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Fish
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1982 |
The jellyfish-like creature, Mnemiopsis leidyi, arrived in Black Sea, probably in the ballast water of a cargo ship, and began to devastate the ecology of the almost closed ecosystem. Links: Black Sea, Environment, Fish 
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1983 Feb 13 1983 Feb 14 |
The Americus and Altair fishing boats sank in the Bering Sea and 14 fishermen from Anacortes, Wa., died. In 1998 Patrick Dillon authored "Lost At Sea," an account of the tragedy. Links: USA, Washington, Fish
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1983 Jul |
The Tuna Task Force (TTF) issued a draft plan of management. It contained 14 recommendations, the most important of which include the use of catch-quotas, minimum limits on fish-size, limited-entry and further limits on purse-seine operations. It was proposed that the plan should come into effect at the beginning of the 1983-84 fishing season (on 1 October 1993). Because of difficulties in reaching agreement on all aspects, this target was not achieved. Australia, New Zealand and Iceland pioneered Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs) for commercial fisheries. Links: Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Fish
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1983 |
Concrete and steel from the press boxes in the old Gator Bowl stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., ended up as a reef in the Atlantic Ocean. Links: USA, Environment, Florida, Football, Fish
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1983 |
Felix Smith, biologist for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, discovered the first selenium deformed birds at the Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge in Merced County, Ca. Links: USA, California, Environment, Fish
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1984 Feb 23 |
Two oceanic conservation groups reported that SF Bay Area fishermen have caught only 10-12% of their 10,000 ton herring quota as they passed more than halfway through the fishing season. Quotas had doubled since 1977 and they were concerned that the herring stocks may be at the point of no return. The herring was harvested primarily for their roe, which fetched up to $500 a ton and was eagerly sought by Japanese consumers. Links: USA, Food, SF Bay Area, Fish
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1984 Mar 26 |
US Congress established the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to distribute funds for wildlife and environmental projects. Links: USA, Fish
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1984 |
The Monterey Bay Aquarium opened in Monterey, Ca. Links: USA, California, Fish
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1985 |
In Pensacola, Florida, Jimmy Louis Howard began the Mullet Toss competition. The winning throw in 1996 was 177 ft. and the event drew 50,000 people. Links: USA, Florida, Fish, Games
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1985 |
The Ministry of Fisheries in Peru estimated that 9,700 dolphins were killed and sold as “chancho marino” i.e. sea pig. Links: Peru, Fish
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1986 |
The Bahamas banned fishing on its coral reefs. Links: Bahamas, Fish
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1986 |
The European Ruffe fish was first noticed in the Duluth harbor on Lake Michigan. Links: USA, Minnesota, Fish
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1987 Jan 17 |
Hans Fricke on an undersea expedition off the east coast of Africa at a 180 meters from Grande Comore’s west coast found and filmed a coelacanth fish at a depth of 198 meters. Links: Comoros, Fish
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1987 |
The EU inked its first fishing deal with Mauritania. Links: EU, Mauritania, Fish
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1988 |
The world’s seafood supply peaked at 34 pounds a person per year. In 2001 the supply fell to 25 pounds per person per year. Links: Food, Fish
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1989 |
Tooru Joe Kanazawa (d.2002 at 95) authored "Sushi and Sourdough," a glimpse into the world of Japanese immigrants in Alaska’s salmon canneries in the 1920s. Links: USA, Japan, Alaska, Fish
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1989 |
The world fish catch peaked at 86.4 million metric tons. Links: Fish
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1990 Apr 10 |
H.J. Heinz said it would not sell tuna caught in nets that also trap dolphins. Links: USA, Food, Fish
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1990 Jun |
At Cunningham Lake near Omaha a fisherman caught a 2-pound black piranha. Links: USA, Nebraska, Fish
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1990 |
An int’l. agreement set limits on human harvesting of krill at 9 million tons a year. By 1997, the krill population were markedly depleted and new limits were considered. Links: Environment, Fish
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1990 |
A study by the US National Academy of Sciences indicated that shrimp fishing was responsible for the death of some 50,000 sea turtles in US waters each year. Links: USA, Fish, Reptile
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1990 |
A US law allowed a dolphin-safe label for cans of tuna not netted with dolphins. A 1997 amendment allowed the label for tuna harvested with encircling nets if observers witnessed no dolphins harmed. Links: USA, Fish
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1990 |
The killing and selling of dolphins became illegal in Peru, and the market went underground. Links: Peru, Fish
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1991 Oct 1993 |
