Deep-sea trawling is devastating marine ecosystems

In his research for the ten-year European Census of Marine Life, Dr. Jason Hall-Spencer of Plymouth University in the United Kingdom has found that deep-sea bottom trawlers are destroying corals and marine habitats that had been preserved for eons, since the last Ice Age.

Once used only in shallow waters, the giant heavy nets with rubber rollers that are dragged along the seafloor are now being taken to deeper seas due to dwindling numbers of fish.

Along with the countless lives they take, the net’s rollers are known to collapse delicate coral habitats. Dr. Hall-Spencer stated in fact that while less than 1% of some 50,000 underwater sea mountains have been studied, their biodiverse ecosystems may be decimated before ever being explored.

He said, “It doesn't matter what ocean you go to, these habitats are being trashed by international fishing fleets. …What is urgently needed is a network of protected areas where any type of fishing gear that involves dragging equipment across the seabed is banned.”

Many thanks, Dr. Hall-Spencer for your call to halt the destructive practice of bottom trawling. Indeed, let us allow all fish to live so that our world may continue to be graced with wondrous marine life.

Supreme Master Ching Hai has frequently spoken of the need to protect our living oceans, as in an interview published in the September 2009 edition of the British Parliament's The House Magazine.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: If we do end the killing of fish in the spirit of showing respect for all created life, the fish will rebound very quickly. But the continuation of fishing activities could damage the balance of marine life beyond its ability to recover.

Analysis by British researchers of hundreds of years of fishing records has revealed to us the devastating effects of trawling to both the marine environment and sea life. One scientist compared this method to harvesting apples by lowering a giant net and dragging it through the orchard, thus destroying the trees, destroying the very life that supports the fruit.

Please, request the media’s help in spreading info about the detriments of trawling and the dire state of fish populations today. Another extremely effective practice would be to stop eating fish and advocate the same for all citizens.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/18/deep-sea-trawling-coral-reefs

Commercial fishing endangers dolphins, porpoises and whales

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has released a report cautioning of the significant risk to these marine mammals especially by large-scale fishing operations.

The study stated that 86% of all toothed-whale cetaceans are seriously threatened by entanglement or capture in gillnets, driftnets, trawls and other types of fishing gear.

As an example, the scientists cited China’s Baiji River Dolphin, which has not been sighted for many years in the Yangtze River, as well as the Vaquita porpoise residing in the northern Gulf of California, whose population has diminished to only 150 remaining in the wild. Both of these species have perished in high numbers due to entanglements in fishing gear.

UNEP Executive Secretary Elizabeth Mrema stated that governments need to increase their efforts to implement protective policies for the survival of the cetacean species.

Our earnest appreciation United Nations Environment Program for revealing the impact of fishing’s detrimental practices on our unique marine mammal friends. May all countries join in acting now to protect the lives of these and all precious fellow beings.

In her tireless endeavors to ensure the welfare of the Earth’s inhabitants, Supreme Master Ching Hai has often emphasized the need to halt fishing, as during a November 2008 interview with Ireland’s East Coast Radio FM.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: We have to stop it. Just stop the fishing. The government has to forbid fishing because it’s too important to our survival to delay any further.

Not only is there overfishing and depleting of marine life, but there is also side killing. Like when the commercial long liners go fishing, they’re killing tens of thousands of sea turtles, by the way, and hundreds of thousands of sea birds and millions of sharks every year.

To stop this destructive practice of fishing, the solution is the vegan diet, no fishy stuff in our meals. The sea offers us plenty of better food choices; the wide varieties of super healthy and nutritious sea plants.

We can even live on it forever. We must protect a living and healthy sea, as it relates to our living and healthy self.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33677&Cr=unep&Cr1=
http://www.physorg.com/news184500664.html
http://www.cms.int/reports/small_cetaceans/general_summary.htm
http://www.answers.com/topic/odontocetes

Overfishing linked to harmful algal blooms

A new study by Swedish researchers found that, along with nitrogenous runoff from livestock raising and agriculture, algal blooms in the Baltic Sea are linked to the decline of certain species of large fish.

Specifically, the research showed that if perch and pike fish populations were healthy and no nitrogen pollution existed, the surrounding waters had only a 10% chance of being afflicted by an algal bloom.

However, in areas where fishing had caused their populations to be substantially reduced, the chances of an algal bloom went up to 50%. The researchers believe that the increase is related to a disruption of the food chain, which in turn affects the ecosystem. Swedish scientists, we appreciate your work that sheds new light on our oceanic environments.

Let us act on such knowledge to protect marine life for a vibrant planet. Supreme Master Ching Hai has often urged for an end to consuming fish and other animal products, to preserve the biosphere and our own peace of mind, as during a May 2009 videoconference in Togo.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: If those fish are all gone, we will see a catastrophic loss of other marine species as well. The coastal ecosystems will also be affected greatly by diseases and algae blooms that release toxins. The ocean is a wonderful recycler that normally can purify the water and create nutrients and turn carbon dioxide into oxygen, etc.

The ocean is a miracle. But if we ruin the ecosystems through overfishing, this will spell disaster for us. SM: It’s better for our body, for our conscience, for our mind, and for the planet to stay away from fish.
We should be vegan.

http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091201/full/news.2009.1116.html?s=news_rss
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Algal-Blooms-May-Be-Caused-by-Overfishing-128552.shtml