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OCN331 / MARE360 Our Objective: Insights for Your Lifetime OCN331 / MARE360 • How do the oceans make fish? • How do we extract fish from the oceans? • What other living resources do the world’s oceans hold? • Why do we care? Social Concerns Information Quality Natural Variability Some Wind and Current Fundamentals I. Effect of Differential Heating on Atmospheric Circulation II. The Coriolis Effect III. Trade Winds and Westerlies IV. Air-Sea Interactions V. El Niño Some effects of atmospheric circulation cells Dry climate and high pressure in the vicinity of 30o latitude Wet climate and low pressure in the vicinity of the equator and 60o latitude Bermuda: 32.3 N Honolulu: 21.3 N There are five major coastal upwelling regions in the world, along the coasts of California, Namibia, Mauritania, and Somalia. Effects of Walker Cell circulation Wet climate and low pressure at the western margin of the ocean basin near the equator Dry climate and high pressure at the eastern margin of the ocean basin near the equator. Things to Remember I. High atmospheric pressure at 30° N and 30° S latitude governs major wind patterns II. The Coriolis Effect deflects winds and currents to the RIGHT in the Northern Hemisphere and to the LEFT in the Southern Hemisphere III. These wind and current phenomena generate coastal UPWELLING of deep ocean water IV. Variations in the strength of these winds and currents can lead to conditions (EL NIÑO) that disrupt upwelling Hugo Grotius Mare Liberum 1609 • • • • • Whales Norwegian herring Japanese sardine Peruvian anchovy Can. N. Atlantic cod • • • • • • • Technology Capital Investment Fisheries Information Politics Social Issues Tragedy of commons Population Total Global Fisheries Harvest ~160Mt • • • • • • Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 CAP 94.5 91.8 96 95.5 93.1 AQ 52 55.2 60 63.3 66.7 • Capture Fisheries are constant at ~90-95Mt • Aquaculture is steadily increasing Disposition of the total aquatic catch for 2002 Use % of total (by weight) Human consumption 75.8 Fresh 39.7 Frozen 20.0 Cured 7.3 Canned 8.7 Reduction 19.0 miscellaneous 5.3 Why Do We Care? • Calories • High Quality Protein • Essential Amino Acids • Essential Fatty Acids (PUFA’s) EPA & DHA Content of Fish • • • • • • • • • Cod Flounder Mackerel Pollock Salmon, farmed Shrimp Trout Tuna, bluefin Tuna, canned • • • • • • • • • 0.13 0.43 1.57 0.46 1.83 0.27 0.80 1.28 0.73 Proper Growth and Development of Children • Omega-3s and pregnancy – During last trimester of pregnancy • Rapid synthesis of brain tissue • Omega-3s and premature infants – Risk factor for preterm delivery and low birth weight • Omega-3s and the newborn – DHA is influenced by the mother’s diet 21 ω3 Fatty Acids & Fetus Health • “Fish is Brainfood” • EPA & DHA (from week 20) • Important for Infants’ – Nerve, Visual, Immune system development – DHA Supplements Breast Milk & Formulas Important for Infants’ Intellect -IQ-fish consumption correlation How the Oceans Make Fish • Primary Production Commercial Fish • 3 Types of Ocean Areas – Open Ocean – Coastal Areas – Upwelling Areas Open Ocean Area • • • • • Deep Low inputs Mostly Regen. Nutrs. Stable Temporally Nutrient Limited • Small Phytoplankton • Long Food Chains • Low Comm.Fish Yield Coastal Areas • • • • Shallow Seasonal Inputs Seasonal Variability ~50% New Nutrients • Larger Phytoplankton • Shorter Food Chains • Benthic Food Chains • Gadoid fishes • High Comm. Fish Yield Upwelling Areas • • • • Shallow Seasonal Inputs Seasonally Steady Mostly New Nutrients • Larger Phytoplankton • Short Food Chains • Clupeid fish • High Comm. Fish Yield Harvesting • How it’s done • What’s caught • Changes over time Old & New Methods • Spear • Hook-n-line • Traps • • • • • • • • Exploding harpoon Trolling Trolling-n-chumming Demersal Trawl line Pelagic Trawl line 2000 hooks; 3-4% Traps FADs Nets • Gill Nets • Floats & weights • Drift nets – – – – – Efficiency Fiber advances Bycatch 33000km—80% Banned in 1992 • • • • • • • • Trawl Nets demersal & pelagic