From Oct. of ‘91-1993 Pfiesteria piscicida dinoflagellates were linked to major fish kills that occurred in the Neuse and Pamlico Rivers (North Carolina), which empty into the Albemarle-Pamlico Sound, the second largest estuary on the US mainland. The microbe continued to plague the Chesapeake Bay region into 1997. Links: USA, Environment, Fish
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1991 |
Exxon Corp. entered into a secret deal with seven Seattle fish processors whereby it agreed to pay $70 mil to settle oil-spill claims from the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, in return quick settlement. However the processors had to agree to return to Exxon most of any punitive damages that might be awarded. The secret deal did not become public until 1996. Links: USA, Oil, Washington, Fish
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1991 |
An estimated one billion Atlantic menhaden fish died in the Neuse River of North Carolina and had to be bulldozed off the beach. The culprit was later identified as the dinoflagellate Pfiesteria piscicida. Links: Microbiology, North Carolina, Fish
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1992 |
US federal law outlawed the commercial fishing of Coho salmon off the Pacific coast. Links: USA, Fish
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1992 |
Canada closed the Grand Banks off of Newfoundland to all cod fishing. Links: Canada, Fish
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1993 |
The national marine Fisheries Services announced that of 157 commercially valuable fish species in the US, 36% were over fished and 44% were fished at the maximum level. Links: USA, Fish
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1993 |
Shark finning was banned in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico by the US Sec. of Commerce due to serious overfishing. Links: USA, Fish
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1994 Nov 16 |
The UN Law of the Sea, ratified in 1993, took effect. Arvid Pardo (d.1999 at 85), Maltese delegate to the UN, proposed in 1967 that the bounty of the sea should be considered "the common heritage of mankind" and asked that some of the sea's wealth be used to bankroll a fund to help close the gap between rich and poor nations. The International Seabed Authority came into existence as the law took effect. The first Secretary-General of the Authority, Satya Nandan (Fiji) was elected in March 1996, and the Authority became fully operational as an autonomous international organization in June 1996, when it took over the premises and facilities in Kingston, Jamaica. The UN Law of the Sea treaty, which extended internationally recognized territorial waters to 200 miles offshore, came into force one year after the sixtieth state, Guyana, signed it. Links: Malta, Environment, UN, Jamaica, Fiji, Fish
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1994 |
Fresh water fish from Japan, known as Medaka, became the first vertebrate creatures to successfully mate in space. Links: Japan, Space, Fish
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1994 |
In Thailand The Pak Mun Dam along the Mun River, a major tributary of the Mekong, was completed with money from the World Bank. It is a 56 foot high, 984 foot long wall of concrete and severely impacted fish life on the river. Links: Thailand, World Bank, Fish, Banking
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1994 |
Pike were discovered in Lake Davis (b.1964) in Plumas County, Ca. Over the next 10 years some $15 million was spent in attempts to eradicate the fish. Links: USA, California, Fish
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1995 Oct |
The Panama Declaration was signed by the US and 11 other tuna-producing countries. It permitted the purse seigning method with mandates that the fisherman assist dolphins in escaping from their tuna nets. Links: Panama, USA, Fish
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1995 |
During the summer and fall ten million fish were killed in the Neuse River of North Carolina by an unusual once-celled dinoflagellate, Pfiesteria piscicida. Links: USA, Microbiology, North Carolina, Fish
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1995 |
Mexico’s Pres. Ernesto Zedillo signed a law creating the Cabo Pulmo National Marine Reserve off the Baha Peninsula in the Gulf of California. Links: Environment, Mexico, Fish
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1995 |
Alaska’s halibut fisherman decided to privatize their fishery by dividing up their annual quota into “catch shares,” that were owned in perpetuity by each fisherman. Links: USA, Alaska, Fish
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1996 May |
In Nicaragua a Fishing Defense Plan was created after pirates attacked 23 fishing boats in coastal waters. Links: Nicaragua, Fish
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1996 Jun 27 |
Mollie Beattie (1947-1996), head of the US Fish and Wildlife Service from 1993, died. Links: USA, Fish
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1996 Jul 6 |
It was reported that a Brazilian fisherman, Nathon do Nascimento, choked to death when a 6-inch fish jumped out of the water and into his throat during a long yawn. Links: Brazil, Fish
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1996 Jul 10 |
A report by TRAFFIC, a global wildlife trade monitoring group reported that 20 million sea horses are caught and traded each year. China was estimated to import 20 tons each year for use in traditional medicines. Sea horse populations in the Indo-Pacific region have fallen over 50% in the last 5 years. Sea horses mate for life and if one of a couple is caught, the other refuses to breed again. Links: China, Environment, Fish, Sociology
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1996 Oct 4 |
In New Zealand the government agreed to settle the biggest land claim ever filed by indigenous Maoris. The Ngai Tahu people would receive land and cash worth $117 million and regain some fishing rights. The Maoris number about 12% of the country’s 3.6 million people. Links: New Zealand, Fish
