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Global Fish Crisis: Still Waters_National Geographic magazine, 04/2007 154 images Created 1 Apr 2021

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  • Fish are laid out to dry in a fisherman’s village right at the edge of the ocean in St. Louis, Senegal.  Atlantic bumpers are a crucial food source in Africa.<br />
<br />
Also known as Atlantic Carangid, Bumper, Goggle-eye, Little Bumper, Pacific Bumper, Plato, Rooter, Spanish Mackerel, Trevally, Yellowtail, Yellowtail Bumper.<br />
<br />
Found singly, over soft bottoms, of the continental shelf, or in schools, near the surface of estuaries and coastal lagoons.<br />
They feed on cephalopods, detritus, small fish, and zooplankton.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1055378-3.JPG
  • In villages between Lake Victoria and the Serengeti Ecosystem, truckloads of rotting fish carcasses are driven to the local markets and sold. <br />
<br />
The filets were cut off in the processing plants in Musoma and shipped to Europe overnight, and Africans get only the bones. <br />
<br />
This is a cotton production region and these people have just sold their crops.  They have money to buy good food, but don’t have the option to buy their own fish from their own lakes.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1055372.JPG
  • Hanging cages hold reef fish to be transported to China and Hong Kong.    <br />
<br />
These cages are located just off the coast of Bimi, Indonesia. Initially reef fish only came from the South China Sea, but transport developed and fish now come from all over S.E. Asia. The fish are often used for celebratory meals in Hong Kong, but in Guangzhou the fish are so cheap and the apartments are so small that many people eat out. And the stereotype is that there is lots of food left on the table.  Often a fish is popular because of its color more than its taste.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057948.JPG
  • Shrimp fishermen lay their nets in the waters off of Senegal. Women process fish on the shore at Karountine, northwest of Ziguinchor.  A growing number of Africans live on the coast because the ocean is one of the last sources for protein available. <br />
<br />
Authorities have attempted to get rid of this village, but since fishing is the most important aspect of St. Louis, the community has fought off the government to stay here.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057917.JPG
  • Women process fish on shore at Karountine, northwest of Ziguinchor. <br />
<br />
People in the beach community in Saint Louis, Senegal refused to leave although they are pressured to move by authorities.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057913.JPG
  • Senegalese artisanal fishermen are miles out to sea in the waters off of Dakar in a pirogue or canoe. With a warm upwelling and perfect nutrient conditions, the Senegal coast is the last of the wild west of fisheries. Senegalese look to the ocean for protein where the Mauritanians to the north look to the desert. Senegalese often raid Mauritanian fishing grounds.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057959.JPG
  • Sweeper fish swarm in the waters off of Banta Island in Indonesia. The global trade in live reef fish may top a billion dollars a year with many species captured by cyanide or traps. Use of dynamite to kill reef fish increases the toll taken by the live trade.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057869.JPG
  • Artisanal fishermen off the coast of Tanga, Tanzania drop their traps to sell their catch to a Spanish company, “Sea Products.” Sea Products moves octopus, squid, and cuttlefish to Europe, mostly Italy and Greece. Yet, the east coast of Africa can't feed their own countries with fish. <br />
<br />
“If you buy fish in a store, do you know where it comes from?” asks a recent UN report on the alarming 100 percent rise in fishing piracy over the past decade. “It might be stolen from the poor. It could even have cost lives.”