Power needed Beam beam Otter 10-100m opening Echo-sounder sonar Table 2.2 Major species of fish caught with otter trawls Species Major fishing countries Areas fished Alaska pollock Russia, Japan, South Korea Northwestern Pacific USA Northeastern Pacific Atlantic cod Iceland, Norway, Russia Northeastern Atlantic Blue whiting Norway, Iceland, Russia, Faeroe Islands Northeastern Atlantic Largehead hairtail China, South Korea Northwestern Pacific Purse Seines • • • • • • Globally, most fish catch…by far Catch fish schooling near surface 100km x 100m Fish must aggregate in large schools Powerful means to deploy & retrieve Dories (50’s) to power block Table 2.1 Major species of fish caught with purse seines Species Major fishing countries Areas fished Atlantic herring Canada, USA, Northwestern Atlantic Denmark, Iceland, Norway Northeastern Atlantic capelin Iceland, Norway Northeastern Atlantic Chilean jack mackerel Chile, Peru Southeastern Pacific Chub mackerel China, South Korea, Russia Northwestern Pacific Chile Southeastern Pacific European pilchard Morocco East Central Atlantic Japanese anchovy China, Japan, South Korea Northwestern Pacific Peruvian anchovy Peru Southwestern Pacific Skipjack tuna Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, USA, Palau West central Pacific Ecuador Southeastern Pacific Japan Northwestern Pacific Spain, Maldives Indian Ocean Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, USA West Central Pacific Mexico, Venezeula East central Pacific Ecuador Southeastern Pacific France Western Indian Yellowfin tuna Catch Amount by type • Purse Seine ~50% – Herring,sardine,anchovies,tuna,mackerel • Otter Trawl ~17% – Pollock, cod,whiting • Lines ~ 9% – Tunas,swordfish,cod,halibut,haddock,etc • Pound/trap nets – Lobsters,crabs • Gill Nets ~6% – Squid,salmon,billfish ~8% OVERVIEW OF WORLD FISHERIES I. Reporting and Measurement Issues II. Major Fisheries - By Fish III.Major Fisheries - By Nation IV.Major Fisheries - By Ocean V. Economic Values II. Major Fisheries - by Fish THE FIRST TIER • Peruvian Anchovy • Alaskan Pollock • Skipjack Tuna • Capelin Peruvian Anchovy • Not heavily fished until the 1950s • By 1970, the largest fishery in the world • Susceptible to disruptions by ENSOs • Lessons may have been learned Alaskan Pollock • Not heavily fished until the 1960s • Improvements in processing ability were important • Overfishing a real concern • Monitoring and managing techniques may be improving Skipjack Tuna • Another recently developed fishery • Catches are trending upwards • This resource may be underutilized • Monitoring and managing techniques are a challenge Capelin • Yet another recently developed fishery • An early peak, a characteristic of some new fisheries • An equlibrium may be being attained • This fishery is dominated by two relatively cooperative countries II. Major Fisheries - by Fish THE SECOND TIER • Atlantic Herring • Japanese Anchovy • Chilean Jack Mackerel • Blue Whiting III. Major Fisheries - by Nation THE FIRST TIER • China • Peru • United States • Indonesia III. Major Fisheries - by Nation THE SECOND TIER • Japan • Chile • India • Russia IV. Major Fisheries - by Ocean Atlantic 25.6% Pacific 62.6% Indian 10% Other 1.7 Percentages of global marine capture fishery production accounted by regions of the ocean Fishing area Atlantic % global capture production 25.6 Northwest 2.4 West central 2.1 Southwest 2.7 Northeast 12.7 East central 4.1 Southeast 1.6 Pacific 62.6 Northwest 26.9 West central 11.5 Southwest 0.9 Northeast 2.9 East central 2.0 Southeast Indian 18.4 10.0 East 5.5 West 4.5 V. Economic Values Fish eaten by humans have high market value Fish used for reduction have low market value Reasons to Fish Below the MSY I. Inaccurate Information A. I Fish Therefore I Lie (Schaefer Model) B. Not Enough Biological Data (Beverton-Holt Model) II. Variable Recruitment III. Resource Mismatch IV. Presence of Competitors V. Stock Stability VI. Economics (Law of Diminishing Returns) I. T Stock Stability Fishing at 15% of MSY Fishing at 75% of MSY Fishing at 100% of MSY