trawling – Southern Fried Science

The ongoing wonder of hagfish, deep-sea mining’s race to the bottom, saving whales with lineless lobster traps, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: January 21, 2019

January 21, 2019January 22, 2019 Andrew Thaler

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

It’s month two of the longest shutdown in US history and there’s only one party who won’t allow a vote to reopen the government proceed. Have you called you senator today?

The Shutdown Is Making the U.S. Less Prepared for Hurricane Season

And while I have your attention, FYI:

Thousands of Scientists Endorse Study Proclaiming Trump’s Border Wall a Disaster for Wildlife

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)3-D Printing the Ulitmate Deep-Sea Christmas Tree

Oceans Warming Faster Than Predicted, Scientists Say and Ocean Warming Is Accelerating Faster Than Thought, New Research Finds.
Ministry hints Putin’s Arctic ambitions are not realistic. There is unease in several Russian government ministries as officials start to understand that the President’s objectives for the Northern Sea Route can not be reached. The only way to please the president might be to expand the sea route itself.
Hagfish are so good. We don’t deserve hagfish.
- How hagfish launch slime missiles that swell 10,000 times in size.
- How hagfish can make enough slime to clog a shark’s jaws in seconds

Ancient fish farming and popular invasive species: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, October 18th 2018

October 18, 2018 David Shiffman

Uncategorized

Cuttings (short and sweet): Follow everyone in this amazing thread of twitter wildlife biologists started by David Steen. Ancient Egyptians farmed fish thousands of years ago. By the New Arab. This is a neat story about a new archaeological study, which tells us about ancient humans’ relationship with the sea. Fun fish festivals around the … Read More “Ancient fish farming and popular invasive species: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, October 18th 2018” »

Bottom trawling and the importance of plaice

July 27, 2010December 20, 2011 Andrew Thaler 7 Comments

Conservation, Science

“The commons petition the King, complaining that where in creeks and havens of the sea there used to be plenteous fishing, to the profit of the Kingdom, certain fishermen, for several years past have subtily contrived an instrument called the “wondyrechaun” made in the manner of an oyster dredge, but which is considerably longer, upon which instrument is attached a net so close meshed that no fish, be it ever so small which enters therein can escape, but must stay and be taken.

And that the great and long iron of the wondyrechaun runs so heavily and hardly over the ground when fishing that it destroys the flowers of the land below water there, and also the spat of oysters, mussels and other fish upon which the great fish are accustomed to be fed and nourished. By which instrument in many places, the fishermen take such quantity of small fish that they do not know what to do with them; and that they feed and fat their pigs with them, to the great damage of the commons of the realm and the destruction of the fisheries, and they pray for a remedy.”

Petition by the Commons to King Edward III, 1376 (from The Unnatural History of the Sea)

This petition, penned in 1376, reveals a depth of understanding that we often don’t attribute to 14th century fishermen. Habitat destruction, overfishing, bycatch, even common pool resources are all clearly described here. In it, the Commons protests a new and efficient, though inaccurate fishing tool, the ‘wondyrechaun’, and begs King Edward III to ban it. This is the first historical record of the ‘wondyrechaun’, what today is called a beam trawl. Everything you need to know to understand why the world’s fisheries are in trouble is contained within the single fact that, in 1376, at it’s very inception, the people begged the king to ban it’s use, and 700 years later, the beam trawl survives.