Thursday, 29 Nov 2001

Help, Aquaman!

Global fish stocks are dramatically lower than reported by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization, scientists at the University of British Columbia announced today in an article in the journal Nature. The scientists' findings -- that global catches are decreasing by nearly 800 million pounds per year -- directly contradict those of the FAO, the body responsible for determining fish stocks, which concluded that catches were increasing by 700 million pounds per year. The Nature article accuses China of dramatically inflating its catch numbers, thereby distorting global figures. The truth, the authors say, is that overfishing and population expansion have led to a decrease in total available seafood from 34 pounds per person per year in 1988 to only about 25 pounds per person per year today. They predict a drop to less than 17 pounds by 2020.

Right Turnabout

The outlook is grim for the Northern right whale, one of the most endangered animals in the world, but simple measures could bring the species back from the brink of extinction, according to a report released today. The authors of the report, scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, concluded that if just two female right whales escaped needless death per year, the species -- which currently boasts just 300 members -- could survive. The whales migrate from the eastern seaboard of the U.S. to the Gulf of Mexico, through some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. As a result, they are susceptible to death by collision or entanglement in fishing nets. The scientists said that modest steps such as designing nets from which the whales could break free could help save the species.

A Bitterroot to Swallow

U.S. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth has asked his superiors in the Agriculture Department to approve a salvage-logging plan for 46,000 acres that burned in Montana's Bitterroot Valley last year. Assuming that Agriculture Undersecretary (and former timber lobbyist) Mark Rey okays the plan, Bosworth will have skirted the administrative appeals process to which such plans are normally subjected and essentially guaranteed that the proposal winds up in court. A number of environmental organizations have already said they would sue to overturn the plan. If the courts sided with the feds, the plan would set guidelines for the biggest post-fire recovery effort ever.