Schaeffer Model Requirements: Measurement of Fish Caught Measurement of Fishing Effort Beaverton-Holt Model Requirements: Measurement of Fish Caught Knowledge of Fish Biology Population Size (Tagging) Age (Otoliths) Reproductive Biology Beverton-Holt Model: Application to a Resource-Limited Population Mortality declines with fishing because: 1. Caught fish don’t die a natural death; F 2. A fished population is a younger population, with a lower death rate; 3. Individuals in a fished population have access to more resources, so they are healthier and have a lower death rate. Percentage contribution of year classes of Norwegian spring spawn herring to the adult stock from 1954 through 1962. The very good year class of 1950 began first appearing in significant numbers in 1954 and dominated the adult stock throughout this period. The Canadian Cod Example: Fished to Commercial Extinction Before Establishment of a Moratorium: No Recovery of the Stock, No Recovery of the Fishery Social Concerns Information Quality Natural Variability Characteristics of r-selected and K-selected populations parameter r-selected K-selected Environment variable and/or unpredictable constant and/or predictable Lifespan short long Growth rate fast slow Fecundity high low Natural mortality high low Population dynamics unstable stable HOW MANY FISH SHOULD WE CATCH? SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THE MAXIMUM SUSTAINABLE YIELD THAT IS CALCULATED Clupeid & Gadoid Fisheries r – Selected Species ~1/3 Global Fisheries Instability Management Challenges Commercial catch of Japanese pilchards Migration routes of the Norwegian springspawning herring during the period 1963-1966. The location of the nine major populations of British Columbia herring. Commercial catches of cod in the North Sea (A) Catch of North Sea Herring and (B) spawning stock biomass of the autumn spawning herring. The dashed line in panel B is the target spawning stock of 1.3 Mt recommended by the ICES. Harvest of sexually immature fish Over Habitat Recruitm’t Closure of Capitlizat’n destruction overfishing fishery Japanese Pilchards Norwegian springspawning Herring Canadian Pacific Herring Canadian Atlantic Cod N. Sea Cod N. Sea Herring Peruvian Anchoveta Fishery I. The Physical Setting II. The Upwelling Ecosystem III. Anchoveta Ecology IV.History of the Anchoveta Fishery Surface current system off the coast of Peru. Dashed line marks the approximate boundary between the Peru coastal current and the Peru oceanic current (Humboldt Current). The shaded area is the approximate area of the coastal current system occupied by the Peruvian anchovy stocks. The Upwelling Ecosystem I. Nutrient-rich waters from beneath the nutricline fertilize the euphotic zone with nitrate and phosphate II. High nitrate and phosphate enables high primary productivity by phytoplankton II. Anchoveta graze this nutritional resource III. Anchoveta are then eaten by mackerel (from below) and guano birds (from above) Anchoveta Ecology I. Population is confined to the Peru Coastal Current system II. Feed low on the food chain III. 4-year lifespan IV. Spawning year-round, with peaks in Sept-Oct and Feb-Mar V. Recruited to the fishery at 5 months of age Anchoveta Ecology V. Recruited to the fishery at 5 months of age VI. Sexual maturity at 12 months of age VII. Very high fecundity: 15,000 eggs/spawn, 24 spawns/year VIII. Very high mortality prior to recruitment: > 99% IX. After recruitment, mortality is ~ 16% X. A modest drop in population size enhances recruitment History of the Anchoveta Fishery BACKGROUND • Artisanal fishing prevails from pre-colonial times to ~1900 • Guano mining becomes Peru’s major export industry during the 1800s into the 1900s • Compania Administradora de Guano stifles attempts to expand and industrialize fishing in 1910s and 1920s • First fish processing plant built in the 1930s • As guano supplies are depleted, CAdG shows a slight interest in fishmeal History of the Anchoveta Fishery Development • 1950 - The collapse of the California sardine fishery • Increasing demand