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SSSeeeaaa AAArrrououounnnddd UUUsss zero fortheentire1950- Area 18(ArcticSea)are catches for FAO Statistical of Alaska,Figure1),asUS territory (i.e.,northernpart the arcticregionofits not reportanycatchesfor indicates thattheUSAdoes examination ofFAO data Interestingly, an catches FAO. to reporting annualfisheries (FAO), andthuscommits to Agriculture Organization Nations Foodand country oftheUnited The USAisamember with actualcatches.” Contrasting reporteddata caught inarcticAlaska? symposium talk: “No fish by thetitleofDirkZeller’s the workshopwashintedat 24, 2008. of The purpose Anchorage onJanuary23- Science Symposiumin during theAlaskaMarine and conductedaworkshop Booth, whopresentedatalk Dirk ZellerandShawn DanielPauly,participants I Short, colddaysandlong, t wasn’tabovetheArctic reconstruction workshop for Circle, butcloseenough The Sea Sea The A successfularcticcatch The Sea Sea The The Sea Sea The The Sea Sea The The Sea Sea The Sea Around Us Around Sea Issue 45 – Januar – 45 Issue Issue 45 – Januar – 45 Issue Issue 45 – Januar – 45 Issue Issue 45 – Januar – 45 Issue Issue 45 – Januar – 45 Issue even coldernights: by DirkZellerandShawnBooth project Around Us Project Ne Project Us Around Around Us Project Ne Project Us Around Around Us Project Ne Project Us Around Around Us Project Ne Project Us Around Around Us Project Ne Project Us Around The FAO forglobalreporting. United StatesofAmerica,to submits, onbehalfofthe US federalgovernment of fisheriescatchesthatthe it intothenationalreports that thesedatadonotmake Game, ADF&G),itappears Department ofFishand Subsistence, Alaska agencies (e.g.,Divisionof available viaAlaskaState subsistence fishingare datafor hunting. Thus, while some subsistence fishingand extensively engagein Iñupiaq, andisknownto majority ofthispopulationis 14,500 peoplein2005. The population ofapproximately of Alaskahadahuman boroughsoftheState However, thetwo main present timeperiod. available dataand which theprojectutilizesall reconstruction activitiesin engages incatch ecosystems, andthus of fishingonmarine global dataontheimpacts endeavors toimprove Sea Around Us Us Around Sea y/F y/F y/F y/F y/F project ebruar ebruar ebruar ebruar ebruar generally donothavean Service) agenciesthat (US FishandWildlife Subsistence) andFederal Alaska Divisionof are monitoredbyState(e.g., these small-scalesectors scale fisheriessectors.Often non-commercial andsmall- but wealsoincorporate data collectionagencies), reported byofficialfisheries (which aregenerally commercial fisheriesdata only doweutilize Oceana -Juneau,Alaska. Murray from Warrenchuk andSusan enthusiasm byJon facilitation providedwith logistics andlocalcontacts with excellentworkshop the LenfestOceanProgram, workshop werefundedby 1. andthe This project resources (see,e.g., extractions ofmarine account forlikelytrue derive estimatesthatbetter information sourcesto Around Us Around Continued on page 2 - Alaska - 2 page on Continued Continued on page 2 - Alaska - 2 page on Continued Continued on page 2 - Alaska - 2 page on Continued Continued on page 2 - Alaska - 2 page on Continued Continued on page 2 - Alaska - 2 page on Continued y 2008 y y 2008 y y 2008 y y 2008 y y 2008 y wsletter wsletter wsletter wsletter wsletter Issue35).Not Sea 1 Sea Around Us – January/February 2008 Page 2

