Rallying for urgent action on biodiversity

AS the world celebrated the diversity of life on earth, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are calling on governments to make fundamental changes to economic planning to avoid the collapse of the world’s life support system.
On Saturday, the world marked the International Day for Biological Diversity, proclaimed by the United Nations in 1993 to “increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues”.
Biodiversity and healthy natural ecosystems underpin human well-being and the economy by providing a range of benefits or “services” such as clean air and water, protection from natural disasters and medicine and food. Experts estimate the global economic value of biodiversity to be as high as US$33 trillion (K96.6 trillion) per year.
“Governments rarely take the economic and social benefits of nature into account in their policies and activities,” Rolf Hogan, biodiversity manager at WWF International, said. “This leads to the destruction of natural ecosystems and the undermining of our future. It is reaching a crisis point.”
Simultaneously, the world’s governments have failed to meet the promise they made in 2002 to significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, the international year of biodiversity.
Recent studies, including the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Global Biodiversity Outlook 3, show that massive further loss of biodiversity is becoming increasingly likely. Several “tipping points” are approaching, in which ecosystems shift to less productive states from which it may be impossible to recover, according to the studies.
In a statement delivered to a scientific meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity earlier last week, 24 international NGOs including WWF – representing civil society, conservation and indigenous people – told governments that they had failed because they did “not address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss”.
“Current economic and governance systems and policies promote the over-consumption of natural resources by some countries and segments of society,” the statement said. “This is driving the destruction of habitats and undermining the rights and livelihoods of millions of people who depend on them.
“We are at a turning point. Fundamental change is urgently required.
“The International Day for Biological Diversity should act as a reminder that heads of state need to heed this call by NGOs to make concrete commitments when they meet at the United Nations general assembly special session on biodiversity in September,” Hogan said.
“We cannot expect environmental ministries to take this on alone.
“Conservation and the sustainable use of biodiversity must move from the political fringes and into the centre stage if we are to prevent a catastrophic loss of biodiversity.” – WWF

‘Big eye tuna nears being over-fished’

Source: 

By SHEILA LASIBORI

Picture: 

THE big eye tuna specie is close to being over-fished unless countries of the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) cut their fishing rate by 30%.
This is according to a ‘Status of stocks report’ (1/2008) on both purse seine fishery and long-line for the period 2004 to 2008 that was compiled by the secretariat of the Pacific community (SPC).
The status report was disclosed to the forum fisheries committee (FFC) of 17-member countries including PNG at its 74th meeting in Solomon Islands from May 11-14.
Sylvester Pokajam, managing director for National Fisheries Authority (NFA) who chaired the meeting, said it was during this meeting that scientists from SPC told the gathering of the status on fish stock especially the big eye tuna.
“On the big eye, the assessment is very, very bleak … all fishing is currently occurring, therefore, scientists are calling for a reduction in effort by 30% to save the big eye on current level.
“What they are saying is, if we continue to fish on current level the big eye stock will be depleted … so now they are calling for 30% effort cut on the fishing on big eye,” Pokajam said shortly after his return to the country.
“So, this is an area in which I want to send a message to PNG and its citizens on the status of this stock because many times we hear from non-governmental organisations, and other people within PNG that fish is being depleted or over-fished.
“So I want to ensure that people know that this is the current situation based on the stock assessment carried out by SPC,” Pokajam said.
He also discussed status report on other fish species.
According to the stock status, the South Pacific albacore was not being over-fished as it was being fished within its maximum sustainable yield annually of 98,000 metric tonnes.
Pokajam said the status of the yellow fin stock also revealed that it was not over-fished, and the skip jack stock was also not over-fished.
“The current status is sustainable for skip jack,” he said, adding that the maximum sustainable yield that could be harvested in the WCPO by the purse seine are two to three million metric tonnes on sustainable basis.
 