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057950.JPG
  • Fish carcasses Vigo, Spain in the largest biomass fish shipping port in the world and is  home to the first fish auction.<br />
<br />
Swordfish and sharks are hauled in by heavy machinery and by hand. Both species are down to 10 percent of their historic numbers. One of the world’s busiest seafood ports, Vigo auctions half a million tons of fish daily. As Europe’s largest fishing nation, Spain’s people consume 80 pounds of seafood per capita, 50 per cent higher than Europe’s average. Lower fish stocks have caused a 20-year decline in Spain’s catch.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057953.JPG
  • Live reef fish in a tank at a Chinese seafood restaurant. Indonesian reefs are dynamited and cyanide is used to kill entire reefs of fish so a Chinese customer can point to a fish in an aquarium and say “I’d like that one for dinner.” <br />
<br />
Although believed to be the freshest available, fish are transported on a long journey in antibiotic soup to reach the restaurant. Black tip grouper, not threatened, swim in tanks in a Guangzhou restaurant near waiters and diners.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1055383.JPG
  • Fish are unloaded at the world's largest biomass fish shipping port.<br />
A swordfish is brought ashore in Vigo, Spain, one of the busiest seafood ports, handling about 675,000 metric tons of fish a year. <br />
<br />
Lower stocks of commercial species such as Atlantic cod and hake have caused a steady decline over the past five years for Spain’s fleets, which receive the EU’s heaviest subsidies. <br />
<br />
Yet Spain’s—and Europe’s—appetite for fish keeps growing. The EU is the world’s largest market, taking in 40 percent of all imported fish, with a large chunk coming from developing countries. Spaniards consume a hundred pounds (45 kilograms) of seafood a year per person, nearly double the European average and exceeded only by Lithuanians and Portuguese.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1055373.JPG
  • Swordfish is haplessly thrown into a corner of a market in the town of Zhapo China. These fish are often used for celebratory meals in Hong Kong.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057862.JPG
  • Vigo, Spain has the largest biomass fish shipping port in the world and it is the home of the first fish auction.  Sharks are hauled in by heavy machinery and by hand. The species is down to 10 percent of historic numbers.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057954.JPG
  • Atlantic bumpers are a crucial food source in Africa. A tide of protein comes ashore on Senegal’s coast where the Sahara meets the sea. <br />
<br />
Fishermen often catch so many of these Atlantic bumpers that some days they take only half their boats out to fish. Such grass roots conservation is heartening. But even at the local level, global demand for fish continues to rise: 60 per cent of the world’s population lives within 40 miles of the sea.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1055378-2.JPG
  • Senegalese fishermen haul in nets loaded with fish. With competition intensifying to supply mostly European markets, fishing grounds off West Africa are going the way of Europe’s: toward depletion. These Senegalese, who had hoped to catch desirable export species such as shrimp or sole, will throw away the fish in their nets—wasting valuable protein for Africa.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1055376.JPG
  • Workers transport laundry baskets full of jellyfish at a Zhapo, China fishery. They fish on cloudy days when they can see masses of jelly from their boats.  A cultural difference; the Chinese like to eat jellyfish because of the texture.<br />
Although low on the food chain, jellyfish thrive and are an important substitute food source as the other species decline.<br />
<br />
Salted and dried jellyfish, however, have long been considered a delicacy by the Chinese. Fish ecologists say where stocks of large fish collapse, jellyfish proliferate, impeding recovery of stocks by feeding on larvae and eggs. They also compete for food such as zooplankton.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1055370.JPG
  • Markets line the streets of the Senegal fishing village of Saint Louis on the edge of the Pacific Ocean.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057938.JPG
  • Atlantic bumpers are a crucial food source in Senegal and elsewhere in Africa, where 200 million people depend largely on seafood for their animal protein. Worldwide, fish sustain one billion people, many of them poor. As pressure on stocks increases, the challenge for developing countries—whose share of fish production is projected to increase to 81 percent by 2015—is to balance the need for revenue with the need for food.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1055378-1.JPG
  • Foreign factory trawlers at the port of Dakar are loaded with fish caught by artisanal fishermen. The EU brings in 350 million dollars a year for fish.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057961.JPG
  • The Yumin Restaurant in Guangzhou is a huge, live reef fish restaurant employing 400 Chinese chefs that has live crocodiles on the floor of the mall-like area. The crocs’ mouths are taped shut, and they will be meals soon, but people just walk by, talking on their cell phones, not paying attention and tripping over live, hissing, charging crocodiles. The pricey, exotic meat—steamed, braised, or stewed—is believed to cure cough and prevent cancer. “People don’t care about the cost,” says manager Wang Jianfei, “they just care about health.”