for fish meal as feed components for the growing US livestock industry • Transfer of reduction fisheries infrastructure from California to Peru • Both the government and commercial banks support the development of the Anchoveta reduction fishery History of the Anchoveta Fishery Development • 1950s - Number of fishmeal plants grows to 49 - Fishmeal production grows from <1,000 metric tons to 117,000 metric tons - Fishmeal value grows from $100,000 to $11,300,000 • 1960s - Number of fishmeal plants grows to 154 - Fishmeal production grows to 1,622,000 metric tons - Fishmeal value grows to $183,200,000 Catch of anchoveta has been highly variable. In the decade between 1962 and 1971, annual yields averaged 9.7 Mt, but the catch dropped dramatically in 1972 and averaged only 1.3 Mt in the decade between 1976 and 1985. Effects of El Niño on Anchoveta Catch Impact of El Niño on Peruvian anchovies Possible impacts: anchovies starve poor recruitment changes in predation Response of anchovies concentrate in cold water nearer the coastline move into deeper water and disperse Ecological Summary Advantages: • An Extraordinary Combination of Nutritional Resources and an r-Selected Fish • Short Food Chain • “Simple” Sources of Mortality Problems: • Complex Biological-Meteorological Interactions • Variable Recruitment Management Summary Advantages: • An Extraordinary Combination of Nutritional Resources and an r-Selected Fish • Fishery within the Peruvian EEZ • National and International Fisheries Scientists Involved Problems: • Complex Biological-Meteorological Interactions • Harvesting Prior to Sexual Maturity • Overcapitalization and Socio-Political Pressures • MSY as a target TUNA TALES TUNA I The World’s Tuna Fisheries TUNA II A Fishery Management Case Study: Yellowfin Tuna and Dolphins in the Eastern Tropical Pacific TUNA III The Mighty Bluefin Table 7.1. Principal species of tuna involved in commercial fishing Common name Scientific name Albacore Thunnus alalunga Bigeye Thunnus obesus Skipjack Katsuwonus pelamis Yellowfin Thunnus aobacares Atlantic bluefin Thunnus thynnus Pacific bluefin Thunnus orientalis Southern bluefin Thunnus maccoyii Some things to think about Tuna enjoy: The eastern sides of ocean basins have: Warm Water Shallow Thermocline Lots of Oxygen Shallow Oxygen Zone Lots of Food Nutrient-Rich Upwelling Zones Along the west coasts of continents tuna can be found: In Higher Concentrations In Shallower Water Closer to Shore For Easier Fishing Pertinent information on commercially important tuna species Species Length (cm) Weight (kg) Age of sexual maturity (years) Lifespan (years) Albacore 60-90 10-20 5 10 Bigeye 80-180 15-20 4 10 Skipjack 30-80 8-10 2 12 Yellowfin 40-180 5-20 3 10 Atlantic bluefin 45-450 135-680 4-8 15-30 Pacific bluefin 150-300 300-555 6 30 200 200 8-12 40 Southern bluefin Commercial catches of skipjack, yellowfin, bigeye, and albacore tuna Skipjack information Most catch occurs in the Pacific (70%) and Indian (24%) oceans. Smallest of the commercially important tunas Tendency to school Most skipjack are caught with purse seines. Diet includes clupeids, crustaceans, and mollusks Major market for skipjack tuna is canned tuna Principal nations contributing to the Catch of Tuna • Various tunas • Various fishing areas Yellowfin information Geographical distribution and spawning behavior similar to skipjack. Tend to associate with dolphins more than any other species. Pacific (67%) and Indian Ocean (22%) account for most of the catch. Much of the fishing is done with purse seines. Canned tuna (light tuna) is again the primary market. Bigeye information Similar to yellowfin… greater depths… higher fat content. Catch distribution: Pacific (50%), Indian (30%), Atlantic (20%). Small bigeye are caught as bycatch of purse seining for skipjack and yellowfin. The larger and more valuable bigeye are taken with long lines. Less suited for canning than skipjack, yellowfin, or albacore tuna. Most popular as fresh fillets (sashimi) and fresh whole fish. Principal market is Japan Principal fishing nations