Chile's salmon industry is worth $2 billion and the fish are one of the country's top four exports. Chile is the biggest supplier of salmon to the U.S. and second to the world. But in the past year, a flue-like virus called Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) has spread through the country's salmon fisheries, sometimes infecting entire salmon stocks.

Hoping to curb the devastating effects of ISA, the Chilean government has stepped up controls and passed stricter regulations for antibiotic use and addressing overcrowding. But, compliance is costly and the industry complained of having trouble securing loans at a time when most banks aren't lending. To help fulfill the new requirements, the Chilean government announced a $120 million bailout for the salmon industry.

New Tang Dynasty Television, an independent, non-profit television broadcaster based in New York, reports on at the toll the virus has taken on the industry and what the future for the industry looks like in the following video.

Pirates stock up on goats, cigarettes and other supplies when they return to shore. Photo: CharlesFred (flickr)

Piracy along Somalia's coastline represents a very lucrative business — as the pirates collectively earned an estimated $150 million in 2008 — but what is piracy's effect on Somalia's economy?

Somalia's economy is in a fairly grim state. An estimated 73.4 percent of the country's population lives in general or extreme poverty and the average Somali earns only $600 per year, making Somalia one of the poorest countries in the world.

Fishing used to be one of Somalia's most profitable industries. But as piracy has increased — there were roughly 100 attacks in 2008 — the New York Times reports that foreign ships have become reluctant to brave the waters surrounding Somalia's coastline to buy fish and other exports. The amount of goods coming into Somalia, including aid, has also declined.

Pirate money has also skewed prices. In the town of Garowe, near Somalia's central coast, resident Mohamed Hassan told the BBC that "piracy has a negative impact on several aspects of our life," including a financial one:

They have made life more expensive for ordinary people because they "pump huge amounts of U.S. dollars" into the local economy which results in fluctuations in the exchange rate.

On the other hand, pirates are putting wealth back into the Somali economy — an estimated $1 million to $2 million is made from each captured ship.

Whenever a ship is seized, pirates stock up on sheep, goats, water, fuel, rice, spaghetti, milk, and cigarettes in towns up and down Somalia’s coast. Sugule Dahir, a local shop owner in Eyl, a town just off the coast in central eastern Somalia, feels the incoming money has had a positive impact. He tells ABC News that, because of the pirates, more businesses are beginning to emerge and the general public seems better off. "There are more shops and business is booming because of the piracy. Internet cafes and telephone shops have opened, and people are just happier than before."

Government officials are getting a fair sum of pirate money as well. By allowing the pirates to work in controlled areas, the regional Puntland Government is given shares of the pirate's earnings. About 30 percent of the collected ransom goes directly to government officials, Farah Ismael Eid, a captured pirate, tells Time.

Some Somalis are worse off because of piracy. But it's clear that the pirates do spread the wealth.

Biorocks in action. Photo: Rani Morrow-Wuigk

Walking down the beach at Pemuteran Bay provides a glimpse into both the past and future of Indonesia’s coastal communities. One end of the beach serves as the mooring and launching area for the fleet of traditional fishing craft that have so long provided subsistence to the community. At the other is a community-driven reef restoration and conservation project that is changing not only the reef itself, but also the attitudes, livelihoods and economy of the entire region.

At the heart of this transformation is the application of a novel technological innovation known as Biorock for the creation of new coral reefs and fish habitats. The technology, developed by the late Prof. Wolf Hilbertz and his colleague Dr. Thomas Goreau of the Global Coral Reef Alliance, relies on low-voltage electricity to attract minerals through accretion to simple metal rebar structures placed in the water. The structures can be placed in a range of places because they're powered by a range of traditional and renewable electrical sources, including solar and experimental tidal and wave-generators.

There are now 100 Biorocks in use worldwide. Pioneers in eco-tourism such as small dive shop operators and beachfront hotels have been using them for years as unique ways of enhancing snorkeling and diving experiences.

Biorocks were first used to help reefs recover after the devastating coral bleaching caused by El Niño in 1998 and the severe strain on marine resources for income and food generation during the The Asian Financial crisis of the late 1990’s. Use of Biorock technology continues to increase as reef restoration and conservation move to the forefront of global environmental issues.

The first projects were a collaborative effort between community leaders, local businesses and environmental advocates. A local dive shop in Pemuteran, Reef Seen Aquatics, with funding from AusAID, has trained a number of local fishermen to PADI Rescue Diver standards and employed them as “Reef Gardeners”, working from within the community to enhance and protect the local reefs. A champion of the projects has been a local resort operator, Taman Sari Hotel, which has donated facilities and electricity to run the structures, and employed scores of villagers as staff serving the eco-tourists who come to the North Coast.

These relatively small-scale projects have realized immense benefits. A wealth of new economic opportunities have arisen in the case of Pemuteran and surrounding communities as international acclaim and recognition of the projects has ensured a stream of visitors to resorts professing an ethos of sustainability and restoration. The Indonesian government has recognized the project with its highest environmental award, the Kalapataru Adipura Award, while also providing several high-speed boats to be run by a group of community enforcement officers whose duty is to protect the reef from dynamite and cyanide fisherman.