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1143433.TIF
  • Blurred motion of a surgeonfish in colorful reef off of Komodo Island in Indonesia.<br />
Surgeonfishes are small-scaled, with a single dorsal fin and one or more distinctive, sharp spines that are located on either side of the tail base and can produce deep cuts. They are primarily algae eaters.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058015.JPG
  • Vigo has the largest biomass fish shipping port in the world. Swordfish and tuna are the greatest catches and are in decline from overfishing.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057882.JPG
  • Icelandic fishermen use the open air to dry fish heads. They salvage waste from fish factories.<br />
<br />
The Icelandic "hardfiskur" or dried fish has been very popular with Icelanders throughout the centuries. Providing Icelanders with a healthy snack that's full of protein and nutrients. The Icelandic fishing grounds are also without a doubt among the purest in the world.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057957.JPG
  • A woman cooks a pot of octopi over an open fire for the Octopus Festival in Spain.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057885.JPG
  • Bloodied baby shark fish carcasses are caught and transported to shore on a factory trawler in Senegal.<br />
<br />
Sharks are in decline from overfishing.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057965.JPG
  • An aerial view of lighted docks in Vestmannaeyjar Harbor which hosts large boats and trawlers for the fishing industry in Iceland.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057897.JPG
  • Workers transport laundry baskets full of jellyfish at a fishery. They fish on cloudy days when they can see the masses of jelly from their boats.  A cultural difference; the Chinese like to eat jellyfish because of the texture.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057859.JPG
  • Icelandic fishermen use the open air to dry cod heads on racks, and the protein is sent to Nigeria.<br />
<br />
The Icelandic "hardfiskur" or dried fish has been very popular with Icelanders throughout the centuries. Providing Icelanders with a healthy snack that's full of protein and nutrients. The Icelandic fishing grounds are among the purest in the world.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1055375.JPG
  • Hookah divers searching for lobsters off the coast of Indonesia.<br />
Lobster is considered the cockroach of the ocean.  It will survive on anything and is often all that is left after a reef has been ravaged by the live reef trade.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1055371.JPG
  • On a fish factory trawler, a fisherman watches tv for entertainment while taking a break in the galley.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057964-2.JPG
  • Fish swim around the hanging cages holding reef fish before transport to China and Hong Kong.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057868.JPG
  • Hanging cages hold lobsters being harvested off the coast of Palau Misa in Indonesia.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057870.JPG
  • Workers lift a frozen coelacanth fish that is being transported to a museum. Coelacanths are the fossil fish that bridge the gap between fish and the mammals that left the sea to walk on land.  Their fins become legs.<br />
<br />
70 million years old, scientists previously considered the fish long extinct. In 1938, however, a fishing trawler brought up a live specimen. Since then more than 100 living coelacanths, remarkably unchanged since the Cretaceous period, have been caught off the coast of South Africa.<br />
<br />
The coelacanth is classified as vulnerable by the World Conservation Union (also known as the IUCN), an international organization that maintains a global list of vulnerable and endangered species called the Red List. A vulnerable classification means that the species faces a high risk of extinction in the near future.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057871.JPG
  • Surgeonfish aggregate on the north coast of Komodo Island swimming in clear waters in Indonesia.<br />
Surgeonfishes are small-scaled, with a single dorsal fin and one or more distinctive, sharp spines that are located on either side of the tail base and can produce deep cuts. They are primarily algae eaters.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058018-6.JPG
  • Surgeonfish aggregate on the north coast of Komodo Island.<br />
Surgeonfishes are small-scaled, with a single dorsal fin and one or more distinctive, sharp spines that are located on either side of the tail base and can produce deep cuts. They are primarily algae eaters.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058018-5.JPG
  • Surgeonfish aggregate on the north coast of Komodo Island.<br />
Surgeonfishes are small-scaled, with a single dorsal fin and one or more distinctive, sharp spines that are located on either side of the tail base and can produce deep cuts. They are primarily algae eaters.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058018-3.JPG
  • Surgeonfish aggregate on the north coast of Komodo Island.<br />
Surgeonfishes are small-scaled, with a single dorsal fin and one or more distinctive, sharp spines that are located on either side of the tail base and can produce deep cuts. They are primarily algae eaters.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058018-2.JPG
  • Surgeonfish aggregate on the north coast of Komodo Island.<br />
Surgeonfishes are small-scaled, with a single dorsal fin and one or more distinctive, sharp spines that are located on either side of the tail base and can produce deep cuts. They are primarily algae eaters.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058018-1.JPG
  • Surgeonfish aggregate on the north coast of Komodo Island.<br />
Surgeonfishes are small-scaled, with a single dorsal fin and one or more distinctive, sharp spines that are located on either side of the tail base and can produce deep cuts. They are primarily algae eaters.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058018.JPG
  • Hanging cages hold reef fish before transport to China and Hong Kong. Colorful fish also swim freely around the cages.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057868-1.JPG
  • Artisanal fishermen in colorful small boats work the waters off of Mbour in Senagal.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057901.JPG
  • A woman pulls a heavily loaded cart full of baskets transporting tuna for further processing in oceanside village.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057861.JPG
  • Hanging cages hold reef fish to be transported to China and Hong Kong. The nets capture a variety of fish and marine life extracted from the ocean.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057948-1.JPG
  • Chinese workers gather to talk on a fishing boat at port of Zhapo.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057995.JPG
  • A black tip reef shark swims in an aquarium at a seafood restaurant in China.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057867.JPG
  • A seafood restaurant in Guangzhou serves reef fish that swim in an aquarium in the dining area for patrons to see the fresh fish.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057858.JPG
  • Photographer Randy Olson stands in a slippery sea of jellyfish to make images of workers at a fishery in China..
