Global news for Canada’s whales and cod

1) Global census finds loss of large marine life (Reuters, 10/23/03)
Early results of a census of the world’s oceans estimate there are over 210,000 known ocean species and that the real number could be ten times that figure. The census, to be completed by 2010, involves hundreds of scientists from over 50 countries. The $1 billion project is being coordinated by Canada’s own Nova Scotia expert Ron D’Or.

New species are being uncovered weekly. At the same time, scientists found that numerous species are dying out, that the size spectrum of marine mammals is shrinking towards the small and that large predatory fish have been depleted by about 90 percent in the last 50 years.

WWF commentary: In the Grand Banks, large ocean predators such as swordfish and sharks are estimated to be at about 10 per cent of their historic numbers. This supports the global trend that once large predator species are depleted, fishing effort switches to other, smaller species lower in the food web, known as “fishing down the food web.” Shrimp and crab have now replaced cod and groundfish as the dominant fisheries resources on the Grand Banks. We’re also proud that WWF-Canada Atlantic Marine Director Robert Rangeley is part of the international census team.

2) European Union advised to end cod fishing (BBC World News, 10/20/03)
The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) advised the European Union to endorse zero catches of cod in the North Sea, off western Scotland and in the Irish Sea until they return to an acceptable level. The ICES report said that despite previous conservation measures, cod stocks remained at “very low levels.” The new UK Fisheries Minister, Ben Bradshaw, said that the situation looks “very bleak” and that “if there is no cod left to catch, as we saw in Canada, that is effectively the end of the fish industry.”

This was the second successive year when ICES advocated a total ban on cod fishing. Last year, EU ministers decided not to go for an outright ban, instead agreeing to a 45 percent cut, a halving of haddock catches and a two-thirds reduction in whiting catches — cuts which led to the decommissioning of almost a third of the Scottish fishing fleet.

WWF commentary: The experience of the cod fishery in Newfoundland shows the danger in putting off tough decisions. Once fish stocks are depleted to very low levels, recovery is much slower than previously believed and the economic hardship endured by the fishers who rely on the stocks is more pronounced. WWF is currently working with partners in Newfoundland to craft a vision for ecosystem recovery on the Grand Banks. Hopefully, fishers, scientists and governments in the European Union can take action soon enough to prevent the depth of collapse experienced here.

3) Some peace and quiet for whales (Washington Post, 10/14/03)
The U.S. Navy will drastically limit the use of a controversial low-frequency sonar system, which environmental groups say disorients and kills endangered whales and other species, under a court agreement disclosed October 13. The accord will limit the Navy to less than one percent of the global range initially approved by federal authorities. The sonar is meant to detect modern, quiet submarines over long distances. The Navy will still be allowed to use the sonar — which emits very loud, low frequency sound that can travel for hundreds of miles — only off the eastern seaboard of Asia, an area of about 1.5 million square miles.

The sonar blasts are believed to affect whales and other marine mammals known to be very sensitive to sound, which they use to communicate and determine their location. In early October, English and Spanish researchers reported in the journal Nature that they had found gas bubbles in the tissues of some beached whales, indicating they may have risen too quickly to escape sonar noise and developed decompression sickness, or “the bends.” The whales tested had beached in the Canary Islands just a few hours after active, mid-frequency sonar had been used as part of a Spanish-led international naval exercise. The Navy still asserts that low-frequency sonar does not harm sea creatures.

WWF Commentary: This decision is good news for whales everywhere. The issue of noise in the ocean is emerging as a serious concern. Whales are highly acoustic, using sonar for communication, navigation, social behaviour, finding food and avoiding predators. Noise levels are increasing in much of the world’s oceans due to ship noise and industrial activity and this can affect the long-term health and survival of many species. Of particular concern is seismic exploration for petroleum reserves through which information on the sediment beneath the ocean floor is gained by firing repeated sound blasts from boats. This testing is widespread and may disrupt whale behaviour over distances up to 100 kms. In May 2003, WWF opposed seismic exploration on the Atlantic coast as close as one kilometre from the boundary of the proposed Sable Gully Marine Protected Area.