Deep Sea Fish Face Extinction

By Anonymous

Deep-sea fish are being taken to the brink of extinction because the dramatic collapse of shallow-water stocks is sending fishing trawlers further out to exploit deeper waters. Scientists writing in the journal Nature reviewed trawler logs for records of five deep sea by-catch species-the roundnose grenadier, onion-eye grenadier, blue hake, spiny eel and spinytail skate. Each of these species is long-lived, has a lifespan of about 60 years or more, and takes 20 years or more to reach sexual maturity – features which make them vulnerable to extinction when fished commercially.

Numbers of all five fish have plummeted by 87-98 per cent over the last 17 years. At present their numbers are at such low levels that they qualify for the World Conservation Union’s critically endangered list. If the decline continues at its current rate, these fish could become extinct over the next three generations. Lead researcher Jennifer Devine noted: ‘These are species no one really cares about, but they play a key role in the ecosystem. If nothing changes we could be facing barren oceans or oceans of fish we can’t utilise.’ Copyright Ecosystems Limited Feb 2006