Oceans without Fish
David Tharp
The Nippon Foundation
The Nippon Foundation
Tokyo Ocean Symposium--July 6
Indepth Articles
[Jun. 21, 2010]
The pelican below may not be counting the days until fish disappear from the sea, but his human fishing counterparts are definitely worried about it.
An international seminar of maritime experts will focus on this dilemma of future world fishery resources on 6 July at The Nippon Foundation.
A pelican contemplates his fishing future
At the symposium, four experts in ocean ecosystems from three different countries will consider ways that mankind can maintain the abundance of the ocean's resources for the next 30 years. This burning topic has been the subject of extensive discussions and conferences since last year at The Nippon Foundation.
The distinguished professors are:
- Dr Philippe Cury Director of the French Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement. Dr Cury's book, “An Ocean Without Fish – How We Can Give The Next Generation A Sea With Fish” has lent the symposium its title (Link in French)
- Dr Daniel Pauly Professor and former director of the University of British Columbia's Fisheries Centre
- Dr Nobuyuki Yagi Professor at Tokyo University (Link in Japanese and English)
- Dr Villy Christensen Professor at the University of British Columbia's Fisheries Centre
A March symposium that discussed views on conservation of marine resources
The Nippon Foundation has held a series of symposiums over the last year dealing with these issues:
- June 2009--"Will There Be Fish On The Table in 30 years?"
- December 2009--"The Future of Eel and Tuna Fishing"
- March 2010--"Overcoming The Looming Crisis on Our Dinner Table"
Japan imports as much fish as it produces domestically (6 million tons), but in order to cooperate internationally on fishery resources, it is necessary to bridge the gap of social and cultural differences with other nations.
That is one reason for inviting Dr Cury to the April 2010 symposium. His book “Oceans Without Fish” shocked the world with its predictions of vanishing fish stocks if a more ecologal way of thinking is not implemented throughout the world.
The men will discuss present ocean ecology from the scientific perspective, which holds that what is happening in the world’s oceans is a tragedy, not only because of the depletion of fishery resources, but also from the perspective of the growing environmental impact that uncontrolled pollution is having on the marine environment.