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The Norwegian senior scientist Leif Nøttestad had a clear recommendation to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) during a World Symposium on Atlantic bluefin tuna in Santander, Spain this week. The situation for the Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) is critical.

In his presentation Dr. Nøttestad, who is the scientific representative from Norway in ICCAT, recommended three actions: Ban tuna fishing, ban tuna fishing and ban tuna fishing. The main reason for this clear statement is that the bluefin tuna fishing in the Mediterranean Sea is totally out of control. There is a huge over-capacity in the fleet with more than 1000 vessels targeting this extremely valuable fish species only in the Mediterranean Sea. The recommended maximum quota of 15000 tons set by the scientific body (SCRS) of ICCAT in 2006 was not even considered as an option for a future effective rebuilding plan on Atlantic bluefin tuna.

(Dr. Leif Nøttestad at the Institute of Marine Research in Bergen, Norway being interviewed at the world symposium on Atlantic bluefin tuna in Santander this week by Spanish television about the critical situation on the eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna stock.)

All scientific information about the Atlantic bluefin tuna points in a very negative direction, and clear action is critically needed for saving the bluefin tuna stock for a total fisheries collapse and a possible population collapse. For these serious reasons Norway decided to ban fishing on bluefin tuna in its own waters in 2007. The Norwegian quota is put aside for conservation purposes, until the critical situation has improved considerable. Based on the history of several other valuable fish species including the Norwegian spring-spawning herring (Clupea harengus) collapse in the late 1960’s, the only medicine that has worked properly was to ban fishing until the population had sufficiently recovered before any fishing could be re-opened in a sustainable manner.

Photos: afishblog.com (upper) and Arne Saltskår

In March I published a post about a marbled iceberg. I could never imagine the attention these pictures got. Since then the pictures of this beautiful iceberg has been published in newspapers and shown on news channels all over the world. Daily Telegraph described it as a “Rainbow iceberg”, while Daily Mail compared it to a “giant humbug”.

Some days ago I received an email from a scientist participating on the same survey in the Antarctic Ocean. He gave me the right to publish his pictures of the same iceberg, and here are some of them!

Leif Nøttestad took 14 pictures of the iceberg as the research vessel passed it. This gives us the opportunity to study the iceberg from different angles.

Here we can see the top of the iceberg. The next picture was taken as the vessel (”G.O.Sars”) was sailing away from the iceberg.

One of the comments to the first post about this iceberg said that “The way those lines come together remind me of the lines on an agate”. I have to agree. Agate iceberg is an adequate name of such an iceberg.

There are no closeups of this iceberg, but by zooming in and cropping one of the original image files from Leif Nøttestad we can get an idea of what it looks like on short range.

When the Norwegian scientists saw this iceberg passing, one of them said: This must be the beauty of the Antarctic! All photos: Leif Nøttestad.

Today I received some pictures from an unusual fishing trip in Norway. Fishing for halibut is exciting and the halibut is a precious and good tasting fish. Still someone prefers to release the halibut. Their concern for the halibut stock in the southern part of Norway has given them a new way of handling the catch.

Here we see Hans Harald Storli and Jon Henneli hauling the line. A small halibut (85 cm. long) has taken the bait.

Hans Harald is removing the fishing hook as carefully as possible. He is then placing a tag in the halibut.

This was not the only halibut caught on the long line. A couple of minutes later a bigger halibut entered the boat.

This one got tagged as well. You can see the red tag placed near the fins on the left side of the halibut. This fish was 140 cm. long; weighing 40 kg. A close up of its head can be seen below.

By measuring, weighing, tagging and recapturing tagged halibuts Hans Harald and Jon hope they can learn more about the local halibut stocks and their migration pattern. They do this on their spare time hoping that their work and engagement will result in better protection for the halibut stocks in the southern part of Norway.

After tagging the halibuts, the fish is released. To Hans Harald, Jon and their girlfriends – Kristine Kolbjørnsen and Malin Hagander – this gives a perfect ending to a perfect fishing trip.

All photos: Malin Hagander.