Alaska - Continued from page 1 Thus, we proposed to assemble preliminary time series of available information and data, estimated fisheries catches, the and reconstruct historic fisheries next step was to go to Alaska exclusive fisheries mandate such catches for the arctic area of and present these findings at a as NOAA-NMFS. Until Alaska, for the period from 1950 regionally important conference, investigated in detail, it remains to the present, based on the and discuss the findings at a uncertain if, and which parts of, approach outlined in Booth and workshop with local experts. small-scale, non-commercial Watts (2007) and Zeller et al. fisheries data are This will (2007). The overall aim was to The symposium presentation incorporated in federally- derive estimates of total removal gained interest from a relatively serve as reported statistics. From past of fisheries resources for this large group of listeners. More baseline, so experience (Booth and Watts, period. This will serve as importantly, judging by the 2007; Zeller and Pauly, 2007; far missing, baseline, so far missing, for the questions being asked after the Zeller et al., 2007), we have for the anticipated push for expansion presentation, and the people found that, in general, catches anticipated of fisheries in the arctic region, approaching us afterwards, we for large-scale commercial driven by . had managed to target exactly push for fisheries are relatively well Important in this context is the the people we needed to speak expansion documented and reported, present development of an to. The general impression from whereas catches for small-scale of fisheries arctic this input was very supportive, and subsistence fisheries are in the arctic plan by the Pacific Fisheries and the mutual feeling was that often neither reported to region, Management Council in Alaska. we seem to be getting it right. A national fisheries agencies nor We hope that our reconstructed few minor missing pieces in the driven by incorporated in national data will provide a puzzle were also pointed out, climate accounts as provided to the representative baseline and and were subsequently global community via FAO. change input into any such plan. addressed during the workshop the following day. Fisheries in this area fall under the mandate of the state, as they The workshop participants occur within 3 nm of shore. represented a diverse group of Commercial fisheries are local experts and were identified The Sea Around Us project newsletter is reported annually by the and invited with help from Susan published by the Fisheries Centre at the ADF&G-Division of Commercial Murray and Jonathan University of British Columbia. Included with Fisheries. Subsistence catches Warrenchuk, local the Fisheries Centre’s newsletter FishBytes,six are reported only intermittently representatives of Oceana. After issues of this newsletter are published for some communities, with an initial introduction on the annually. Subscriptions are estimated catches being derived state of global fisheries statistics free of charge. mainly through household by Daniel Pauly, Dirk Zeller Our mailing surveys. Subsistence catches are expanded on the purposes and address is: Sea reported by the ADF&G-Division examples of why catch Around Us project, of Subsistence, but the re- reconstructions are needed. Aquatic Ecosystems construction process also used Shawn Booth then walked Research Laboratory, reports from other sources, participants through the details 2202 Main Mall, especially for the earlier time Vancouver, British periods. Having completed a Continued on page 3- Alaska Columbia, Canada, V6T 1Z4. Our fax number is (604) he Sea Around Us project is a Fisheries Centre partner- 822-8934, and our email address is ship with the Pew Charitable Trusts of Philadelphia, [email protected]. All queries USA. The Trusts support nonprofit activities in the areas of (including reprint requests), subscription TT culture, education, the environment, health and human serv- requests, and address changes should be ices, public policy and religion. Based in Philadelphia, the Trusts addressed to Robyn Forrest, Sea Around Us make strategic investments to help organisations and citizens Newsletter Editor. develop practical solutions to difficult problems. In 2000, with The Sea Around Us website may be found approximately $4.8 billion in assets, the Trusts committed over at www.seaaroundus.org and contains up-to- $235 million to 302 nonprofit organisations. date information on the project.

