The Humphead Wrasse, Cheilinus undulatus
The Humphead wrasse, Cheilinus undulatus, is the largest member of the family Labridae and widely distributed across the reefs of the Indo-Pacific. It is found from the Red Sea and African coast, across the Indian Ocean and much of the Pacific, north to southern Japan and the coast of southern China, and south to New Caledonia. In English it is mostly commonly referred to as the Humphead, Maori or Napoleon wrasse.
Fishery management
The species has a high economic value and is a special favorite of both the live reef food fish trade and with recreational divers.The Humphead wrasse is vulnerable to fishing due to its long life and late sexual maturation (which occurs at approximately 50 cm total length and 5 years of age). This means that its life history is one that involves slow replacement (and hence slow recovery from fishing) rates. Because of its high value as food, it is heavily sought by fishers and traders. As part of the live food fish market, its value is likely to increase with rarity, so fishers will continue to fish this species even as its numbers decline. Humphead wrasse fisheries are mostly unmanaged and, even if managed 'on paper', there is usually little management or monitoring of Humphead wrasse in local fisheries. Monitoring is needed, both of local capture and of exports. Without proper management and monitoring, it is impossible to know whether current capture rates are sustainable or to establish safe quotas capture. On the other hand, its value to diving tourism will remain high if it is protected and remains alive in the wild.
Live Reef Food Fish Trade
While there is some capture for local use, particularly in the western and central Pacific, the Humphead wrasse is primarily taken for export as part of the valuable live reef food fish trade which is centred in SE Asia. All fish in this trade are wild-caught since commercial level hatchery propagation of this species is not yet possible. The major importing countries are China (especially Hong Kong), Taiwan and Singapore. Fish are exported especially from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and from some western Pacific Islands. Hong Kong is the biggest consumer/transshipment centre for the live seafood market, including for the Humphead wrasse. Hong Kong re-exports significant but undocumented volumes of Humphead wrasse into mainland, particularly southern, China, according to traders and to market surveys.
Because of its size and abundance, T. californicus is commonly regarded as the insect of the sea. This creature is generally very small, from 1-3 mm in size as adults. They are cylindrically shaped, and have a segmented body (head, thorax, abdomen) though no noticeable division between body regions (Powlik 1966). Each segment of the body has a pair of legs. They use their 'legs' to propel themselves through the water in short rapid jerks. They have 2 pairs of long feathered antennae, a chitin us exoskeleton and a single eye in the middle of their head, this simple eye can only differentiate between light and dark.
Of course there are many beautiful and dynamic fish that reside in the waters of Hawaii, but none are as captivating as the Humuhumumunukunukuapua'a (Rhinecanthus rectangulus ). This reef trigger-fish is the official state fish of Hawaii because of its abundance in the shallow waters of the coast. Humuhumumunukunukuapua'a means “nose like a pig” because of the shape of its nose due to the formation of its teeth and because it makes a “snorting” sound when abruptly taken from the water and when swimming away from predators. The locals of Hawaii usually call this fish humuhumu (hoo-moo-hoo-moo) in lieu of having to pronounce its full name for conversation purposes. In other parts of the world this shallow water fish is also known as the Picasso and rectangle fish because of the colors and patterns on its body. Since the humuhumu prefer waters with degrees from seventy-five to eighty degrees Fahrenheit they are found and indigenous to the “Indo-Pacific: Hawaiian islands, Red Sea south to East London, South Africa and east through Indonesia to the Marquesan Islands, north to southern Japan, south to Lord Howe Island.”(Oceanlink.com).According to ask a Marine Scientist:Osteichthyes , they are in the class of the “Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)”,the order of the ”Tetraodontiformes (Puffers and filefishes)”,a member of the ”Balistidae” family(Oceanlink.com), and its biome of preference is the coastal strand.
BioScience 46 (1): 70-72. Encyclopdia Britannica Online. Sea cucumber; Galapagos. http://search.eb.com. Langreth, Robert.
"A Sustainable Harvest." Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture. Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, 10 May 2011. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. .
With a coastline of over 202 000 km and over a fourth of the world’s freshwater resources, it is no wonder why Canada’s fishing industry is a huge part of its economy.1 Canada exports more than 75% of its fish to over 130 countries worldwide. Many of the 7 million people who reside on the coast depend on the ocean’s resources. In total, Canada’s entire fishing industry is worth around 5$ billion dollars a year, being one of the world’s most valuable. However, the coasts have not been treated by respect; overfishing, over consumption, and wasteful practices has deteriorated, not only the industry, but the ecosystems and fish populations. This is a huge global issue; the worldwide collapse of fisheries has been project for 2048. Slowly, as the trends continue, we will inevitably see many fish species start to disappear. In fact, the ill-treatment of species on the Canadian border has already devastated a large specie, the cod.
Knowlton, Nancy. Citizens of the Sea, Wondrous Creatures from the Census of Marine Life. Washington DC: National Geographic Society, 2006. Print.