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057998.JPG
  • Photographer Randy Olson takes images inside the Ocean Park Aquarium in Hong Kong.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057851.JPG
  • Arranged stacks of Atlantic bumpers dry on racks. The fish are a crucial food source in Africa.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1055378-4.JPG
  • Atlantic bumpers are a crucial food source in Africa. Worldwide, fish sustain one billion people. Fish drying on racks appear to swim across the sand in Senegal.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1055378.JPG
  • A typical fishing family enjoys a meal of Spanish paella with rice mussels and other seafood. One of the world's busiest seafood ports, Vigo, auctions half a million tons of fish daily contributing to pressures on marine life with fish stocks in decline.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1055374.JPG
  • Truckloads of rotting fish carcasses are sold to local markets in Africa after meatier parts of the fish are processed for European markets.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1055372-1.JPG
  • The ZHAPO Live Seafood Wholesale Market where vendors display catch in aquariums in China.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058007-21-25.JPG
  • Fuselier fish that aggregate on the east coast of Komodo are members of the Caesionidae family. Distributed in the Indo-West Pacific water, they are marine fishes that inhabit mostly on coral reefs. Fusiliers can be recognized by their protractile small mouth and deeply forked caudal fin.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058007-20.JPG
  • Fuselier fish that aggregate on the east coast of Komodo are members of the Caesionidae family. Distributed in the Indo-West Pacific water, they are marine fishes that inhabit mostly on coral reefs. Fusiliers can be recognized by their protractile small mouth and deeply forked caudal fin.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058007-21.JPG
  • A diver surfaces off the coast of Komodo Island in Indonesia.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058016.JPG
  • Boatloads of Senegalese fishermen return from setting nets all night.The nation’s fleet of small boats, unregulated until recently, hauls in 80 percent of the catch and supplies about 60 percent of the export market. Senegal’s commercial vessels, foreign fleets from Europe and Asia, and pirate fishing boats add to the pressure; the country’s annual harvest declined.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057932.JPG
  • The fishing village of Saint Louis on the edge of the Pacific Ocean. A maze of lines hooked up to a tall pole on the beach provide electricity to homes.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057941.JPG
  • On a fish factory trawler, ocean-fairing workers process the catch while onboard. The captain of this trawler is Francisco who worked in Newfoundland before cod was all fished out.  His factory trawler flies a Senegalese flag and can hold 140 tons of fish/Octopus which usually fills the boat in about 21 days at sea.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057964.JPG
  • On a fish factory trawler, ocean-fairing workers process the catch while onboard. The captain of this trawler is Francisco who worked in Newfoundland before cod was all fished out. His factory trawler flies a Senegalese flag and can hold 140 tons of fish/Octopus which usually fills the boat in about 21 days at sea.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057962-1.JPG
  • On a fish factory trawler, ocean-fairing workers process the catch while onboard. The captain of this trawler is Francisco who worked in Newfoundland before cod was all fished out. His factory trawler flies a Senegalese flag and can hold 140 tons of fish/Octopus which usually fills the boat in about 21 days at sea.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057962.JPG
  • A satellite dish in the fishing village of Pulau Misa has living quarters for live reef fish divers as well as structures out on the water that hold nets for live reef fish. <br />
The reefs in many areas are laid bare to supply Chinese restaurants with live fish. The global trade in live reef fish may top a billion dollars a year, with many species captured by cyanide or traps. Use of dynamite to kill reef fish increases the toll taken by the live trade.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057949.JPG
  • Pelicans reach for fish in a bucket on a beach where artisanal fishermen work and live in Senegal.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057940.JPG
  • Surgeonfish aggregate on the north coast of Komodo Island.<br />
Surgeonfishes are small-scaled, with a single dorsal fin and one or more distinctive, sharp spines that are located on either side of the tail base and can produce deep cuts. They are primarily algae eaters.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058018-11.JPG
  • Surgeonfish aggregate on the north coast of Komodo Island.<br />
Surgeonfishes are small-scaled, with a single dorsal fin and one or more distinctive, sharp spines that are located on either side of the tail base and can produce deep cuts. They are primarily algae eaters.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058018-10.JPG
  • A couple kissing in the streets of downtown Reykjavik.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057890.JPG
