Randy Olson, Melissa Farlow Photography

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  • A brown bear photographed underwater while fishing. Bears thrive on salmon but compete with 137 species of fish, birds, and mammals that also depend on salmon as a main staple of their diet. <br />
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Grizzly bears gorge on rich protein of salmon for three months.  Though they munch on greens and berries, salmon are their main protein source and they fatten up before hibernating in the winter. <br />
<br />
Brown bears in Kamchatka can be 7 to 9 feet in length and weigh 700-800 pounds. Species: U. arctic Genus:Ursus<br />
<br />
Kamchatka has the highest density of brown bears in the world, with almost 15,000 on the peninsula.<br />
<br />
To make this photograph, which was selected as one of the best photographs in National Geographic, I had to be approximately six feet away from bears like this one that was charging into the water to try to catch a fish. The water in Duril Lake is murky, so I had to be close and shot this photograph with a 12mm lens.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1248221.TIF
  • 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
  • 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 brown bear swims with his head underwater as he fishes for salmon in Kuril Lake.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260955.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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Dried fish sold at the Guangzhou Fish Market.<br />
<br />
It can be crumbled straight into soup or stir fry. Dried smelt can also be added to stir fries after being steamed, while anchovies can be deep fried and munched as a crispy snack.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057856.JPG
  • A customer at a live reef fish restaurant in Guangzhou where a variety of large fish swim in tank behind her.<br />
<br />
China consumes the largest quantity of seafood in the world and consequently, imports the most. China’s seafood consumption accounts for 45% of the global volume, meaning 65 million tons out of 144 million tons. <br />
<br />
Chinese prefer fresh, live fish to processed fish in a factory.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057947.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
  • This is the Ust Bolsheretsk area at the height of fishing season along the Bolshaya river.  These fishing brigades use tractors to tow one end of the net and then bring it around full circle in the river to cinch in the fish. The net is then dumped into small boats that have nets laid in them that the crane uses to pick them up and dump them into trucks that go to the processing plants in Ust Bolsheretsk.  This brigade is working in this area that is south of Oktyabrski.
    MM7593_20080805_04281.tif
  • 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 />
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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 />
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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
  • The main fish market street in Petropavlovsk sells Pacific Steelhead, which has been on the Russian Red Book of endangered species since 1983. Even though military, police, and government officials charge through this street all day long, and it is illegal, this endangered salmon is sold with impunity.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1248225.JPG
  • Icelandic fishermen use the open air to dry fish heads. They salvage waste from fish factories.<br />
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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 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
  • A workers hangs onto a rope at a fish plant in Oktyabrsky.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260926.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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • A brown bear catches a salmon fish in Kuril Lake. Bears need to eat about 40 fish a day to put on weight to make it through the winter.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260964.TIF
  • A worker catches salmon at a fish camp.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260947.JPG
  • A Koryak man dries fish in his summer camp that will feed his family through the winter. Koryaks are an indigenous people of Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East, who inhabit the coastlands of the Bering Sea to the south of the Anadyr basin and the country to the immediate north of the Kamchatka Peninsula. The koryak are typically split into two groups. The coastal people Nemelan (or Nymylan) meaning ‘village dwellers’ due to their sedentary fishing habits and the inland Koryaks, reindeer herders called Chauchen (or Chauchven) meaning ‘rich in reindeer’ who are more nomadic.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260943.TIF
  • Vigo has the largest biomass fish shipping port in the world. Sharks are stacked onto pallets after processing. 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.<br />
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Fish is sent all over Spain and abroad to countries like Portugal, Italy, France and other more distant markets including Asia.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058049.JPG
  • Vigo has the largest biomass fish shipping port in the world. Swordfish are stacked onto pallets after processing. Fish is sent all over Spain and abroad to countries like Portugal, Italy, France and other more distant markets including Asia.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057879.JPG
  • Fish carcasses dry in the sun on the coast of Pulau Misa, 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_1058032.JPG
  • A ray fish ashore in a beach settlement in Saint Louis, Senegal.<br />
<br />
Stingrays are considered a type of fish that is related to sharks. They are found in the warm and temperate waters all over the world. Stingrays have a flat, gray to the darkish brown body and a long tail with a poisonous stinger on their end. Stingray is a popular seafood dish in many parts of the world.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057925.JPG
  • 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.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057996.JPG
  • Senegalese fishermen empty their nets of a large haul of fish they caught on their colorful boats.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057926.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 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
  • 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
  • A salmon swims up a 450 foot fish ladder to spawn in a fish hatchery.
