IGFA Briefs
The following are excerpts from "International Angler", a bimonthly publication printed by the International Game Fish Association.
Conservation Notes
France to Claim Exclusive Mediterranean Fishing Zone
Cassis, France – France intends to assert sovereign rights over marine resources off its Mediterranean coats, declaring a 70 mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in a bid to protect dwindling fish stocks. French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo made the announcement during a trip to southern France, saying he hoped that other Mediterranean nations would follow suit to prevent overfishing by fleets from outside the region.
Under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), an EEZ gives states sovereign rights over fishing and marine resources, outside its 12 mile territorial waters and up to 200 miles from its shores. France has the world’s second largest EEZ after the United Sates thanks to its many overseas territories, but had not previously staked a claim in the Mediterranean “because there was no justification for doing so,” Borloo said. France in 2004 declared an Ecological Protection Zone in the Mediterranean, under the MARPOL anti-pollution convention, enabling it to prosecute ships that dump waste at sea up to 60 nautical miles from its coast. But Borloo said France needed to go further in order to “protect French fishing, but especially to protect fish.” “The French government has decided to declare an EEZ in the Mediterranean....with a perimeter of approximately 70 nautical miles, corresponding to our existing environmental protection area,” he told reporters. “We are changing policy because it is unacceptable for boats from around the world to be able to draw on resources, especially of fish, anywhere except in the 15 mile territorial waters, without any control,” he said. Borloo said Paris hoped to “avoid the arrival of powerful industrial fleets in the closed sea of the Mediterranean.”
Under terms of the UN convention, an EEZ gives a coastal state the right to regulate fishing activities, explore and exploit all natural resources within the zone’s waters, seabed and subsoil. States have the right to determine the fish catch and deliver licenses within their EEZ, while working to prevent over-exploitation in concert with regional and international organizations. France’s national fisheries committee welcomed the move, saying it would give “the means to exercise controls, even if we are not talking about shutting down any fisheries.”
Until now, very few countries have declared exclusive zones in the Mediterranean. Were all coastal states to do so, every point in the sea would fall under one or the other state’s jurisdiction, Borloo said France hoped to see more countries decree EEZ’s within the framework of the Union for the Mediterranean “and for us to have a debate among ourselves for the total protection of the Mediterranean.”
Launched in Paris a year ago, the 43 member grouping aims to foster cooperation in one of the world’s most volatile regions, with protecting marine resources one of its main stated goals.
Is The Roundscale Spearfish Actually The Mysterious “Hatchet Marlin”?
The answer to the question is both yes and no. Anglers for years have been talking about an additional species of billfish very similar to white marlin that had squared off dorsal and anal fins. Scientists have now determined that there is some variability in fin shape in both white marlin and roundscale spearfish, and that both species are capable of having squared off dorsal and anal fins. So, anglers that have reported seeing “hatchet marlin” may have really seen white marlin or roundscale spearfish.
How Can You Tell The Difference Between White Marlin and Roundscale Spearfish?
Roundscale spearfish and white marlin are very similar in appearance. However, if you can get close to the fish there are several characteristics that can allow you to tell them apart.
The first and most important characteristic is the location of the vent or anus relative to the anal fin. In all spearfish, the anus lies roughly six inches in front of the beginning of the anal fin. In marlin, the anus is much closer to the anal fin; generally three inches or less.
The branchiostegals, or boney filaments that support the tissue just under the gills, are much longer in roundscale spearfish. In white marlin they only come halfway between the preopercle and the opercle, or edge of the gill cover, while in roundscale spearfish they come much closer to the edge of the opercle.
Did You Know?
- Total annual commercial blue shark catch in the North Atlantic: 84,000 tons
Amount of blue sharks released: 57,000 ton
Amount of dead discards: 20,000 tons- Chondrichthyan fishes (sharks, rays, and chimaeras) have a perceived higher intrinsic risk of extinction compared to other fish.
Around 52% of chondrichthyans have been IUCN red-listed compared to only 8% of all marine teleosts.
- Small pelagic forage fish species (anchovies, herring, mackerel, sardines, etc.) represent the largest landed species group in commercial fisheries (27.3 million tons or 29.7% of total capture fisheries landings in 2006).
- Between 1996 and 2006 Hawaiian longline catch rates for apex predators such as blue shark, bigeye tuna and albacore tuna, shortbill spearfish, and striped marlin declined by 3% to 9% per year.
- The scalloped hammerhead shark population in the western North Atlantic Ocean is estimated to be 17% of what it had been in 1981, that is, it has been depleted by about 83%
For more information about the IGFA contact them at: HQ@igfa.org or at www.igfa.org.
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