are Japan and Taiwan. Little known about the ecology of bigeye tuna Not sure if stocks are being fully exploited. The Bycatch of sexually immature bigeye is a concern Albacore information Temperate water fish, and stocks in the N and S hemisphere are disjoint. The principal fishing areas are the western and central Pacific Caught with pole-and-line, surface trolling, or long lines, no purse seine The principal market for albacore is canned tuna… “white tuna”. Japan and Taiwan dominate the catch. Atlantic Bluefin information Atlantic Bluefin found only in the N. Atlantic, Mediterranean, Black Sea. Bluefin in the South Atlantic are S. Bluefin. Atlantic bluefin are the largest of the tunas Two spawning areas: Gulf of Mexico and Mediterranean Sea Controversy over whether the stocks should be considered separately these tuna definitely make trans-Atlantic migrations. <1970 ~$0.10/kg….Now$20-70/kg Increasing demand to supply the Japanese sushi and sashimi markets development of air freight in the early 1970s Management: International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) formed in 1969. Pacific Bluefin information The only unregulated Bluefin fishery in the world. Japan accounts ~64% of catch, most from NW Pacific. Unlike the Atlantic Bluefin…only one stock of Pacific Bluefin tuna. Caught on a variety of gear…bycatch….often juveniles Almost all taken in the eastern Pacific are sexually immature Southern Bluefin information The most overexploited of the Bluefin tuna. Only one known breeding ground (Indian Ocean) The fishery is dominated by Japan and Australia. As with other Bluefins, surface gear takes sexually immature fish. Since1980… victim of recruitment overfishing Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) set catch quotas...no evidence that the spawning stock is recovering …further reductions in the catch quotas will be needed to give the stock a chance to recover. The long time to reach sexual maturity makes this species particularly vulnerable to overfishing. Management: IATTC and CYRA Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC). Formed in 1950 by USA and Costa Rica. Now includes 12 countries. Purview is eastern tropical Pacific to 140o west longitude. Management has been almost entirely concerned with yellowfin tuna. Commission’s Yellowfin Regulatory Area (CYRA) is de facto where the ITTAC is regulating tuna catches Background on the tuna/dolphin problem Problem is confined to the eastern tropical Pacific, where yellowfin tuna congregate under schools of certain species of dolphins For many years fishing was done by chumming (pole and line) with no impact on dolphins Purse seining phased in during last few years of 1950s Combination of fishing tuna located under schools of dolphins proved deadly to dolphins and damaging to tuna stocks Tuna can be found by several methods. “Porpoise” sets actually account for less than half the purse seine sets during the 1970s. Key strategies for releasing dolphins: backing down and Medina panels Marine Mammal Protection Act – 1972 NMFS Implementation of MMPA with respect to dolphin stocks Early 1980s – U.S. wants to put observers on all tuna boats. Observers on fewer than 50% of U.S. boats and only a handful of foreign boat-trips. Early 1980s – U.S. wants to ban sundown sets Tuna boats start to drop out of U.S. fleet Late 1980s – dolphin kills start to increase Dolphin-safe tuna 1990 – Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act establishes standards for “dolphin-safe” April 12, 1990 – Star-Kist, Bumble Bee, and Chicken of the Sea announce that they will not buy tuna caught using porpoise sets 1991 – U.S. embargoes challenged by Mexico – General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Reported dolphin mortalities continue to drop. Kill has been less than 2,000 animals per year since 1998 Lessons Learned? Pluses Consumers, via their government, pushed effectively for the implementation of management Benefits to the fishery from accepting the management plan 1. Main markets didn’t want to buy dead dolphin 2. Spared