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  • A scientist studies salmon fry or young fish in the Kol River Biostation.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260983.JPG
  • Fish inspectors wade in shallow water are in pursuit of salmon poachers.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260976.JPG
  • .A dog watches over as Russian fishermen pull in the nets from a fishing brigade on the Bolshaya River. Strict work hours at the mouth of the river allow some of the salmon can pass through to Kanchatka’s indigenous camps further upstream. <br />
<br />
The fish have gone into a dormant state because they have been in the net so long. This was the first great push of salmon—the storm had just passed, the tide was out and the water had cleared enough that all salmon make a mad dash upriver.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260950.TIF
  • A fishing brigade on the Bolshaya River.<br />
Russian boats are so loaded with fish that they barely clear the surface of the water. These fishermen are fighting against time while the tide is out. When the ocean tide is high and coming in to the Bolshaya, it pushes their nets closed.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260922.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
  • Vigo has the largest biomass fish shipping port in the world. Workers process sharks that are stacked onto pallets after processing. 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.<br />
<br />
Fish is sent all over Spain and abroad to countries like Portugal, Italy, France and other more distant markets including Asia.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058049-1.JPG
  • Vigo has the largest biomass fish shipping port in the world handling about 675,000 metric tons of fish a year. 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 />
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.<br />
<br />
Swordfish are wrapped in plastic on pallets.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057877.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
  • 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
  • Scientists study salmon fish in the Kol River Biostation.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260982.JPG
  • Workers pull a net with salmon at a fishing brigade on the Bolshaya River.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260949.JPG
  • On a fish factory trawler, fishermen take a break in the galley while processing the crew's catch.<br />
<br />
Foreign trawlers and an expanding fishmeal industry are increasingly threatening the livelihood of Senegalese fishermen, forcing many to migrate to Europe.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057964-1.JPG
  • A customer at Kwun Tong Fish Market passes by large fish in aquarium. 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_1057845.JPG
  • A Bald Eagle in flight catches a fish with its talons. Their wingspans measure 7½ ft. The average weight is 10-12 pounds, some weigh up to 16 pounds. Bald Eagles can pick up and fly off with a fish or other prey items that weigh 4-5 pounds, any more weight than that is too heavy and they will stall out and crash.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075071.TIF
  • Icy water flies as a brown bear catches a salmon fish in Kuril Lake. Kamchatka has the highest density of brown bears in the world, with almost 15,000 on the Russian peninsula.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260958.TIF
  • Hauling in salmon from their boats at a fishing camp, coastal people called Nymylan are village dwellers and hang the catch to dry on racks for winter.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260946.TIF
  • A fisherman hauls in salmon at a fishing camp.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260945.JPG
  • A brown bear, also known as a grizzly, feasts on sockeye salmon, which is a fundamental drama in Kamchatka’s still largely intact ecosystem. <br />
<br />
Salmon—pink, chum, sockeye, coho, chinook, and masu—flood the waters that typically solitary brown bears crowd together to feed at Kuril Lake. Bears need to eat about 40 fish a day to put on weight to make it through the winter.<br />
<br />
Brown bears in Kamchatka can be 7 to 9 feet in length and weigh 700-800 pounds. Species: U. arctic Genus:Ursus<br />
<br />
Kamchatka has the highest density of brown bears in the world, with almost 15,000 on the Russian peninsula.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1248220.TIF
  • Clown fish seeks refuge among sea anemone tentacles.
    RANDY OLSON_MM6541_663068.jpg
  • Salmon dries on racks before being smoked with alder at a Native Alaskan fish camp near Sitka. The catch will help supplement traditional food supplies through winter months.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1073535.TIF
  • A brown bear fishing for salmon in Kuril Lake. Bears need to eat about 40 fish a day to put on weight to make it through the winter.<br />
<br />
Brown bears in Kamchatka can be 7 to 9 feet in length and weigh 700-800 pounds. Species: U. arctic Genus:Ursus<br />
<br />
Kamchatka has the highest density of grizzly bears in the world, with almost 15,000 on the Russian peninsula.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260959.JPG
  • Brown bears fishing for salmon in Kuril Lake. Kurilskoe Lake Preserve is a world heritage site and had serious poaching. But now, two or three wardens are always out on enforcement and they pack out for a month at a time. The official salary for wardens is $200 a month, but the WWF came in and supplemented salaries and bought them the equipment they need to do the job. WWF decided one of the gems of the reserve system that exists in all of Russia should be poaching free - and that also protects the brown bears.