There are many impacts that fishing and land animal farming have on the ocean, which are detrimental to ocean ecosystems as well as many other aspects of the environment. Overfishing, killing fish at a much quicker rate than the fish can repopulate, is one major problem. Three-fourths of the world’s fisheries are either fully exploited, overexploited, or depleted (Cowspiracy). Researchers have estimated an end of all viable fisheries by 2018 if the current trends of fishing continue (Mason). According to the Monterey Bay Seafood Watch, hundreds of thousands of animals die every year as bycatch, with one of the worst offenders being shrimp fisheries, catching up to six pounds of bycatch per pound of shrimp. Endangered species are also caught, including predators which are important in keeping the balance in ocean ecosystems (Smith). While many organizations such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch recommend consumers to eat more “sustainable” fish, this will not stop the massive environmental impacts. Sustainable fishing for one does not account for the natural flux in the population of species of fish; what is considered a sustainable amount of fish to harvest one year may deplete the fishery in another year (Smith). Sustainable fish also are becoming even less sustainable as companies that label sustainable fish must find more For example, after Wal-Mart pledged to selling Marine Stewardship
Seahorses can be found in the Atlantic ocean, Pacific ocean, and the Indian ocean. Did you know that if you find a seahorse someplace and go to that same place and see a seahorse there's a pretty good chance is it was the same seahorse because they live the same place all of their lives! The habitats of seahorses are the oceans! So if you ever need help trying to locate seahorses then you learned some information to help you!
However, Japan, one of the first countries to develop salmon hatchery program, as well as, an extensive aquaculture program receives the major credit for Japans eighty percent overall salmon production in the 1990’s. Moreover, this form of aquaculture is a principle source of fish not only in the United States, but also globally with China, now being the world’s largest producer with fish. Although, the practice of salmon aquaculture were thought to have developed via the Danish system of raising rainbow trout in freshwater
To fish or not to fish is a personal choice. The fact that the oceans are being overfished is a growing concern for individuals, organizations, and governments throughout the world. In this paper I want to discuss the effects of overfishing on the restaurant industry, and possible solutions to solve the problem. Fishing is an ongoing source of food for people around the world. In many countries it is a food staple in their everyday diet. In more modern societies eating fish has become a sensual experience, and not just for the wealthy. It hasn't been until population explosions in the last century that the demand for seafood has led to more effective fishing techniques and technologies. Now the demand for popular fish like the salmon, tuna, sea bass, cod and hoki, which is the key fish in McDonalds filet o' fish, is diving wild populations to dangerously low levels. The methods used to catch the amount of fish demanded by the industry do not leave sustainable populations in the wild. In an attempt to preserve the fish population, governments have set limits on the minimum size that may be harvested and how many of each may be taken. Boundaries have been set up saying which areas can be fished and which ones should be left alone. A number of smaller fisheries have gone out of business because of the limits imposed by the government. This leads to even less fish being harvested and brought to market. Therefore the amount and varieties of fish at markets are smaller and can cause shortages for wholesalers and restaurants. Some restaurants will no longer have the variety on their menus that they used to enjoy. If a restaurant thrives on its seafood menu they may be unable to cope with the shortages and will go out of business. In the ...
Groupers are commonly distributed in tropical and warm waters in all over the world. Groupers are large-mouthed and heavy bodied fish that tend to remain in discrete areas. They have a very high market demand and sold at good price. In Malaysia, the commercial catch of Giant grouper, Epinephelus lanceolatus, can reach up to MYR100 per kilogram. Groupers are very famous and are commonly exported in live condition to many contributing countries including Chine, Japan, Taiwan and United States. E. lanceolatus is known as one of the two largest species of groupers where other one is E. itajara of the Atlantic. The diameter of a fresh fish eggs is from 2 to 3mm. Small juveniles of E. lanceolatus usually at 12cm standard length and the large adults are usually can grow up to 160 to 230 cm and its body is darker when compared to the juvenile (Heemstra & Randall, 1993).
Overfishing is the most major problem related to oceans, but it is also the most overlooked. Fishing has been going on for thousands of years, and fish have always been seen as a renewable resource, that would replenish itself forever for our benefit. But around the world there is evidence that fish are not recove...
Coral reefs and the species that dwell in them offer a wide variety of economic and environmental benefits. In 2003, researchers estimated the global economic value of coral reefs to be $29.8 billion. That value stems from the wealth of ecosystem services reefs provide. Whether through tourism or fishing, roughly 30 million people worldwide are “largely dependent on … reefs for their livelihoods.” Reef-related tourism benefits at least 94 countries, 23 of which derive more than 15 percent of their gross domestic product from it. And a “healthy, well-managed reef in the Indian or Pacific Oceans can yield between five and fifteen tons of seafood per square kilometer per year in perpetuity.”
Did you see that? Looking in the sea of the south and west tropical coast of Austria a diver observing very closely in the sea can easily miss this genital, well camouflaged marine fish in plain sight, the sea dragon. Although they are very similar to the seahorse, sea dragons are quite different in amazing ways and are divided into two diverse genus and species, Phycodurus eques (Leafy Sea Dragons) and Phyllopteryx taeniolatus (Weedy Sea Dragons). Here you will learn about the taxonomic classification (Kingdom, Phylums/Division, Class, Order, Family Genus, Species), physical characteristics/ biology, habitat, ecology, and much more. Let us examine this creature more closely.
Unless the current situation improves, stocks of all organisms that are currently fished for food are predicted to collapse drastically by 2048 (WWF 2.) Briggs emphasizes that over-fishing “has induced population collapses in many species. So instead of having less than a hundred species at risk, as was the case some 30-40 years ago, there are now a thousand or more