By Rowland Benjamin

The effects on fish stocks:

Fish: Blue fin tuna.
Status: endangered.
Location: Atlantic Ocean
Reasons: commercial overfishing.
Comments: numbers have declined by 98 percent since beginning of commercial fishing around 1960.

Fish: Blue marlin.
Status: endangered.
Location: Atlantic Ocean.
Reasons: commercial overfishing by gillnets, purse-seine nets, and long lines.
Comments: still being caught above sustainable level.

Fish: Green wrasse.
Status: probably extinct.
Location: Mascarene Islands in the Indian Ocean.

Fish: Reunion angelfish.
Status: probably extinct.
Location: Mascarene Islands in the Indian Ocean.
Comments: none have been seen for over 20 years despite extensive searches.

Fish: White marlin (Tetrapterus albidus).
Status: endangered.
Location: Atlantic Ocean.
Reasons: commercial overfishing by gillnets, purse-seine nets, and long lines.

Fish: Atlantic Cod
Status: endangered to near extinction
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Reasons: commercial overfishing
Comments: Atlantic fishery abruptly collapsed in 1993 after overfishing from the late 1950s.

Fish: Swordfish
Status: threaten
Location: Atlantic Ocean
Reasons: commercial overfishing by long lines
Comments: A 10 years conservation plan on strict limits of commercial swordfish species in 1999 has seen a remarkable stock recovery. Biologists believe the fish have multiplied sufficiently to guarantee their survival and have allowed controlled commercial fishing. Catches have been relatively stable for several years.

Biodiversity Rich Marine Areas

1. South Japan, Taiwan and China 2. Western Australia 3. Gulf of Guinea 4. Great Barrier Reef 5. Hawaiian Islands 6. Gulf of California 7. Lord Howe Island 8. North Indian Ocean 9. New Caledonia 10. Eastern South Africa 11. Cape Verde Islands 12. West Caribbean 13. Red Sea and Gulf of Aden 14. Philippines 15. South Mascarene Islands 16. St Helena and Ascension Islands 17. Sunda Islands 18. Easter Island

Fish stocks: Australia

Fish: Brown tiger prawn
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished

Fish: Tropical rock lobster
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished

Fish: Sandfish
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished

Fish: South East Fishery Orange Roughy
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: long-lived and slow growing species, prone to overfishing from aggregating and slow recovery. Even in absence of fishing, most stocks will take many years to rebuild to target-biomass levels.

Fish: Redfish
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: Adult biomass is significantly depleted and young fish have been overfished before they can contribute to stock's potential yield.

Fish: Blue warehou
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: no formal recovery plan for stocks.

Fish: Eastern gemfish
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: been overfished for many years. More adults and juveniles fish are still taken as by catch which further reduces the ability of the stock recovery.

Fish: Southern scallop
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: variability in both reproductive success and juvenile survival rates.

Fish: Southern blue fin tuna
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: stock status concerns existed for over two decades. High prices for southern blue fin tuna have been an incentive for substantial catches by countries. Total removals of blue fin tuna continue to hamper fish survival to rebuild the parent stock.

Fish: School shark
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: long-lived, slow growing and slow to increase in numbers. Stocks unlikely to rebuild for decades.

Fish: Black teat fish
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: excessive removals from Torres Strait in 1995 led to total protection of the species.

Fish: Surf redfish
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: excessive removals from Torres Strait in 1995 led to total protection of the species.

Fish: Silver trevally
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: silver trevally in commercial landings have a mean size of about 25cm. Commercial landings have declined consistently since mid-1980s.

Fish: Bigeye tuna
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: catch levels at unsustainable levels.

Fish: South Tasman Rise Orange Roughy
Status: endangered
Reasons: commercial overfished
Comments: staged closure unless there is strong evidence stock levels are higher.

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