Home / News / External Feeds / Overfishing Worse Than Thought

Overfishing Worse Than Thought

(From nature.com) Tropical fishermen catch far more species than reported officially. Global fisheries statistics generally paint a grim picture of ocean health, revealing rampant overfishing and declining fish catches in various regions. But a new study suggests that, in the tropics at least, the statistics have been telling only half the depressing story — if that.

The worst problem was found in American Samoa, where reported catches for the FAO period were 1,525 metric tons, but the authors’ reconstruction put at 25,380 tons. Three- and fourfold underestimates were common. The authors believe further analysis will in many cases lead to even higher results. In a few cases catches were overreported, but this was due to countries such as Vanuatu allowing foreign vessels to register there, leading to foreign catches being counted in a country’s official tally.

 

 

Read Full Article

 

Check Also

Korean shipping company pleads guilty to illegal dumping on voyage

(From dailyastorian.info)- STX Pan Ocean Co., Ltd., a South Korean shipping company pleaded guilty Friday …