Federal Government May Limit Krill Fishing - SF Chronicle

[hatrack]

Hey, good idea! Let's consider a study to think about stopping people from fishing out the zooplankton base of the ocean food chain!

:eyes:

Federal regulators are considering for the first time a West Coast ban on fishing for some of the ocean's tiniest creatures, the shrimplike krill that support a vast food web of fish, seabirds and whales. After warming ocean waters and a drop in krill numbers last spring set off a domino effect of sea life deaths, a group that advises the U.S. Department of Commerce on fishing regulations is expected today to limit the fishing of krill in federal waters, 200 miles from shore.

Regulations approved by the 19-member Pacific Fishery Management Council, which represents federal and state resource agencies, sport and commercial fishing interests and Native American tribes, are typically adopted by the Commerce Department. If approved, the rules could go into effect by September. The few krill fisheries in the world operate in the Antarctic, British Columbia and Japan. Krill are used in fish food, but the supply doesn't meet the demand. In 2003, California, Oregon and Washington started banning the netting of krill in state waters, which lie 3 miles out to sea. Krill fishing is already prohibited in federal waters off Alaska.

Fish-farming companies like to put dried krill in the feed of farmed salmon. Without krill in their diets, the aquaculture salmon appear grayish, a color unappetizing to consumers. When fish farms use natural additives to make salmon pink, they have to label it, sometimes discouraging potential buyers.

Scientists first considered protecting krill in May after they linked the drop in numbers to the thousands of seabirds washing up dead in northern waters. On the Farallon Islands, bird biologists reported a halt in nesting of the Cassin's and rhinoceros auklets and some cormorant and murre species. The malnourished condition of marine mammals along the coast was also correlated with the scarcity of krill.

EDIT

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/08/BAGFLHJJ8563.DTL

[aquart]

1. Dan Shields of Aquarium Stock Company, Inc. (about 35 years ago)

read a newspaper blurb about an overabundance of krill due to heavy whale fishing. He thought, "Fish food?" He phoned around, and got a freeze-drying company in asia to send him a sample of freeze-dried krill. First he had to talk them into going out and getting the krill. The sample was amazing. Even a depressed piranha began wagging its tail for freeze-dried krill. Aqua-Stock then introduced the krill under their label. That's how krill began to be used for fish food.

I thought it would be nice if he got some credit for it.