ISSN 1713-5214 Sea Around Us (ONLINE) Page 3 Sea Around Us – January/February 2008 to climate change. It seems that chinook salmon, (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), have been appearing in local waters around Barrow since the mid-1990s, but there is no local Iñupiaq name for them (Craig George, North Slope Borough- Division of The Wildlife Management, commercial pers. comm.). pre- 1962 was an Another point was informal one, raised in relation whereby local to commercial people sold Figure 1. State of Alaska, showing the (EEZ) and southern boundary of fisheries. There are FAO Statistical Area 18 (Arctic). Indicated also are the arctic communities used in this study: basically two their catch for 1) Wales, 2) Shishmaref, 3) Deering, 4) Kotzebue, 5) Kivalina, 6) Point Hope, 7) Point Lay, 8) commercial dog feed to Wainwright, 9) Barrow, and 10) Kaktovik. fisheries in the people who area, one located ran dog-sled Alaska - Continued from page 2 names be placed along with the on the North Slope, targeting local common name and the arctic cisco (Coregonus teams of the Alaskan arctic catch scientific names for each autumnalis) near the mouth of reconstruction, community by species. It was also felt that a the Colville River, and another community (Figure 1). During few communities that were fishery, largely targeting chum the detailed explanations for located further inland should salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) each community, feedback from also be included in estimates for around Kotzebue Sound. These the local participants was sought anadromous and marine species. fisheries began in the 1960s - and given. This feedback was Including these other however, Charlie Lean (Norton largely related to subsistence communities’ catches will Sound Fisheries Research and catches, which have large data increase subsistence catch Development) pointed out that gaps due to the intermittency of estimates, but will also be useful despite the commercial fishery studies in time and space. for the local agencies to have a in Kotzebue Sound being complete picture of the fisheries deemed by government reports Two immediate concerns were catches for species that rely, for to have started in 1962, there raised: one regarding species at least part of their life-history, were local commercial fisheries identification and the other on marine waters, rather than taking place prior to that date. concerning communities that focusing on capture locations The commercial fishery pre- were not included in the catch (i.e., fresh water vs marine or 1962 was an informal one, re-construction. The first concern brackish water). whereby local people sold their arose because most of the catch for dog feed to people reports describing subsistence A side-benefit to discussing who ran dog-sled teams, the catches used non-standardized species compositions for each transportation link prior to the common names. Thus, each community was the opportunity introduction of the snow- community had to have an initial to assess the arrival of some mobile. clarification of local common salmon species to places further names, which were then north than their historical assigned to a taxon. It was distributions, illustrating proposed that local Iñupiaq ecological range expansions due Continued on page 6 - Alaska Sea Around Us – January/February 2008 Page 4 Of turtles and people: 28th International Symposium by Colette Wabnitz

very year the sea turtle The GT’s efforts led to two of international initiatives. research community notable achievements in 2007. Indeed, not only are native Egathers in more or less Through an international peoples often those living exotic places to share and report exchange programme, local closest to the natural on the latest progress on sea turtle fishers from Baja California were environment, they also maintain research and conservation. brought together with their deep cultural ties to marine Organised by a team of intrepid counterparts from Hawai’i and species such as sea turtles, and a and visionary folk led by J Nichols Japan to share information on direct need to coexist with these A (Senior Research Scientist at the turtle-friendly fishing methods. A species. Some of the events at landmark ), this year’s landmark turtle conservation turtle event sought to depart from the accord was also signed between Continued on page 5 - ISTS conservation usual format of international the GT and a accord was meetings. Instead of a local fishing cosmopolitan city, the symposium co-operative. signed was held in the community of By ratifying it, between Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico the co- the Grupo (population: 12,000). The location operative Tortuguero was strategic for two reasons. First, members and a local it is on a beach in Baja that Nichols agreed to released a satellite-tagged give up fishing co- loggerhead turtle12 years ago. longlines in operative Adelita, as it was nicknamed, exchange for would swim across the Pacific less harmful Ocean to its birthplace in Japan gears such as representing the first time that a traps and turtle had been tracked across an surface nets. ocean basin. Second, the international congress was meant This year’s to coincide with the annual International meeting, and 10-year anniversary, Sea