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Big Fish May Become Extinct

Aired May 14, 2003 - 15:37   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's more than just a fishy affair. And it stinks anyway you look at it. New study warns overfishing is threatening the status of some of our biggest fish all around the world. According to the scientific journal "Nature," the tuna marlin, swordfish, shark, cod and halibut are all in danger of becoming extinct. CNN's Whitney Casey has more live from a Manhattan fish market.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We're here at the Fulton Fish Market down in lower Manhattan. And to say that this place is a mainstay would be putting it somewhat lightly. It's been here 169 years. It's one of the largest of its kind in the entire world, and it generates about $1 billion.

Now, it still smells like fish oils and salt water down here, and the guys here still wear blue collars, smoke cigars and brag a lot. But many of them say they haven't been bragging much lately. They aren't able to hook the big fish because it's much harder to find.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fish, 20 years ago you'd see more larger fish and less fish this size. Go ahead, touch it, go ahead. It's not going to kill you. There was a lot of big fish before. There are less. Consumption is up. But these fisheries bounced back rather quickly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let it go, let it go. That's a halibut. That's a small one.

CASEY: That's a small one? What's a big one?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two hundred.

CASEY: Two hundred?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Or more.

CASEY: How hard is it to catch one of those nowadays?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hard.

CASEY: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not many around.

CASEY: Two-hundred-pound halibut...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And more.

CASEY: Would be worth a lot of money.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, $5 a pound.

CASEY: Wow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They killed all the big fish. Now they're killing all the smaller ones. I bet you in a few years, who knows. There ain't going to be no fish around here.

CASEY: Many here say that the fish don't exactly weigh quite as much as they used to. But they do maintain that the generations worth of tradition here at this market will survive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Our thanks to Whitney Casey, who clearly was not live at the fish market.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired May 14, 2003 - 15:37   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's more than just a fishy affair. And it stinks anyway you look at it. New study warns overfishing is threatening the status of some of our biggest fish all around the world. According to the scientific journal "Nature," the tuna marlin, swordfish, shark, cod and halibut are all in danger of becoming extinct. CNN's Whitney Casey has more live from a Manhattan fish market.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We're here at the Fulton Fish Market down in lower Manhattan. And to say that this place is a mainstay would be putting it somewhat lightly. It's been here 169 years. It's one of the largest of its kind in the entire world, and it generates about $1 billion.

Now, it still smells like fish oils and salt water down here, and the guys here still wear blue collars, smoke cigars and brag a lot. But many of them say they haven't been bragging much lately. They aren't able to hook the big fish because it's much harder to find.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fish, 20 years ago you'd see more larger fish and less fish this size. Go ahead, touch it, go ahead. It's not going to kill you. There was a lot of big fish before. There are less. Consumption is up. But these fisheries bounced back rather quickly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let it go, let it go. That's a halibut. That's a small one.

CASEY: That's a small one? What's a big one?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two hundred.

CASEY: Two hundred?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Or more.

CASEY: How hard is it to catch one of those nowadays?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hard.

CASEY: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not many around.

CASEY: Two-hundred-pound halibut...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And more.

CASEY: Would be worth a lot of money.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, $5 a pound.

CASEY: Wow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They killed all the big fish. Now they're killing all the smaller ones. I bet you in a few years, who knows. There ain't going to be no fish around here.

CASEY: Many here say that the fish don't exactly weigh quite as much as they used to. But they do maintain that the generations worth of tradition here at this market will survive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Our thanks to Whitney Casey, who clearly was not live at the fish market.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com