Liz Konan

For many years, we have known that the commercial fishing industry is depleting fish stocks to the point where they are unable to recover. And it’s not only fish that is affected by commercial fishing, but also the entire marine ecosystem. But is there a thing as a sustainable fishery in today’s world?

Fishing reduces the number of fish. This is not a problem if we leave enough animals in the water that they can reproduce. But commercial fishing is pulling 2.7 trillion fish out of the ocean each year (Earth.Org, 2021). Thus, the stock can not recover. If this rate continues, the ocean will be soon “virtually empty”. There are various forecasts as to when this will be the case. Whether it’s 2048 or 2079, the question is: How do we need to change our habits to avoid endangering marine life?

Source: https://www.redefy.org/stories/overfishing-the-true-cause-of-marine-ecosystem-destruction

How to define sustainable fishing?

In the book “Marine Conservation Biology: The Science of Maintaining the Sea’s Biodiversity”, Marine biologist and fisheries scientist Ray Hilborn describes a possible definition of sustainable fishing as “long-term constant yield”. It supports the idea that fish will continue to reproduce and replenish their numbers when fishing is allowed only up to the maximum sustainable yield. Ideally, only the surplus fish should be removed. However, there is a shortcoming of the definition (cf. Smith, 2017). Below, you will learn why truly sustainable fisheries may not be remotely achievable in today’s world.

Is there a sustainable fishery today?

What it fails to recognize is that fish populations naturally fluctuate, so that what may have been a sustainable harvest in one year could quickly deplete local fish stocks in another. It also doesn’t take into account the age, size, or reproductive status of the captured fish, which play an important role in population recovery. In addition, this approach considers each fish species in isolation without adequately considering the ecological relationships among different marine species and their habitats (cf. Smith, 2017).

It can also support devastating commercial fishing practices, such as bottom trawling, which involves dragging huge, heavy nets across the ocean floor. These nets destroy deep-sea corals, sponges, and fauna while scooping up everything in their paths that isn’t attached to the seafloor (Smith, 2017). In a year, it can decimate around 3.9 billion acres of seabed (Earth.Org, 2021). As Les Watling, a professor in biology and oceanography, explains, virtually all of the world’s continental shelves have been repeatedly dredged by these bottom trawlers. As a result, deep-sea communities have been radically altered and show now much less diversity (cf. Smith, 2017).

There is also a large amount of bycatch. Bycatch is defined as non-target marine catch who are left dead or dying as a result of the fishing industry. To name an example, over 300’000 whales and dolphins end up in the nets unintentionally. Further bycatch are sea turtles, sharks, albatrosses and other seabirds, who become unintentional victims each year (cf. Hirsh, 2021). And globally, this practice is contributing greatly to the extinction of endangered species and the decline of important predatory species, which is causing a trophic cascade and throwing off ocean food chains and ecosystems (Smith, 2017). Basically, when consumers eat one fish, they are not just responsible for the life of that one fish, but also the life of many other marine animals.

A great amount of these fishing nets is thrown away in the ocean after use, which poses not just one problem. Their design prevents the escape of marine life, once they are inside. Thus, the living beings gradually perish. Another problem is that they are made of plastic. Plastic is a poorly degradable material that remains in the environment for a long time. Fishing nets make up a share of about 46% of the plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (cf. Hirsh, 2021).

Switching to fish farming as an alternative to wild catch is not much better for the environment. Farmed fish are typically mass-reared in overcrowded, unnatural conditions, and their wellbeing is largely ignored. Because some farmed fish species are carnivores whose natural diet consists of other fish, fish farming can actually increase pressure on wild fish populations. For every pound of flesh produced, a farmed salmon for example eats three pounds of forage fish. Each year, hundreds of billions of individual forage fish (species such as anchovies, sardines, and herring) are taken from the wild, killed, and processed into feed for farmed fish. In order to maximize production while keeping costs low, fish farms typically keep many animals in the smallest possible space. Stocking density can also affect water quality. When too many fish are kept in a small space, dissolved oxygen levels decrease and can affect other aspects of water quality, such as acidity and levels of carbon dioxide and ammonia (cf. FFAC, 2022).

What we can do

Given today’s crises, there is clearly no such thing as sustainable fishery. When we consider how much damage we have already done to marine ecosystems, fish populations and the oceans as a whole, we need to change the situation. And so, it is up to everyday citizens to end the demand that has enabled these violations to continue. We can effectively achieve that by choosing more plant-based foods. First of all, we minimize the demand of fish. By leaving seafood off the plate, each person can save around 225 fish annually (Smith, 2017). In addition, all the impacts of bottom trawling, bycatch and the discarding of fishing nets would disappear. Then the marine ecosystem would have a chance to recover.

The policy should be changed as well. The fishing industry gets $35 billion in subsidies. That’s a lot of money when compared to the $20 billion needed to end world hunger. Most subsidies come from the US, the EU, Korea, Japan, and China. The United Nations has previously found that for every $5 of fish products exported, $1 is subsidised (cf. Hitchings-Hales, 2021).

We need more protected areas where the fish stocks can recover. Only 5% of the world’s oceans are protected marine areas, in which fishing in still allowed. Many countries are committing to protect 30% by 2030 (cf. Earth.Org, 2021). However, this must not just be a promise, but must be implemented as a matter of urgency to stabilize the fish population. In addition, fishing in these areas should be prohibited in principle.

References:

Earth.Org. (2021). 13 Facts From ‘Seaspiracy’. Retrieved 6 May 2022, from https://earth.org/facts-from-seaspiracy/

FFAC. (2022). No Fish Farms: What Is Fish Farming and Why Is It Bad?Title. Retrieved 6 May 2022, from https://ffacoalition.org/articles/fish-farms-what-is-fish-farming-and-why-is-it-bad/

Hirsh, S. (2021). ‘Seaspiracy’: 8 Major Takeaways About the Fishing Industry From the Netflix Doc. Retrieved 6 May 2022, from https://www.greenmatters.com/p/seaspiracy-facts

Hitchings-Hales, J. (2021). Netflix’s ‘Seaspiracy’: 5 Mind-Blowing Facts We Double-Checked So You Don’t Have To. Retrieved 9 May 2022, from https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/seaspiracy-fact-checked-netflix/

Smith, K. (2017). Why There Is Really No Such Thing as a ‘Sustainable’ Fishery. Retrieved 6 May 2022, from https://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/no-such-thing-as-a-sustainable-fishery/