Turtle of an important regional Symposium environmental organisation, the also placed Grupo Tortuguero (GT). emphasis on Native The GT is a network of individuals, Oceans - communities, organizations, and seeking to institutions from around the world, recognise dedicated to sea turtle that conservation. By uniting fishers, indigenous scientists, conservationists, and communities’ Clockwise from top left: 1) A Seri woman and Torres Strait other stakeholders, the GT’s efforts to Islander meeting here for the first time and sharing success is built on a foundation of conserve traditional knowledge and customs; 2) Adan, a local fisherman solid science, coupled importantly their natural and member of the new turtle tourism initiative, seen here with the trust that researchers environment weighing a turtle; 3) Local fishers cleaning the nets after a night spent catching turtles in order to tag and release them. have nurtured over the years with are a key and The fishermen are part of a local initiative, Magdalena the members of local integral Baykeeper, which promotes ecological welfare through public communities. component advocacy, environmental education and clean-up campaigns. Page 5 Sea Around Us – January/February 2008 ISTS - Continued from page 4 Mercury in the the symposium that honoured Chesapeake? indigenous initiatives included traditional Seri turtle songs and by Shawn Booth, dances. The Seri, an indigenous Howard Townsend1 group from the state of Sonora, Mexico, consider the and Villy Christensen leatherback turtle sacred and have strong emotional, spiritual he Chesapeake Bay is in transport, mercury is deposited into and cultural ties to the animal. the backyard of those who the Bay, and transformed into One of the most moving, Tlive on the eastern seaboard physiologically-active powerful, and humbling events of the United States. Its brackish methylmercury compounds. of the meeting was a water touches Maryland and Methylmercury can cause roundtable and exchange of Virginia, while its watershed deleterious effects in fish (Klaper et gifts between native extends to the states of Delaware, al. 2006), and is also a human health community members from Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, concern (UNEP 2002), primarily countries including Mexico, Virginia and West Virginia. Not through seafood consumption. Methyl Panama, Australia (Torres Strait), unimportantly, it forms the Therefore, the individual states set mercury can Nicaragua and Palau. backyard of Washington, DC, consumption advisories for the cause where the powers that be often amount of seafood that can be In keeping with the common struggle to demonstrate concern consumed where methylmercury deleterious entreaty to “think globally, act for the environment. loads are of concern. For example, effects in locally”, the symposium also the Maryland Department of the fish and is saw the Ocean Conservancy With this background, it is no Environment recommends that the also a officially launch the SEE Turtles surprise that very considerable general public should avoid eating human Project (www.seeturtles.org). effort over the years has been more than two standard servings of This initiative, currently in its allocated to cleaning up the Bay, smaller striped bass (Morone health pilot phase and with one of its as well as to attempting to restore saxatilis) per month. Larger ones concern, sites in Baja California Sur, aims it to a more original state. The Bay should be consumed much more primarily to promote turtle conservation has, in modern times, changed rarely. through through small-scale ecotourism. from having a vast abundance of seafood By working with tour operators oysters, that may once have kept With this background and with that have strong environmental the waters clear, to a state where TMDLs being developed for consumption records, the project primarily agricultural run-off impacts water mercury, the Chesapeake Bay seeks to help build non- quality and where anaerobic Program’s Scientific and Technical consumptive alternatives to conditions prevail in the deeper Advisory Committee arranged a illegal fishing. parts. workshop to develop integrated modelling and monitoring Another remarkable aspect of There is also concern about programs for mercury in the this meeting was the effort to pollutants. For this, the U.S. Clean Chesapeake Bay from Oct 2-4, 2007 keep the event’s environmental Water Act sets Total Maximum – a workshop in which we footprint as small as possible: Daily Loads (TMDLs) to determine participated. The workshop focused local transport was provided the amount of a pollutant that a on three main topics: emission chiefly by our own feet, water body can receive while still inventories, atmospheric modelling, recycling bins were placed in maintaining water quality and ecosystem modelling, with our strategic locations, and eating standards. TMDLs have been or contribution focusing on the latter. choices were sustainable and are being developed for each local. LIVBLUE Awards were state impacting the Chesapeake We have been working for several given to those attendees who Bay, and there is special interest years on a detailed ecosystem had travelled the greatest regarding mercury, which is a model of the Chesapeake Bay using distance but with the lowest contaminant in coal. Chesapeake carbon footprint, showcasing states, particularly Pennsylvania, Continued on page 6 - Mercury some interesting and often have most of their electricity 1. NOAA Chesapeake Bay Program rather entertaining methods generated by coal-fired power Office/Collaborative Oxford of footprint reduction! plants. With atmospheric Laboratory Sea Around Us – January/February 2008 Page 6

