins are cut off onboard a fishing vessel and the shark is thrown back overboard, in U.S. waters.  Finning itself is already illegal under U.S. law, but "enforcement is complex and there is room for cheating," according to the Humane Society of the United States.  "This legislation closes a loophole that currently permits a vessel to transport fins obtained illegally as long as the sharks were not finned aboard that vessel."

According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, over 30%of shark and ray species that live in the open ocean are threatened, some as a result of fishing for their meat (shark fin soup, in particular, is a big offender), others as a side effect of marlin or tuna fishing (the sharks are sometimes caught in fishermen's nets accidentally).  And scientists fear that, if the sharks -- an apex predator -- continue to decline, entire ecosystems could suffer.

"We'll finally be heard," Al Brenneka, who lost an arm in a 1976 shark attack, told the Washington Post. "Who should speak up for the sharks better than the people that the sharks have spoken to themselves?"  Brenneka and the eight other survivors arrived from California, New York, Rhode Island, Florida and Alabama to tell their stories.  Another member of the group, Chuck Anderson (pictured), told the Post that, although sharks are "vicious and they're mean," he bears no ill will toward them, adding that he has no "right to be angry at the shark."

-- Lindsay Barnett

Photo: Anderson after the 2000 shark attack in which he lost his right arm.  Credit: Mike Kittrell / Associated Press

Greenpeace goes to battle with Robert DeNiro's Nobu over endangered bluefin tuna

It's war between Greenpeace and an unlikely opponent: Robert DeNiro.  Or, rather, the environmental activists are taking issue with Nobu, the upscale sushi restaurant chain the actor co-owns. Nobu, it turns out, sells sushi made from the critically endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna. 

Nobu's menus didn't specify the species of tuna it serves, only the cut of fish (such as akami, made from the sides of the fish, or toro, made from its fatty belly) -- so last fall, undercover investigators from Greenpeace ordered tuna from the menus of three Nobu restaurants in London and had DNA testing performed on the samples. The tests revealed that at least two of the restaurants were serving the endangered Atlantic bluefin, the Telegraph reported.

Nobu managing partner Ritchie Notar told the Telegraph that the practice of selling the endangered bluefin, although not illegal, was one he'd prefer to discontinue. That said, the chain still bowed to pressure from its chefs, who consider bluefin the world's tastiest sushi ingredient. (It would seem that many thousands of sushi connoisseurs agree, since the Atlantic bluefin faces extinction due to overfishing.) Nobu offered a "compromise," albeit one that didn't sit well with environmentalists: It would continue to serve the endangered fish, but add an asterisked note next to bluefin on its menus notifying customers that the species was critically endangered.  Ecorazzi quipped, "Would you like a side of guilt with that sushi?" 

The Telegraph notes that Nobu co-owner and head chef Nobu Matsuhisa is looking into replacing the wild bluefin his chain currently serves with farmed bluefin raised in Australia or Japan. But intentions aren't good enough for Greenpeace. "Eating bluefin tuna is like eating a tiger or a rhino," said the group's oceans campaign director, John Hocevar. "In addition to being an endangered species, bluefin tuna probably has the highest carbon footprint of any so-called food in the world given the air miles the frozen steaks must log on the way to market."

Culver City kids get a hands-on lesson in trout

Students at Culver City's Linwood E. Howe Elementary might not, under normal circumstances, have the chance to see wildlife up close.  That's where Jim Solomon of the Santa Monica Wilderness Fly Fishers comes in.

For the last 15 years, Solomon has brought elementary school students and rainbow trout together as part of a nationwide program called Trout in the Classroom.  The program's young participants raise trout fry (baby fish) from eggs until they're old enough to be released.  Along the way, they learn insightful tidbits about the fishes' lives: For example, Solomon tells them that the fry are afraid of their parents.  Why?  Our colleague Catherine Ho explains:

No sooner had those words left Jim Solomon's mouth than the horrified cries of 35 third-graders crescendoed in unison:

"Whaaaat?"

"It's because they might eat them," he explained.

Parents gobbling up their young was all but unthinkable to 8- and 9-year-olds that February morning. But [Solomon] spoke their language.  Trout in the Classroom...resonates with students by translating trout terms into kid-speak: A fly is the trout's steak sandwich. Pectoral fins are their car brakes. Ants are their chocolate cake.

In December, third-grade teacher Lisa Schnauss' class received 50 fertilized trout eggs.  On Friday, the class released the three that survived to maturity (most trout fry don't, whether hatched in the wild or in captivity) in Piru Creek.

"It's like a freeway," said 8-year-old Julia Martin as the fish swam away.

For more information on the program, read Catherine Ho's story and check out Trout in the Classroom on the web.

-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: Los Angeles Times

Bouncing, 'psychedelic' fish found in Indonesia is a new species

It's been a big week for weird fish news: First researchers made a big discovery about the transparent-headed barreleye fish, next a nearly 800-pound giant stingray was found in Indonesia. 

The next weird fish on the scene is so odd that it was actually named Histiophryne psychedelica by a University of Washington professor, and it lives up to its name.  Found last year by scuba instructors in eastern Indonesia, the fish has fins on both sides of its body that have developed leg-like qualities, a trait it shares with other types of frogfish.  It bounces along the ocean floor by pushing off with the leg-like fins, "some with so little control they look intoxicated and should be cited for DUI," according to Science Daily.

But Ted Pietsch, who submitted the DNA work to identify the fish as a new species, explained in the scientific journal Copeia that the new fish differs from the other frogfish in a variety of ways.  The Telegraph explains:

Each time the fish strike the seabed, for instance, they push off with their fins and expel water from tiny gill openings to jet themselves forward. That, and an off-centred tail, causes them to bounce around in a bizarre, chaotic manner.

Mark Erdman, a senior adviser to the Conservation International's marine program, said Thursday it was an exciting discovery.

"I think people thought frogfishes were relatively well known and to get a new one like this is really quiet spectacular.... It's a stunning animal," he said, adding that the fish's stripes were probably intended to mimic coral.

"It also speaks to the tremendous diversity in this region and to fact that there are still a lot of unknowns here -– in Indonesia and in the Coral Triangle in general."

Adult H. psychedelica are human fist-size and have gelatinous bodies with skin folds to protect them from coral.

-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: Telegraph