    MM7593_20080812_06379.tif
  • A stringer with a brightly colored fish trails behind a spear fisherman. There is heavy shark activity in this area of Ofu Isalnd, Manu'a Islands, American Samoa, so the smart spear fishermen keep the bleeding fish on a string way away from their bodies.
    NGFishString.tif
  • Brown bears fish for salmon in Kuril Lake. So many salmon—pink, chum, sockeye, coho, chinook, and masu—flood the waters that typically solitary brown bears crowd together
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260983-14.TIF
  • Grizzlies fish for salmon in one of the best spots where the Ozernaya River flows into Kurilskoe Lake under the backdrop of a volcano.  <br />
<br />
Brown bears are not pack animals and an abundant food supply attracts them to the same place to hunt. The Kurilskoe Preserve is the model for poaching enforcement in all of Kamchatka. It is protected and the last wild place that produces all seven species of salmon.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260983-16.TIF
  • A brown bear's claws hang onto the salmon in Kuril Lake.<br />
<br />
Grizzly bears need to eat about 40 fish a day to put on weight to make it through the winter.<br />
<br />
Brown bears in Kamchatka can be 7 to 9 feet in length and weigh 700-800 pounds. Species: U. arctic Genus:Ursus<br />
<br />
Kamchatka has the highest density of brown bears in the world, with almost 15,000 on the Russian peninsula.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260983-13.TIF
  • Searching for salmon in a fishing camp where waters reveal a bear carcass.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260944.TIF
  • A boat driver's daughter helps fishermen at a salmon fishing camp.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260912.JPG
  • A stringer of brightly colored fish trails behind a spearfisher.
    RANDY OLSON_MM6541_653560.jpg
  • A stringer of a brightly colored fish trails behind a spearfisher.
    RANDY OLSON_MM6541_653560-1.jpg
  • A salmon swims away from a brown bear that is fishing for salmon in Kuril Lake.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260983-2.TIF
  • A brown bear fishing for salmon leaps into Kuril Lake while her cubs wait on the shore. Kamchatka has the highest density of brown bears in the world, with almost 15,000 on the Russian peninsula.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260983-1.TIF
  • Scientists don equipment and carry nets to study salmon fish in the Kol River Biostation.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260981.JPG
  • A fish tank separates patrons from the kitchen at a restaurant on East Nanjing Road, a busy shopping area in Shanghai.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176425.jpg
  • Sweeper fish and diver in the pristine waters off of Banta Island which are rich with aquatic life. Divers come to explore a region where two oceans meet--the Indian and the Pacific.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1058008.JPG
  • Brown bears fishing for salmon in Kuril Lake. Kurilskoe Lake Preserve is a world heritage site and had serious poaching. But now, two or three wardens are always out on enforcement and they pack out for a month at a time. The official salary for wardens is $200 a month, but the WWF came in and supplemented salaries and bought them the equipment they need to do the job. WWF decided one of the gems of the reserve system that exists in all of Russia should be poaching free - and that also protects the brown bears.
    MM7593_20080818_07671.tif
  • Underwater photo of a brown bear fishing for salmon in Kuril Lake.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260983-15.TIF
  • Teal and snipe felled by expedition member Vladimir Kruger flesh out a diet of fish, mushrooms, berries and ample rations of vodka for the team.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663867-1.jpg
  • Teal and snipe felled by expedition member Vladimir Kruger flesh out a diet of fish, mushrooms, berries and ample rations of vodka for the team.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663867-2.jpg
  • Teal and snipe felled by expedition member Vladimir Kruger flesh out a diet of fish, mushrooms, berries and ample rations of vodka for the team.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663867-1-3.jpg
  • A brown bear fishing for salmon in icy waters of Kuril Lake. Kamchatka has the highest density of brown bears, also known as grizzly bears, in the world. There are almost 15,000 on the Russian peninsula.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260960.TIF
  • Spear fishing on the island of American Samoa.
    RANDY OLSON_MM6541_653560-6.jpg
  • Spear fishing on the island of American Samoa.
    RANDY OLSON_MM6541_653560-5.jpg
  • Spear fishing on the island of American Samoa.
    RANDY OLSON_MM6541_653560-4.jpg
  • Spear fishing on the island of American Samoa.
    RANDY OLSON_MM6541_653560-3.jpg
  • Spear fishing on the island of American Samoa.
    RANDY OLSON_MM6541_653560-2.jpg
  • Some of the world's best preserved fossils are found in the Fossil Butte National Monument on flat-topped ridges of southwestern Wyoming's cold sagebrush desert. Discoveries from the ancient lake sediments the Eocene Green River Formation of Fossil Basin are world-renowned. A fish fossil is held in the palm of a hand.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705775.jpg
  • Fish market in Petropavlovsk where locals purchase supplies from workers.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1260933.JPG
  • An anhinga with a small fish in it's bill.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7112_763196.JPG
  • A school of black surgeonfish (Acanthurus species) fish slice through the coral rich waters of Palmyra Atoll.
