Oceans get most of the attention when it comes to aquatic conservation. But the new study suggests that freshwater species have declined precipitously, too, and that conservation efforts aren’t aiming big enough when it comes to rivers, lakes and streams. Bodies of freshwater, they found, have changed dramatically over the years.

A group of scientists used simple mathematics last month to argue for sensible use of the oceans: A live swordfish is at least a thousand times the value of a dead one at the fish market. When a shark fin is worth 50 times more than the rest of the carcass, fish workers often slice off the fins and toss the shark back into the water to die a slow death. Sharks are also killed for meat, leather, and teeth and for their cartilage, which is used as a treatment for anything from cancer to the common cold.

Fish species are being taken from the seas faster than they can regenerate.
In addition to overfishing, pollution from the discharge of oil and chemical contaminants has taken a huge toll on global marine fish populations. Coastal regions are particularly affected by pollution. Some 90 percent of the world’s fish catch comes from the third of the oceans near the coasts.

A quarter to a third of the world’s catch is also discarded by fish workers as “by kill,” endangering some species. Non-traditional fishing methods, including the use of satellites, sonar, high-intensity lights and cyanide, which is used to temporarily stun fish, are also endangering species. Nylon fishing nets, weighed down by chains and dragged along the seabed also kill sea urchins, crustaceans, and starfish.

People rarely appreciate the major impact that even a fairly moderate amount of fishing has on certain freshwater stocks. We look at fish as a commodity and the oceans as supermarkets. It’s as if peace has been declared on land and war in the oceans. Remember, it’s okay to use what’s in the oceans but not to use it up.

Reference: Illustrated Encyclopedia of endangered animals.

The need was felt, although pretty late, and a number of legislations were passed for the protection of endangered species. One such legislation which was passed for the protection of endangered species was the Endangered Species Preservation Act, 1966. According to this law the Departments of Interior, Agriculture, and Defence were required “to seek to protect only native animal species, and insofar as consistent with their primary purposes, preserve the habitats of such species allowed listing of species as endangered and provided limited means for the protection of species so listed.”

After only three years, one more legislation was passed in 1969 known as The Endangered Species Conservation Act, 1969. This was passed with the aim of providing additional protection to species in danger of “worldwide extinction”. According to this law, importation and subsequent sale of any listed endangered species was prohibited within the U.S.

In 1973, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was signed in Washington that put a restriction on the trade and commerce of those plant and animal species that were believed to be harmed by the trade activities. In the same year the Endangered Species Act, 1973 was passed. ESA is administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) under regulations found in 50 Code of Federal Regulations and is considered to be one of the most effective laws protecting and governing the endangered species. The act classifies species as either endangered or threatened. It defines an endangered species as one “in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range”. A threatened species is one that is “likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range”. A very recent and detailed list of endangered and threatened animal and plant species is provided in the Code of Federal Regulations. The code listed approximately 1,260 endangered and threatened species (up from 1,000 in 1996) when it was last checked in 2003. But this law broke some new grounds and between the years of 1995 and 2002, 12 species were removed from the list.