dolphins live to help find tuna again Minuses Expenses to the industry have forced much of the fishing fleet to jurisdictions where the management plan can be evaded ATLANTIC BLUEFIN THUNNUS THYNNUS Early History: Caught in Mediterranean coastal fisheries, using artisanal techniques Π (Hand lines, and coastal traps, nets and pounds) A little more recently: ~1900 to ~1960. Sport fishing, off the Atlantic coasts of Canada and the U.S. A Nova Scotia tournament recorded a peak landingof 1,760 fish in 1949. Fish caught in tournaments were sold to pet food companies for pennies a pound. And then starting in the 1960s and 1970s: Japanese demand for high-fat tuna; The availability of airfreighting from the Atlantic to Japan; Made recreationally-caught Atlantic Bluefin worth many dollars a pound. Bluefin tuna being readied for auction at Tokyo’s Tsukiji Fish Market. The Current Situation: Vast Over-Capitalization in European and African fisheries. In 2008, catch potential of E&A fisheries - > 54,000 tonnes. In 2008, ICCAT catch limits of E&A fisheries Π28,500 tonnes. In 2008, fisheries scientists recommended catch - 15,000 tonnes. Science, 1995-2005: Western Stock fish cross the Atlantic, and vice-versa The poorly managed and poorly regulated European and African fisheries are wiping out the Western Stock. Nature, 2005 The Economist, 2009 Whales and Whaling I. Whales are Really, Really K-selected II. History of Whaling III. Management of Whaling IV. Molecular Biology as a Management Tool V. Effects of Industrial Whaling on Oceanic Ecosystems Whales are Extremely K-selected. The Humpback Whale as an Example Virgin Stock: 115,000 Life Span: 80-90 yrs Sexual Maturity: 4-7 yrs Reproduction: 1 calf per female, every 2-3 years Harvest: 5,000/ yr from 1935 to 1965 Rate of Decrease: From 4% (1935) to 25% (1965) of the stock: 150,000 in aggregate! Stock in 1965: 20,000 Current Stock: 35,000 Rate of Increase: ~1.5% per year Why were pre-whaling populations so low? (Bienfang, 2005) Perhaps they weren’t (Roman & Palumbi, 2003) Virgin Stock: 724,000 Stock in 1965: 20,000 Current Stock: 35,000 Rate of Increase: ~1.5% per year IWC: “Catches should not be allowed on stocks below 54% of the carrying capacity” Conclusion: It will be many, many decades before it will be wise to harvest Humpbacks. Like the blue and fin whales, humpbacks are found in all the ocean basins to the edges of polar ice. Unlike the blue and fin whales, humpbacks migrate into tropical waters during the mating season, and they have a distinct preference for shallow waters when not migrating. The latter characteristic has made them vulnerable to whaling. Humpback and fin whales attracted the attention of the modern whaling industry at about the same time, i.e., after the blue whale stocks had been seriously depleted. Bowheads have longest baleen plates of any whale – 4.5 meters Confined to northern hemisphere and remain above 60oN at all times Hunted by Eskimos for thousands of years Northern and Southern Right whales similar to bowheads, but smaller. Hunting of Right whales began as early as the 10th century, and during the 19th century roughly 100,000 Right whales were killed by the whaling industry. Right whales were seriously impacted by early years of whaling. All right whales have been on protected status since 1935. Current stock estimates: bowheads: 8,000 – 12,000 northern right: 500 – 1,000 southern right: 3,000 Table 10.2. Some characteristics of Right Whales. Species Age of sexual maturity (years) Lifespan (years) Northern Right (Black Right) 5-10 70 Southern Right 5-10 70 6 100 Bowhead (Greenland Right) Right whales Characteristics of interest to whalers and OCE331/MARE360 Students Slow Unaggressive Float when Killed Rich in Blubber Characteristics of interest to evolutionary biologists and players of Trivial Pursuit Sperm Competition Largest Gonads on the Planet (1,100 lbs per testis) Long Penis (10’) Large Ejaculate (5 gallons) The modern era of whaling ` Technological developments: Harpoon gun with explosive head – 1864 Steam powered catcher ships – about the same time Pelagic factory ships – 1903 Inflating carcass with compressed air – around the same time Stern ramps on factory ships – 1925 From Whitehead, 2002 IWC quotas and catches of whales in the Southern Ocean from the 1945/46 whaling season through the 1971/72 season. A General Case Study: Whale Meat in the Supermarket 1. Demonstration of protected species being killed, processed, and sold. 2. Demonstration of illegal transfer of protected species across national boundaries. 