Written by: Janujan
Edited by: Maryam Nasser
Designed by: Jiya Mehta
Published by: Maryam Khan
Sustainable fishing guarantees that there will be populations of ocean and freshwater wildlife and fish in the future by managing and promoting sustainable fisheries and seafood industries to adapt to practices that protect the environment and Aquatic ecosystems.
The Aquatic environment is home to countless types of fishes and shellfish, which are one of the most consumed food goods on this planet! Fish and seafood are a great renewable source, but they need to be managed properly, so fish industries don’t overfish and seafood farms don’t pollute the environment.
Did you know half the world’s population (over 3 billion people) relies on fish as a main source of protein? In the UK alone, half of the population consumes $9.5 billion worth of seafood and fish products every year, which are imported from over 85 different countries! Fish is one of the world’s largest traded goods, fuelling $362 billion to industries which employ and give jobs to tens of millions of people and provide food for billions more.
Demand for more fish and advanced technologies has led to fisheries practices which are depleting fish and marine populations all around the world. It is estimated that more than 77 billion kilograms (170 billion pounds) of wildlife is removed from the ocean and sea every year. Scientists are afraid that if we continue to fish like this, fish populations will decline immediately which will cause fisheries to collapse.
An example is the bluefin tuna, known for its delicious meat and used for sushi dishes. Demands for this particular fish have caused prices to go up in the market and have threatened its population. It is estimated that it spawned at 21-29% of its original population in the 1970s.
Fisheries use two very efficient fishing methods. The first one is purse seine fishing which uses a net to bring fish together and closes them into the net by pulling the net drawstrings. The net can scoop up many fishes at once. Longlining is a fishing technique, in which a very long line which extends to 100 kilometres (62 miles) is dragged behind a boat and has thousands of hooks attached to similar lines stretching downwards to catch the fish.
Catching too many fishes can result in an immediate profit for fisheries, but can make it very hard for small populations of marine wildlife like certain types of fish to replenish themselves through reproduction.
Taking wildlife from the sea faster than they can reproduce is known as overfishing. Longlining, purse seine and other types of fishing methods can result in a lot of bycatch (capture of unintended species) such as dolphins, swordfish, sea turtles and birds. Illegal and unregulated fishing and trade are a huge problem as well. Illegal and unregulated fishing generates tens and billions of dollars every year, driving overfishing in many regions. It also affects coastal communities that depend on fishing as a source of income and food.
If fisheries aren’t managed properly, they can cause the depletion of non-targeted species, such as whales, turtles and sharks. As well, it can result in damage to important marine habitats like coral reefs and mangroves.
The following are key impacts stated by the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) which are major threats to oceans that sustain marine life, functioning ecosystems which support rich biodiversity, and food security.
- Overfishing:
Decades of both illegal and legal overfishing have caused a fast decline tokey fish stocks, such as the bluefin and Grand Bank Cod, as well as destructive impacts on other marine life and ecosystems.
Data shows that overfished stocks have tripled in a half a century! Today one-third of monitored fish populations are harvested biologically at unsustainable levels. The remaining 80% of fish stocks which are not assessed are usually caught under challenging political, social and economic conditions.
- Illegal and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing):
Seafood travels through a complex supply chain and many different types of markets. The global supply chains are weakly enforced and regulated. It’s because of this that illegal seafood and fish products can be easily entered into the market and once intermingled with, cannot be easily detected or found.
IUU fishing isn’t just illegal but they also destroy ecosystems, coastal economics and the global market. Not only is IUU fishing the driver of overfishing but it is also a threat to marine life, ecosystems, food security and regional stability. IUU also violates major human rights. Organized crime experts have estimated that the value of this illegal activity is worth $15.5 billion to $36 billion a year.
- Bycatch:
Sadly, the accidental capture of non-targeted species accounts for the losses of hundreds of thousands of marine life, seabirds, sea turtles, alongside tens of millions of sharks each year. Many of these species are endangered or protected. Some species like the Eastern Pacific leatherback sea turtle, Maul dolphin and Vaquita are on the brink of extinction due to bycatch.
Despite the spread of awareness of bycatch and its dangers and the involvement of new technology, bycatch is one of the most major problems that cause unavoidable deaths and injuries of vulnerable wildlife populations.
Over the last decade, the fisheries improvement project also known as FIP’s, has proven that sustainability can be advanced towards and achieved. By engaging the government, fishers, industries, researchers and NGOs in the fisheries improvement project, they can help to improve fishing practices and help industries meet the required standards which are sustainable for the environment and not harmful to the marine ecosystem and life.
There are many ways we can make our fisheries and seafood industries more sustainable:
- One way is to reduce overall fishing and bycatch through fisheries management. Managing such large fisheries and industries is no easy job. We need cooperation from all levels of government, communities and nations across the globe.
- Also, new or more advanced technology can be made and used to monitor the number of fish being caught.
- In many Indigenous cultures, people have fished sustainably for thousands of years. Fisheries should adapt to these practices to lower their impact on the environment. For example: In the Philippines, the Tagbanua people have traditional fishing practices which harvest and maintain fish populations. These traditional fishers use hook-and-line methods, catching only what they need to feed themselves and their communities. A 2007 study states that the Tagbanua practice is a way to prevent injury and death to local dolphins, which end up getting caught in modern nets and fishing gear we use today.
- Another example would be the traditional Polynesian culture of the South Pacific, which also relied on the ocean’s resources. Their most common fishing practices are hook-and-line, spearfishing and cast nets. Hooks can be constructed of bone, shell or stone to catch specific species of fish. Fishers would also design 6-foot-long spears to catch fish from underwater or above. Cast nets were used individually or in groups which could be used from canoes or shores, catching groups of fish. All of these methods targeted specific fishes to feed fishers and their local communities.
Some of these sustainable fishing practices are still used today around the world in Asia, Africa, Australia and South America. Also, modern-day fishers use modern versions of rod and steel which allows them to fish in freshwater and saltwater to catch certain fishes.
One rule that is being applied in the U.S. is that fishers must use the rod and steel fishing technique to catch bluefin tuna, making them only catch one fish at a time. This will allow the fish to reproduce without being overfished. Once the fish has been caught to an absolute ton for the year, the fisheries are closed for the season.
There is a lot of work that needs to be done in order to make fisheries and industries as sustainable as possible, have a minimal impact on the environment and save our ecosystems and marine life habitats from further destruction.
As consumers, we can also make the right decision to support sustainable fisheries so they can continue to fish sustainably. In order to do this, we should educate ourselves about where our seafood and fish products come from and how they are caught. We need to make the best choices for our ocean’s future.
Sources
Fisheries. WWF Seafood Sustainability. (2021, November 17). Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://seafoodsustainability.org/fisheries/
Industry. WWF Seafood Sustainability. (2022, October 13). Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://seafoodsustainability.org/industry/
Supporting sustainable fishing practices. WWF. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://www.wwf.org.uk/what-we-do/addressing-unsustainable-fishing-and-seafood
Sustainable fishing. National Geographic Society. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/sustainable-fishing
World Wildlife Fund. (n.d.). Sustainable seafood. WWF. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://www.worldwildlife.org/industries/sustainable-seafood