Posted by Sam de Beer on SABirdNet. Can anyone help?
Glen Ingram
>----------
>From: Andrew Cannon[SMTP:
>Sent: Thursday, 18 September 1997 6:51AM
>To:
>Subject: FISHERIES INFO WANTED
>
>Dear All,
>
>Most birders are probably aware that most of the world's major commercial
>fisheries are
>operating unsustainably and cause major ecological damage. Many are probably
>less
>aware that other kinds of fisheries are in existence which pose significant
>environmental
>threats. For example seahorse populations are in serious decline in
>South-East Asia due to
>their demand in Chinese Medicine. IUCN now consider all seahorse species to
>be
>'threatened with extinction' and seahorses are now more valuable than
>silver.I have
>received the following request for information on fisheries from Dr Amanda
>Vincent, a
>world expert on seahorses. Working with Dr Sadovy she hopes to highlight the
>conservation significance of a wide range of fisheries other than those
>based on supplying
>dead table food. Birders with any information, e.g. recalling seeing fish
>being sold as
>medicine or as curios, could help this important work. Please send any data
>to one of the
>addresses below. Also, please circulate this request to anybody who you
>think may be
>able to help.
>
>Thanks
>
>Karl Evans
>
>PS Do not reply to me.
>
>The request that I received is duplicated below
>
>EXTRAORDINARY FISHERIES
>
>I am embarking on a review and analysis of extraordinary fisheries, in
>collaboration with
>Dr. Yvonne Sadovy at the University of Hong Kong. We hope to document the
>nature of
>fisheries that are generally overlooked in global fisheries assessments.
>Most of our
>interest focuses on those fisheries not destined for dead table food.We are
>particularly
>seeking quantitative and qualitative information on the biological and
>socioeconomic
>aspects of fisheries for:
>live table food (e.g. grouper and wrasse)
>aquarium and pond display (e.g. ornamentals)
>medicinals and tonic foods (e.g. seahorses and pegasids)
>mariculture seed (e.g. milkfish, grouper)
>fish parts (e.g. sharks fin, flying fish roe, totoaba swim bladders)
>education & research (e.g. dogfish, eels)
>curios and ornament (e.g. seahorses, pufferfish)
>bait (e.g. damselfish)
>chemicals (e.g. tetradotoxins)
>food for cultured species
>
>Within this wide range of interests, we are limiting our survey to i) fin
>fishes that are ii)
>wild caught as a iii) target fishery, including as part of a mixed species
>fishery. Our
>eventual goal is to promote increased awareness of the broad range of
>fisheries and
>marine conservation concerns. We worry, for example, that FAO does not keep
>systematic records on global subsistence fisheries and considers medicinal
>fisheries
>outside its mandate.We would be grateful if you could contact either of us
>with
>suggestions for fisheries which we might overlook, giving us (if possible) a
>sense of what
>data might be available and from where. We will hope to find information
>about the
>fisheries history, volume. value, range and any conservation/management
>problems. Good
>time series data would be ideal but we fully realise that it will be
>unlikely for most
>extraordinary fisheries. We will also be seeking information on the
>fishery's social and
>economic importance, especially relative to the more conventional fisheries
>for dead table
>food.The hunt for detailed information will come later. What we need now is
>your quick
>suggestions of ideas and sources. We really shall be most grateful for your
>help and
>interest in this project. Thank you.
>Yours sincerely,
>
>Dr. Amanda Vincent
>Assistant Professor in Conservation Biology
>
>PLEASE REPLY TO
>
>Amanda Vincent Dr. Yvonne Sadovy
>Department of Biology e-mail:
>McGill University1205
>Ave. Docteur Penfield
>Montreal
>Quebec
>H3A 1B1
>Canada
>Tel: 1 (514) 3986455 & 3986400
>Fax: 1(514)3985069
>E-mail
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