  • Artisanal fishermen coming and going at the port of Kayar.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058066.JPG
  • Plastic, nets, and other pollution washes ashore on a Senegal beach.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058071.JPG
  • Over 5,000 meals of bluefin tuna are prepared at the Bonita Fesitiva in Spain.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057875.JPG
  • Laborers washing their hands at the Visir Fish Factory after hanging their gloves on a rack in Iceland.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057889.JPG
  • The sea captain and workers fish off of the Vetmannaeyjar Islands in Iceland.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057892.JPG
  • Fishing off of the Vetmannaeyjar Islands, an archipelago of 15 islands and 30 rock stacks off the South Coast of Iceland.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057893.JPG
  • A fish tangled in a net on board a fishing vessel off of the Vetmannaeyjar Islands, an archipelago of 15 islands and 30 rock stacks off the South Coast of Iceland.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057894.JPG
  • Canoe fishermen untangle fish from the nets while working in the waters off of Dakar.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057960.JPG
  • Artisanal fishermen set nets for live reef fish. Pulau is an island nation in the northern Pacific Ocean, located some 700 km east of the Philippines, perched on the Kyushu-Palau Ridge. The westernmost cluster of the Caroline Islands consists of 20 large islands and 566 smaller islands and is one of the world's youngest and least populated nations.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058029.JPG
  • Ocean spray on a fishing boar off of the Vetmannaeyjar Islands, an archipelago of 15 islands and 30 rock stacks off the South Coast of Iceland.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058060.JPG
  • Fish carcasses dry in the sun on a boat dock.<br />
<br />
Pulau is an island nation in the northern Pacific Ocean, located some 700 km east of the Philippines, perched on the Kyushu-Palau Ridge. The westernmost cluster of the Caroline Islands consists of 20 large islands and 566 smaller islands and is one of the world's youngest and least populated nations.<br />
<br />
Almost 90% of the world’s marine fish stocks are now fully exploited, overexploited or depleted.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058030.JPG
  • A diver swims with fish in the clear waters off of Palau Misa.<br />
<br />
Pulau is an island nation in the northern Pacific Ocean, located some 700 km east of the Philippines, perched on the Kyushu-Palau Ridge. The westernmost cluster of the Caroline Islands consists of 20 large islands and 566 smaller islands and is one of the world's youngest and least populated nations.<br />
<br />
Almost 90% of the world’s marine fish stocks are now fully exploited, overexploited or depleted.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058033.JPG
  • Fishermen on an octopus processing factory boat.<br />
<br />
Almost 90% of the world’s marine fish stocks are now fully exploited, overexploited or depleted, according to the UN.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058035.JPG
  • Senevisa fish processing plant in Dakar processes cuttlefish brought in from artisanal fishermen. The local market consumes only three percent of the production of this plant.<br />
<br />
Artesianal fishermen sell products like octopus, squid and cuttlefish. The prime fish and cuttlefish leave this plant in Styrofoam fresh packs at 5pm in Dakar and are at the Paris Orly airport at 6am.<br />
<br />
Fish follows the money – If the Japanese pay the most for cuttlefish then it is shipped there overnight.  Senevisa is the largest trawler/fish exporter working out of Senegal.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058037.JPG
  • Icelandic fishermen use the open air to dry cod heads.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058056.JPG
  • A restaurant owner ties a bib on a customer before he enjoy his meal of lobster in Spain where fish is a large part of their diet.<br />
<br />
Olga has the best seafood restaurant in Galicia, Spain.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057952.JPG
  • A restaurant owner selects a boiled lobster to serve. It is a favorite among her customers in Galicia, Spain.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057876.JPG
  • Shark fins and tails dry in the sun.<br />
Sharks are down to 10% of historical populations and a large reason for that is an appetite for shark fin soup in China and other parts of Asia.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058024.JPG
  • A worker at the Kwun Tong Wholesale Fish Market stretches after working long hours unloading a boat in a marina in Hong Kong. According to WWF figures, Hong Kong has the second-highest per-capita seafood consumption in Asia, and is the world’s eighth-largest seafood consumer.<br />
<br />
Damaged by decades of human activity, Hong Kong’s rich marine ecosystem requires concerted conservation effort to recover and flourish.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057946.JPG
  • A chef prepares a celebratory meal of whole reef fish. According to WWF figures, Hong Kong has the second-highest per-capita seafood consumption in Asia, and is the world’s eighth-largest seafood consumer.<br />
<br />