YOU ARE HERELightning Strikes as PNG Collectors Land Ultra-Rare Clownfish

Lightning Strikes as PNG Collectors Land Ultra-Rare Clownfish

By CORAL Editors - Posted on 10 May 2010

Aberrant form of Premnas biaculeatus, dubbed the PNG Lightning Maroon Clownfish, shortly after its collection in Papua New Guinea.

Fisherman’s Island emerges low and dark on the horizon ahead of our red fiberglass skiff. The roar of the outboard bleeds into the striking expanse of turquoise sea and tropical sky as ephemeral bursts of warm spray come over the gunwale. Iga Ware, the boatman, arcs the skiff around the contour of a strikingly green headland and sets course for the distant island.

A small cluster of houses along a strip of white sand comes into focus as Iga throttles back the outboard. The sound of the engine is at once replaced by the squeal of pigs, the laughter of children playing and the lap of the crystal clear water. Iga smiles broadly. This is his village, and he is proud that it was the first village to become part of the pioneering SEASMART Program. Soon he will also be proud that a fish from his home waters will capture the attention of marine aquarists around the world. 

Fisherman's Island, site of a new Fishery Management Area operated by PNG SEASMART with a goal of sustainability and providing work for native islanders.

Often known for stories of cannibals, dense rainforests, and vicious jungle fighting during World War II, Papua New Guinea (PNG) is the next frontier for marine life collection and home to PNG SEASMART, a government-sponsored program started in 2008. The idea was both simple and radical: starting from scratch,build a sustainable, community-based marine aquarium collection and mariculture industry that would benefit both the native fishers and the reefs. I am visiting the Fisherman’s Island Fishery Management Area (FMA) researching a future article for CORAL and discovering just how close this dream is to reality.

Komori Irimu, a SEASMART employee, ties our skiff to a mooring, as two boats of local fishers approach with their catches. Meme Purgatorio, SEASMART’s packing and screening supervisor, prepares to assess each animal collected and accept or reject it. In the 1980s, Meme was one of the first Filipinos trained in net collection. Animals may be rejected for a range of issues from health or anomalies to the simple fact that the animal was not ordered. 

Rejecting a Copperband Butterfly for a minor imperfection; SEASMART inspectors examine every fish to meet high standards of quality and health.

The most remarkable thing about this screening is the large number of reasonably good-looking animals rejected—even animals like blue tangs that are in high demand. A task that could take an hour takes four because the individual health of each animal is paramount. “If I accept any animal that is less than perfect,” Meme tells me, “our reputation suffers.” While the retail cost of marine aquarium animals from PNG is becoming more competitive, the landed cost of a PNG animal is still often higher because of higher freight charges. “Importers, retailers and hobbyists have to know our quality is second to none,” Meme says. Since all PNG animals are net-collected by SEASMART-trained fisher in less than five meters (16 feet) of water, there really is something to that.

While some animals are rejected because they are not ordered, one such animal—the so-called PNG Lightning Maroon Clownfish with extraordinary markings—is enthusiastically accepted by Meme at Fisherman’s Island. The excitement began aboard the skiff but quickly spread as more people saw and heard about the fish. “When the fish arrived at the facility,” says Mark Schreffler, SEASMART’s export facility manager, “I immediately knew what it was, since one other like it was collected on the same reef in 2008. It was difficult to express my enthusiasm, seeing such a super-cool, super-rare fish.” Pacific Aqua Farms (PAF), a Los Angeles-based importer that has been a frequent supporter of the SEASMART Program, purchased the fish. “We were happy to get this fish into PAF’s very capable hands, as we knew they would ensure that the fish made it to the right retailer and, ultimately, the right aquarist,” says Schreffler.

It takes a village: local crew with basic equipment for collecting with snorkels and nets in shallow waters. Floating baskets hold captured fishes until SEASMART boat comes along.