    RANDY OLSON_MM6778_672515.JPG
  • The underwater coral scene of Palmyra Atoll:  Schools of fish swim in unison in the crystal blue waters of Palmyra Atoll.  Palmyra lies 400 miles north of the Equator in an expanse of the ocean known as the intertropical convergence zone .
    RANDY OLSON_MM6778_672471.JPG
  • Teal and snipe felled by expedition member Vladimir Kruger flesh out a diet of fish, mushrooms, berries and ample rations of vodka for the team.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663867.JPG
  • A servers watchful eye surveys the restaurant where a couple sits among fish tanks that decorate the room as well as  a television screen on the wall above them.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176319.jpg
  • A large sculpture of a fish against a cloud-filled sky.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7112_763231.JPG
  • A Rapa Nui man fishes for rudderfish in high waves on Easter Island's south coast. Lava flows formed the rocky barrier from the three volcanos on the island.
    RANDY OLSON_MM8059_1493941.JPG
  • A Rapa Nui man fishes for rudderfish in high surf on Easter Island's south coast. Powerful waves blast the rocky, volcanic barrier to the island.
    RANDY OLSON_MM8059_1477016.JPG
  • A juvenile grizzly bear fishes for salmon at Pack Creek.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114710.jpg
  • A young boy fishes in Anan Creek.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114633.jpg
  • The commercial Fishing Brigade outside of Sobolevo, Russia, fish the Vorovskaya River, ironically, the same river from which they offload supplies for the pipeline that will eventually destroy their salmon runs.  But at the end of the first big push, their nets are so full of salmon that they can’t immediately load them onto the trucks.  So while fish are in the holding pen, the truck driver has time to play with his dog. <br />
<br />
Commercial fishing is allowed 40 to 60 percent of the fish run every year in Kamchatka.  Poaching can take nearly as much, so on a good year only 20 percent of they fish escape to breed again.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7593_1248222.TIF
  • Crew members from a family fishing operation land approximately 1,000 Coho salmon in the boat from a purse seine in waters near Craig, Alaska.<br />
Alaska’s fisheries are some of the richest in the world, with fishermen harvesting hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of salmon, crab, herring, halibut, pollock, and groundfish every year. However, overfishing, exploitation, and poor fisheries management in the ‘40s and ‘50s took a heavy toll on the industry. The state adopted drastic measures that saved the fishing industry from collapse. Tough times again hit the fishermen in the 1970s as the number of boats grew and increasingly efficient gear depleted catch levels to record lows.<br />
Permit systems and reserves helped the commercial industry recover in the late ‘70s—a trend that has continued to the present because of cooperation between scientists and fishermen.<br />
Fishermen and loggers rank in the top two spots for most dangerous jobs. Both are common lines of work for people in the Alaskan outdoors. Since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking fatal occupational injuries in 1980, there were 4,547 fatal work injuries in 2010, and fatality rates of some occupations remain alarmingly high.
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  • Crew members refer to this maneuver as the  "fish walk" when they slide across a boat's deck to push pink salmon into the ice storage area. The fishermen were seining in the waters in Southeast Alaska.<br />
Alaska’s fisheries are some of the richest in the world, with fishermen harvesting hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of salmon, crab, herring, halibut, pollock, and groundfish every year. However, overfishing, exploitation, and poor fisheries management in the ‘40s and ‘50s took a heavy toll on the industry. The state adopted drastic measures that saved the fishing industry from collapse. Tough times again hit the fishermen in the 1970s as the number of boats grew and increasingly efficient gear depleted catch levels to record lows.<br />
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Permit systems and reserves helped the commercial industry recover in the late ‘70s—a trend that has continued to the present because of cooperation between scientists and fishermen.
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  • Crew members unload a catch of sockeye salmon from the hatch of their fishing boat. Economists estimate the commercial seafood industry contributes $5.8 billion and 78,500 jobs to the Alaskan economy.
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  • Dockside seafood in Hong Kong’s Sai Kung district can be chosen by customers to take to nearby restaurants where it is prepared for their dinner. Here shellfish mingle with live reef fish, a controversial trade that is decimating species such as groupers. Divers often capture reef fish by using cyanide or dynamite. Global sales may top a billion dollars a year.
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  • Canoe fishermen untangle fish from the nets while working in the waters off of Dakar.
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