August 1, 2009

Fisheries’ outlook bleak in Eastern Canada: report

By Amy Minsky, Canwest News ServiceJuly 30, 2009
Ottawa Citizen

Atlantic cod for sale. An assessment report, conducted by an international team of fishery scientists, suggests that five of the 10 large marine ecosystems examined are showing improvement. None is in Canada. Recovery rates in Eastern Canada are slow or non-existent, said Boris Worm of Halifax’s Dalhousie University, a co-author of the report.Photograph by: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images, Canwest News ServiceSteps taken to curb overfishing are finally showing signs of success in many of the world’s fisheries, according to a report released Thursday, but the news isn’t so good in Eastern Canada, where there have been “dramatic stock collapses.”

What’s in a Name? For the Slimehead and Toothfish, the Extreme Makeover Leads to Rampant Overfishing

World Changing
Joe Romm, 31 Jul 09

“If the slimehead were still a slimehead, it wouldn’t be in this kind of trouble,” begins a good WashPost story today on overfishing of the Orange roughy and other fish with popular nom de plumes.

As lakes and oceans have been depleted by heavy fishing, the seafood industry tried to dress up what was left — former ‘trash’ species, and unfamiliar fish from the deep ocean — with new names to improve their popularity.