3. Demonstration of false advertising. Baker, C.S., and Palumbi, S.R. (1994) Which Whales are Hunted? A Molecular Genetic Approach to Monitoring Whaling. Science 266:1538-1539. Palumbi Strategy 1. Assemble a “Lab in a Suitcase” Thermocycler; PCR Primers; DNA Polymerase; Pipettors; Microfuge Tubes; Buffers 2. Fly to Japan 3. Check in to a hotel 3. Go shopping 4. Extract and amplify DNA from commercially available whale meat 3. Discard the whale meat (it’s illegal to move it from country to country) 6. Take the amplified DNA home for sequencing and analysis Identities of Commercial Whale Products in Japanese Markets Species 1993 1995 1996 N. minke whale S. minke whale 3 22 4 37 9 46 Bryde’s whale 1 1 0 Humpback whale 1 0 0 Fin whale Blue whale 7 1 3 1 2 0 Dolphi ns 5 5 18 Effects of Industrial Whaling on Oceanic Ecosystems I. Bottom-Up Effects II. Top-Down Effects A B C D E Grey Whale Carcass, 6 weeks on the bottom, 1675 metres Mobile Scavenger Stage Pre-whaling: Carcasses on beaches and migration routes Open-Boat Whaling: Wider distribution of carcasses, and probably an increase in the number of whale falls Industrial Whaling: An estimated 10-fold reduction in whale falls From Springer et al., 2003 Tragedy of Freedom in a Commons Pasture Example (the village green) What are the benefits and costs to me of adding one more animal to my herd? Benefit: I get all the biomass generated by that animal Costs: The village green is degraded a bit, but that cost is shared by all other animal owners Conscience is Self-Eliminating and Pathogenic The genes of those with the conscience to restrict their uses of the Commons or to restrict their breeding will sooner (themselves) or later (their lack of offspring) be eliminated from the population. Mutual Coercion Mutually Agreed Upon We institute … taxes and other coercive devices to escape the horror of the Commons The Ingredients for Avoiding a Tragedy of the Commons: Elinor Ostrom 1. The nature of the resource 2. Recognition of resource depletion 3. Nature of the community: “Small and stable populations with a thick social network and social norms promoting conservation do better” The Bermuda Fisheries: A Tragedy of the Commons Averted? Background: 1. A Problem Perceived 2. A Study Undertaken 3. A Policy Changed Prior to 1970: Resource was in excess of the demand. A “Commons” use of the resource seemed OK. Policy was to increase fisheries activity. In 1975: Policy was to “exploit the harvestable resources to their maximum sustainable levels 1980 and 1984 attempts to regulate the use of fish pots, but problems remained: Pots were too indiscriminately efficient Pot fishery was too difficult to police Fishermen used more pots than they were allotted and tagged their illegal pots with other fisher’s names! Fishermen took other fisher’s pots 1980s: A growth in the use of the resource by other economic interests. Tourism: Scuba, Snorkel, Glass-Bottom Boat Charter fishermen found their interests aligned more with tourism than with commercial fishing 1990:Anne Cartwright DeCouto moves the Fish Pot Ban through Parliament Fish Pots redeemed by the government for substantial cash compensation 1991 and beyond: Fish Pot ban to be permanent Reef fishery goal to be “obtaining the maximum yield of fish consistent with the conservation of resources for other users." In short, “Fish to well below the MSY” The Bermuda Example of Averting a “Tragedy of the Commons” Made possible by a fortuitous set of circumstances: A. Affluence B. Isolation C. Changing Economic Interests D. An Advantageous Political Environment