Damaged by decades of human activity, Hong Kong’s rich marine ecosystem requires concerted conservation effort.<br />
<br />
From large marine mammals such as dolphins and porpoises to an array of fishes, crustaceans and coral species, the range of sea-life found in Hong Kong’s waters is as captivating as it is diverse. But for many of the approximately 6,000 species that comprise the territory’s marine ecosystem, life is getting harder year after year. Affected by overfishing, heavy boat traffic, various forms of pollution, and habitat loss caused by coastal development, a growing number of creatures that once boasted healthy populations are now classified as vulnerable or endangered
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057848.JPG
  • A customer holding a large fish at the Guangzhou Fish Market.<br />
Tourists and locals shop from vendors who line their stalls with fresh catch at one of the largest fish markets in the world.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057981.JPG
  • Senevisa fish processing plant in Dakar processes cuttlefish brought in from artisanal fishermen. The local market consumes only three percent of the production of this plant.<br />
<br />
Artesianal fishermen sell products like octopus, squid and cuttlefish. The prime fish and cuttlefish leave this plant in Styrofoam fresh packs at 5pm in Dakar and are at the Paris Orly airport at 6am.<br />
<br />
Fish follows the money – If the Japanese pay the most for cuttlefish then it is shipped there overnight. Senevisa is the largest trawler/fish exporter working out of Senegal.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058070.JPG
  • Artisanal fishermen off the coast of Tanga paddles his catch to sell to a seafood exporter in Tanzania.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057873.JPG
  • The kitchen of a seafood restaurant in Hong Kong.<br />
<br />
According to WWF figures, Hong Kong has the second-highest per-capita seafood consumption in Asia, and is the world’s eighth-largest seafood consumer.<br />
<br />
Damaged by decades of human activity, Hong Kong’s rich marine ecosystem requires concerted conservation effort.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057975.JPG
  • Artisanal fishermen off the coast of Tanga load their small boat with nets full of fish to sell to a seafood exporter.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057872.JPG
  • A fisheries trawler coming into port loaded with catch that is depleting the sea.<br />
With a warm upwelling and perfect nutrient conditions, the Senegal coast is the last of the wild west of fisheries.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058067.JPG
  • A fisheries trawler coming into port. Overfishing is putting a strain on many species as these working boats net and haul large quantities out of the ocean faster than fish can recover.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058067-1.JPG
  • Live reef fish trade in the Sai Kung area of Hong Kong.  Dockside seafood can be chosen by customers to take to nearby restaurants where it is prepared for their dinner.
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  • Live reef fish trade in the Sai Kung area of Hong Kong.  According to WWF figures, Hong Kong has the second-highest per-capita seafood consumption in Asia, and is the world’s eighth-largest seafood consumer.<br />
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Damaged by decades of human activity, Hong Kong’s rich marine ecosystem requires concerted conservation effort.
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  • Workers transport laundry baskets full of jellyfish at a fishery.<br />
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Although low on the food chain, jellyfish thrive and are an important substitute food source as the other species decline.<br />
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Salted and dried jellyfish, however, have long been considered a delicacy by the Chinese. Fish ecologists say where stocks of large fish collapse, jellyfish proliferate, impeding recovery of stocks by feeding on larvae and eggs. They also compete for food such as zooplankton.
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  • As part of a pilot program, men test fish for disease at a fish farm.<br />
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The local Hong Kong aquaculture industry is also facing challenges from competition with imported aquatic food products and concern of fish and seafood safety.
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  • A family meal in Gandiol. Senegal’s national dish is thieboudienne.  Eaten from the salty coast to the arid heartland, thieboudienne literally means rice & fish and is a staple.  For a country known to produce some of the tallest and strongest people on earth, fish is an essential source of protein.
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  • Tourists take photographs of a shark swimming overhead inside Ocean Park Aquarium. The amusement park and oceanarium merges entertainment and education as well as conservation advocacy although it is criticized by wildlife advocates for practices including wild capture of dolphins and orcas.
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  • A street in Zhapo is reflected in a  restaurant fish tank that attracts people to select a fresh fish for dinner. <br />
Overfishing stresses aquatic populations of reef fish.
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