Development pressures, increasing populations and rising demand for seafood have led to the near complete collapse of the health of Indonesian reefs. Indonesia, an archipelago with over 81,000 kilometers of coastline and more than 17,000 islands at the confluence of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, is considered to have some of the richest and most diverse marine ecosystems. Approximately 40 percent of the world’s fish species and 80 percent of the world’s coral reefs are found in its coastal waters. It is also the largest exporter of marine fish and corals in the world. But today only 6 percent of the coastline is considered pristine.

Coastal conditions are vital to Indonesia's economy. Approximately 70 percent of coastal communities depend directly on products from the sea — activities that generate over US $ 1.6 billion a year. A lack of effective management, coupled with the fact that the bulk of Indonesian fishing activity is done by migrant fishermen with limited vested interests in long-term sustainability who utilize destructive fishing techniques such as dynamite fishing and cyanide poisoning to harvest high-value fish species has contributed significantly to the massive losses in diversity and health of remaining reef systems.

But there is hope to be found in the waters of Pemuteran Bay and in the efforts of grass-roots reef conservation and restoration programs that have spread across Indonesia and beyond. Inspired by success and marked improvement in the environmental and economic health of participating villages, and driven by the intense need and internal drive of community leaders in Bali, Lombok and Sulawesi, Biorock installation is now being used not only for small-scale reef restoration and marine protected areas but also for its potential to attract fish for capture from surrounding waters, for use as cultivating platforms for sustainable harvest of marine products (seaweeds, corals, clams, oysters, lobsters etc.), and for erosion prevention.

Increased attention to Indonesia and the Coral Triangle — the 2.3-million-square-mile wedge between the Australia and the Asian mainland — are making a difference. Projects by governments, international academic research programs, and organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy and Mercy Corps have provided a catalyst leading to the formation of the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security. The future of the millions of people who depend on the marine environment — for sustainable use of marine resources, environmental restoration, and economic stimulation — is at stake.

Fisheries are being demolished, while nations argue over who and what is to blame. Photo: Christingo (flickr)

As fisheries decline, nations are busy arguing over who's to blame. Japan is pointing to whales as a culprit, and in doing so, drawing the ire of conservationists and scientists.

Japan has claimed that whales' eating habits are responsible for the diminishing numbers of fish. Many say this is because Japan has been campaigning to end the ban on whale hunting and is looking for international support.

At the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission, a coalition of conservation groups and scientists accused Japan of dodging responsibility for the declining stocks.

Daniel Pauly, director of a renowned fisheries research center, said whales are "no more responsible than the Martians" and that Japan's accusation "prevents the very small resources of West African countries from being devoted to understanding the real reasons why their fisheries are declining."

According to Dr. Pauly’s decade-long study, only about 1 percent of what whales eat is also desired by human consumers.

He and others blame not whales but East Asian and European fishing fleets trolling the coast of West Africa.

"Unless we fundamentally change the way we manage all the ocean species together, as working ecosystems," says Stanford's Steve Palumbi, "then this century is the last century of wild seafood.”

Here's one thing you can do to make sure that doesn't happen: Urge the U.S. Senate to ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty, which would ensure that the world's oceans are managed sustainably.

The World Wildlife Federation, whose website offers letters you can email to your Senator and e-postcards to alert your friends, gives ample reason why the law is needed:

"Two-thirds of fish stocks that supply the global market have been overexploited or fished to maximum capacity; more than half of the world's coral reefs are threatened by human activity; and close to one-fifth of Southeast Asia's reefs have been damaged or destroyed by coral bleaching.

Struggling fishing communities Brazil may have found a way to turn their economic troubles around. A university there has set up a fishermen's cooperative to introduce oyster farming in the area and boost economic development. The advantages of oyster farming go beyond economics — the industry can increase biodiversity and water-filtration services.

The International Herald Tribune reports today on a grim occurrence in Jamaica that is becoming more common for the world's rivers. The giant shrimp famous in Jamaica are disappearing as people have started dumping poison in the Rio Grande to catch larger quantities. Once the shrimp contact the poison they quickly float to the top, and the fisherman only needs to catch the shrimp before they are washed downstream. The poisoned shrimp are then brought to market and consumed by the community, causing health problems ranging from diarrhea to severe stomach aches and vomiting. Deeply traditional area residents have started to rise up to protect their river and the cultural importance of the shrimp. Those caught poisoning the river are punished but many fishermen will go on to offend again because the economic return for their effort is so high.

Photo: taminsea (flickr)

This week's New York Times article Europe Takes Africa's Fish and Migrants Follow raises a perplexing problem:

A vast flotilla of industrial trawlers from the European Union, China, Russia and elsewhere, together with an abundance of local boats, have so thoroughly scoured northwest Africa’s ocean floor that major fish populations are collapsing.

That has crippled coastal economies and added to the surge of illegal migrants who brave the high seas in wooden pirogues hoping to reach Europe. While reasons for immigration are as varied as fish species, Europe’s lure has clearly intensified as northwest Africa’s fish population has dwindled.

Last year roughly 31,000 Africans tried to reach the Canary Islands, a prime transit point to Europe, in more than 900 boats. About 6,000 died or disappeared, according to one estimate cited by the United Nations.

The question then arises: who bears the brunt of responsibility for these dwindling fish populations and the subsequent affect on local fishers? The foreign boats which deplete the waters and the foreign consumers which demand them to do so? The local governments, who strapped for cash, make decisions to sell resources needed by their people to fill the government coffers and/or fund state programs?