| Summary: | For more than fifty years northern commercial fisheries have been plagued by the depletion of fish stocks in all the major oceans. Recovery is sometimes slow and at other times cannot take place at all due to a number of factors including the altered pattern of the food web in the area Mackenzie (1997). Anchovies, tuna, swordfish and many others have been depleted almost to extinction. Some researchers have theorized that the variations in species numbers are due to natural fluctuations. However there is now an overwhelming consensus in scientific circles that on a global scale the fisheries are in crisis and that overfishing by humankind is having a defined impact worldwide. Stevens (1998)0Yet the major players avoid recognition of responsibility. By-catch is also a significant problem. In the waters of the Antarctic, we are witness*ng a repeat of mistakes made in the northern fisheries. Along with other species, the dissostigbys eleginpidey, or Patagonian toothfish, is being hauled from the sea Indiscriminately and illegally in spite of international agreements and conventions. Spain, Argentina and Chile appear to be the main culprits, with an estimated 22,000 tonnes of illegal fish taken in 1998 (Christchurch Press 26/1/99). Reporting of illegal catches is an aspect, which needs monitoring. According to the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), probably less than 400/0 of illegal catch is reponed. For more than fifty years northern commercial fisheries have been plagued by the depletion of fish stocks in all the major oceans. Recovery is sometimes slow and at other times cannot take place at all due to a number of factors including the altered pattern of the food web in the area Mackenzie (1997). Anchovies, tuna, swordfish and many others have been depleted almost to extinction. Some researchers have theorized that the variations in species numbers are due to natural fluctuations. However there is now an overwhelming consensus in scientific circles that on a global ...
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