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1996 Nov 20 |
San Francisco began posting signs along its waterfront to warn fisherman of health hazards from fish caught in the Bay. Links: SF, SF Bay Area, Fish
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1996 |
California Fish and Game officials closed fishing for white, pink and green abalone. A year later a moratorium on commercial and sport catches for all abalone species south of SF was imposed due to dwindling numbers from excess harvesting. Links: USA, California, Fish
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1997 Mar 1 |
At Spring Lake near Santa Rosa, Ca., Paul Duclos caught a 24-pound largemouth bass, photographed it, weighed it and released it. The official record was a 22-pound, 4-ounce bass caught in Montgomery Lake, Ga. To be official the fish has to be killed, properly weighed and certified by the Int’l. Gamefish Assoc. Links: California, Fish
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1997 Apr 25 |
The Clinton administration extended the area over which the northwest coast silvery Coho salmon is considered a "threatened" species. Links: USA, Fish, ClintonB
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1997 May 31 |
It was reported that more than 60 monk seals were killed from eating fish that had ingested a toxic algae off of Mauritania’s Atlantic coast. It was estimated that only some 350 of the monk seals were left worldwide. Links: Animal, Mauritania, Fish
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1997 Jun 26 |
It was reported that there was a sharp decline of Antarctic krill, the basic food of many fish, whales and penguins. An explosion of tiny marine animals called salps that love warmer waters was also observed. Links: Antarctica, Fish
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1997 Jul 21 |
In Canada fishermen released the Malaspina ferry, a blocked Alaska-bound ship at Prince Rupert. They were protesting US fishing of sockeye salmon heading for spawning in British Columbia. Links: Canada, USA, Fish
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1997 Aug 6 |
It was reported that residents of 47 states faced warnings not to eat certain types of freshwater fish due to pollution. The EPA said that some 2,200 fish consumption advisories were in effect in the US and that 15% of the nation’s lakes and 5% of the rivers were covered by the advisory. Links: USA, Environment, Fish
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1997 Aug 11 |
Steelhead trout of the west coast was added to the federal list of imperiled species. Links: USA, Fish
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1997 Sep 25 |
In California it was reported that traces of toxaphene, banned in 1982, were found in at least one bird in a southern Tulare County canal where some 1600 western grebes and millions of fish were found dead. Links: USA, California, Environment, Fish, Birds
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1997 Oct 13 |
It was reported that the California State Fish and Game Dept. planned to use the piscicide Nusyn-Noxfish, which contains rotenone, to destroy all the fish in Lake Davis in Plumas County in order to rid the lake of the non-indigenous pike. The people of the county protested the use of the poison in particular because of the dispersant, trichloroethylene (TCE), used to make rotenone mix with water. The lake was dosed Oct 15 and 7 protestors were arrested. In 1998 trace amounts of piperonyl butoxide (POB) were still present the planting of new fish was delayed. In 1998 the state agreed to pay $9 million to settle claims from the poisoning which devastated tourism. In 1999 2 northern pike were fished from the lake as well as catfish that had apparently survived the poisoning. From 2000-2007 some 60,500 pike were caught in the lake. In 2007 wildlife officials planned a new attempt to wipe out the pike. Links: USA, California, Environment, Fish
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1997 Nov 10 |
A report on the Black Sea told of the disappearance of 20 0f 26 commercial fish species since 1970. Industry, agriculture and fishing practices caused a collapse of the Black Sea ecosystem in the late 1980s. The Monk seal was reported near extinction, dolphins and porpoises were reported down to 250,000 from 1 million in the 1970s, and blue mussels were in serious decline due to pollution. Links: Black Sea, Environment, Animal, Fish
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1997 |
In New Delhi, India, the World Fisheries Forum was founded by a group of owner-operated fishermen whose aim was to push for human rights and social justice in the fishing industry. In 1999 they met in Point Montara, California. Links: India, California, Fish
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1997 |
Mobile phones were introduced in Kerala, India. By 2000 fisherman were using them to call coastal markets while at sea to find the best price for their catch. Links: India, Telecom, Fish
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1998 Jan 13 |
It was reported that bycatch (unintended catch that is discarded) from overfishing depletes the world’s oceans of 20 million tons a year, or roughly one of every four pounds caught. This wasted bycatch is equivalent to about 10 pounds of food for every person on Earth. Links: Food, Fish
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1998 May 21 |
Canada ordered major cuts in the catch of Coho salmon on the West Coast due to declining stocks,. Fishing on the Skeena and Thompson River runs was banned and US officials were urged to take similar action. Links: Canada, USA, Fish
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1998 Jun 5 |
Some 70,000 white bass at the Cheney Reservoir west of Wichita had died over the past week from unexplained causes. The reservoir in the north fork of the Ninnescah River was the main drinking water source for Wichita. Links: Kansas, Fish
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