Mercury - Continued from page 5 we saw the population grow Alaska - Continued from page 3 older and hence have longer to The feedback gained through with Ecosim (EwE) in a accumulate the toxin, with the the symposium presentation and co-operative effort funded bottom line being that mercury workshop activity will form part through the NOAA Chesapeake loading increased of the final report for fisheries Bay Office’s disproportionately with age. For catches in the Alaskan arctic. Program. As part of this we have some, this is an unforeseen This work will extend the constructed an EwE model that consequence of a moratorium reconstruction to include more describes the ecosystem, and impacting mortality of fish communities and also report the how its resources have been populations. It is also an total catch of fish for both the used and developed since 1950. interesting observation that may commercial fisheries, which will We used this model with the help explain increased be extended back in time, and Ecotracer module of EwE to track susceptibility to mycobacteriosis, The for the subsistence fisheries, how methylmercury moves a bacterial disease that has which will include the total workshop through the foodweb. We fitted affected striped bass in the bay catch of marine and anadromous also the model to available data on in recent years. Overall, we species regardless of capture highlighted methylmercury loading for found that the two main locations. This was deemed various fish species in the predictors of methylmercury the utility of important by the local Chesapeake, based on loading concentrations in the 45 data participants in light of potential values derived from sediment functional groups in the model lost opportunity costs for any ‘handshakes’, cores which reflected trends in were and longevity. where the mercury input from 1955 to development that might hamper the ability of the communities to output of 2005. We found that the model, The workshop also highlighted participate in subsistence fishing. the although preliminary, was quite the utility of data ‘handshakes’, capable of tracking the where the output of the atmospheric Having successfully navigated methylmercury concentrations atmospheric models (which arctic marine fisheries ‘waters’ models [...] that have been observed for fish include point and non-point through this workshop, we can be used in the Bay. sources of mercury emissions) retired to a nice dinner after as inputs can be used as spatial inputs bravely venturing (temperature An interesting observation was within the spatial-dynamic EwE within influenced) less than two blocks that we could see the impact of a module, Ecospace. This is an area Ecospace outside the workshop venue. moratorium of fishing for striped we are now exploring further. bass in the Bay. Because of stock References depletion, Maryland and References Booth, S. and P. Watts. 2007. Delaware stopped all fishing from Christensen, V, Beattie, A, Canada’s arctic marine fish 1984-1990, and Virginia imposed Buchanan, C, Martell, SJD, catches. pp. 3-16 in Zeller, D. and a one-year moratorium in 1989. Latour, RJ, Preikshot, D, Sigrist, M, D. Pauly, editors. Reconstruction The ecosystem model shows Uphoff, JH, Walters, CJ, Wood, RJ, of marine fisheries catches for and Townsend, H. Fisheries how the striped bass population key countries and regions ecosystem model of the was severely depleted up to the (1950-2005). Fisheries Centre Chesapeake Bay: Methodology, mid-1980s and has since Research Reports 15(2). parameterization and model recovered to what may be University of British Columbia, exploration (MS., in review). Vancouver. historic levels. The estimated Klaper, R, Rees, CB, Drevnick, P, Zeller, D. and D. Pauly, editors. 2007. methylmercury trends closely Weber, D, Sandheinrich, M, and Reconstruction of marine follow the population trends: Carvan MJ. 2006. Gene fisheries catches for key when the stock was depleted in expression changes related to countries and regions (1950- the mid-1980s the endocrine function and decline 2005). Fisheries Centre Research in reproduction in Fathead methylmercury loads were at an Reports 15(2), University of minnow (Pimephales promelas) all-time low, and have rebounded British Columbia, Vancouver, after dietary methylmercury since the population recovered. 163 p. exposure. Environmental The explanation is simple: low Zeller, D., S. Booth, G. Davis and D. Health Perspectives 114(9): Pauly. 2007. Re-estimation of population size is associated with 1337-1343. small-scale fisheries catches for high mortality rates, and this United Nations Environment U.S. flag island areas equates to young individuals with Programme. 2002. Global in the Western low methylmercury loading. mercury assessment. Pacific: The last 50 When fishing pressure was UNEP Chemicals. Geneva, years. Fisheries Switzerland. 270 pp. restricted with the moratorium, Bulletin 105: 266-277.