“This is the most exciting fish to have entered the North American trade in many years,” says Mark Martin, director of marine ornamental research at Blue Zoo Aquatics, who handled the retail sale of the fish. “We made the decision to get this fish to a renowned breeder,” says Martin regarding Blue Zoo’s choice to not simply sell to the highest bidder. While bids well in excess of $5,000 came in as soon as the fish landed in Los Angeles, the PNG Lightning Maroon Clownfish ultimately went to award-winning marine aquarium breeder Matt Pedersen for a preferential price.

“The quality of the fish I received is extremely high,” says Pedersen, who is attempting to breed the Lightning Maroon, presumed to be a male, with a normal Maroon female, from the same waters off Fisherman’s Island. Pedersen is the first to admit reproducing the remarkable pigmentation may be a long shot. “Disregarding the ‘lightning’ variation, the truth is I received exceptionally nice Maroon Clown broodstock with a known collecting location. This is what I’m looking for with all my broodstock, and that alone was impressive. Even if we never turn out a single Lightning Maroon, we will still be producing some fantastic F1 Papua New Guinea Maroon Clowns.”

The PNG Lightning Maroon Clownfish is not a “designer clownfish” or a new species. It is, quite simply, an aberrant wild-caughtPremnas biaculeatus. There is some debate about whether the pattern, or misbarring, is genetic or environmental. “I doubt that this Maroon clownfish is a mutant,” says Martin Moe, author of The Marine Aquarium Handbook: Beginner to Breeder.

“The term mutant indicates a changed genetic basis for the misbarring, but most likely, in my opinion, a very unusual environmental or biological stimulus during the larval period created these patterns.”

Nonetheless Moe thinks the pattern may be reproducible. “I guess the best chance for setting such a trait in a strain of this species would be to breed it with other Maroons from the same general area where that predisposition might be present in the population and see what happens.”

Matt Wittenrich, marine biologist and author of The Complete Illustrated Breeder’s Guide to Marine Aquarium Fishes, is more optimistic about the possibilities of producing a captive-bred strain of Lightning Maroons. “This Maroon is an example of extreme polymorphism that almost certainly has a genetic component,” says Wittenrich. Whether the misbarring is genetic or environmental, Wittenrich agrees with Moe that breeding it with another Maroon clownfish from the same general area will have the best chances of producing a captive-bred lightning Maroon strain. “Whatever the case for the patterning,” says Wittenrich, “the PNG Lightning Maroon is remarkably similar to captive designer strains, and this fish will be the predecessor to tomorrow’s hot designer clownfish.”

While some of the most respected breeders in the hobby discuss the cause of the misbarring itself, Pedersen has had to deal with the day-in and day-out husbandry of two wild-caught Maroon clownfishes. Wild-caught clownfishes are renowned for not shipping well and developing parasitic outbreaks due to stress— Maroon Clownfish especially so.

Unfortunately, despite how great these two fishes looked upon arrival in Los Angeles, the “normal” Maroon Clownfish—the female—subsequently gave Pedersen a real run for his money and did not survive, despite treatments that included hyposalinity, Formalin dosing, baths, and frequent water changes. A replacement female from the same area where the Lightning Maroon male was caught is on its way to Pederse3n. “It has been a thrilling but terrifying experience,” says Pedersen, who refers to this challenge as The Lightning Project. “I’m grateful for the steadfast support of many hobbyists and project advisers.”

Back in the States, after spending the better part of a month in Papua New Guinea, I am tracking, along with other hobbyists, The Lightning Project intently. I remember Iga’s broad smile and the friendliness of the fishers I met at Fisherman’s Island. Like Iga, I am pleased that this little clownfish has served as an excellent ambassador for Papua New Guinea and SEASMART. While I am excited to follow the story of this one fish, I am even more excited to see how PNG will shape the future of a sustainable and robust marine aquarium trade. 
—Ret Talbot
 

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Ret Talbot is the co-author, with Mark W. Martin, of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Saltwater Fishes (Alpha, 2009).
 

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