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  01:24 - Drifting fish larvae make MPAs work

  For the first time, fish larvae have been tracked drifting over 100 miles showing that marine protected areas can benefit surrounding fisheries.

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  03:56 - How to make a sustainable fishery

  Scientists have identified factors that make for a successful and sustainable fishery

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  06:57 - Eco-labelling for sustainable seafood

  We take a look behind the Marine Stewardship Council's eco-label for sustainable seafood

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  14:54 - Manta Ray Ecotourism

  Manta Rays are fished in increasing numbers for their gills to make Chinese medicines. We chat to Andrea Marshall "Queen of Mantas" to find out if ecotourism could be a sustainable alternative.

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  21:38 - Fish sanctuaries in the Philippines

  The folk at Coral Cay Conservation are working to help encourage communities set up fish sanctuaries and protect the marine life on their doorstep.

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  30:04 - Critter of the Month - Brown Pelican

  This month's critter is something that lives above, on, and even in the sea.

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You have a dead link above.

Here is an earlier commentary about blocking off parts of the ocean to fishing for a period of time. 

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/latest-questions/question/2580/

The problem with such a proposal is it would cause undo hardships to local fishermen (although it might favor the big "factory boats" that fish in international waters.

Western salmon are unique in that they spawn in freshwater.  Then they head to the ocean to grow, and return to the place of birth to lay eggs and die.  Some of the salmon is intercepted in hatcheries and can be harvested, keeping the carcasses from rotting...  and eggs can be harvested.  But, of course, it is no longer a "natural" fish population then.

Probably the best thing to do is better government regulation and tracking. 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Has-overfishing-ended-Top-US-apf-4180887621.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=

Something that can be done in a country like the USA with thousands of miles of coastline, but might be difficult in less "centralized" regions such as Central America or Africa.  And regions like the Gulf of Mexico involve the interests of many countries.

Fish Pirates?

One aspect will also be instructing the consumers, and perhaps protecting certain species.  Is it still legal to catch blue-finned tuna?  WHY?

What can be done about the shark-fin soup?

What about experimenting with egg harvesting and planting more species?

I suppose that any method to make the fish "rare" would drive the price of the fish up in comparison to other foods such as grains, or beef.  But, efforts such as increasing the price might help shift some of the consumer demand.  Perhaps one should change some of the advertising to encourage less fish consumption.

CliffordK, Tue, 11th Jan 2011

The link is live now.

There are so many issues involved here, we've picked out a few of them including consumer choice, ecotourism as an alternative, and setting up marine reserves to help support fished populations.

Have a listen and let us know what you think!

Oceans Helen, Tue, 11th Jan 2011

Thanks.

Good Point about empowering the people and helping them understand their stake in long-term sustainability of their "crops" as well as looking for alternatives such as eco-tourism.
Also the "Green Label".  How can one make that a more prominent issue?

Following the links...  I ended up with the Nature Article (unfortunately, only in summary format).
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nature09689.html

Figure 1: Location and success score for all study cases of fisheries co-management.

a–c, Success was grouped in five categories according to number of social, ecological and economic outcomes achieved. a, Global map. Insets are Europe (b) and Southeast Asia (c). n = 130.

It is interesting that the USA, as well as parts of Europe only had moderate success/failure rankings.

But, I also know some of the struggling forces including the impact of hydroelectric power (which, of course, is an alternative to fossil fuels), as well as economic pressures. CliffordK, Wed, 12th Jan 2011

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