Marine Fisheries, Population Consumption: Science Policy
Document created September 1995

Marine Fisheries, Population and Consumption: Science and Policy Issues

Lisa Speer, Senior Policy Analyst, Natural Resources Defense Council

I. INTRODUCTION

As population pressure on aquatic resources escalates, there is a pressing need to identify and integrate science and policy solutions related to water pollution, coastal area degradation and the depletion of living aquatic resources. This paper presents an environmental perspective on some of the science and policy issues that must be addressed in order to more effectively manage population and consumption pressures on marine fisheries, which account for more than 80% of world fish production.

The world now faces a global fishing crisis of unprecedented proportions. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 70% of the world's commercially important marine fish stocks are fully fished, overexploited, or depleted. In a third of the world's major marine fishing regions, the catch has declined by 20% or more from peak years.

Fueled by escalating demand, rapidly advancing technology and massive government subsidies, the global fishing fleet has now reached, and in many areas exceeded, the limits of sustainability, endangering an important source of food for the world. In addition, overfishing costs jobs in the commercial and recreational fishing industries, disrupts the social and cultural fabric of fishing communities in developing and developed nations alike, and threatens marine biodiversity.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization has warned that "unless industrial fishing fleets are controlled through national and international regulation,... disastrous social and economic consequences await the entire industry, including food shortages in the coastal communities of developing countries where seafood provides the major source of dietary protein... as well as jobs."

The global situation is mirrored in the U.S., where 83% of assessed fish stocks where the status is known have been classified by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) as fully fished or overexploited. Included among these are such popular food fish as swordfish in the Atlantic, most groundfish species, including flounder, haddock and cod off New England, salmon in the Pacific and redfish in the Gulf of Mexico.

The marine fisheries of the world face a triple threat: overfishing, habitat loss and pollution.

II. OVERFISHING AND DEPLETION

Population Pressures

Fish provide a vital source of food for hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Overall, the marine catch accounts for 16% of global animal protein consumption. In general people in developing countries rely on fish as a part of their daily diets much more heavily than those residing in developed countries. For example, fish accounts for roughly 29% of the total animal protein in the diet of Asian populations, but only 7% for North Americans.

The use of fish as a source of food rose from 40 million tons in 1970 to 72 million tons in 1993. Population is by far the most important factor in this burgeoning demand, accounting for roughly two thirds of change in total demand. At current rates of world population growth, the total world supply of food fish (marine, freshwater, and aquaculture) would have to grow from roughly 72 million tons in 1993 to 91 million tons by 2010 to maintain today's per capita fish supplies, according to FAO.

How to meet this demand is a key question. Most of the world's major fisheries have experienced significant declines due to overharvesting and depletion of the stocks. As a result, after decades of vigorous growth, world fish production has stagnated since 1989, and overall production has been maintained only by the growth of aquaculture, where production has more than doubled from 7 million tons in 1984 to 16 million tons in 1993. Aquaculture is now estimated to provide 23% of world food fish supplies.

Consumption Patterns

With this overall picture there are some important trends in consumption and demand that have significant implications for marine fisheries.

1. Developing vs. Industrial Nations

Developed nations now account for 85% of world fishery imports by value. The average consumption of fish per person in industrial nations is roughly three times that of developing countries. This contrasts sharply with the relatively small contribution fish makes to per capita animal protein consumption in most developed nations. Escalating demand for fish in industrial countries combined with the precipitous decline of major northern fisheries in recent years has led developed nations to turn increasingly to developing countries in search of fish.

The need for foreign exchange exerts tremendous pressure on developing nations to export fish or auction off the right to fish. For example, the European Union pays $200 million annually in access fees for the right to catch fish within the Exclusive Economic Zones of other countries. Half that amount goes to African countries. FAO estimates that about 50% of the fish catch off Africa is now taken by distant water fleets.

About half the fish traded internationally now comes from developing countries. Net exports of fishery products from developing countries exceed those of coffee, bananas, tea, rubber and other exported commodities in terms of value, totaling $11 billion in 1993.

The consequences of exporting or auctioning off large amounts of fish can include higher prices, depletion of domestic fish supplies and disruption of traditional cultures in developing countries. The imbalance between world catch and consumption is likely to worsen given the distribution of wealth and fish resources.

2. Artisanal Fisheries

The impact of this imbalance is likely to be felt particularly acutely in small scale "artisanal" fisheries in developing countries. Almost 50% of total world landings are estimated to come from such fisheries. Most of this fish goes to direct human consumption and in many coastal regions of the world, small-scale artisanal fisheries provide most of the protein and jobs for adjacent communities. It is exactly these small-scale coastal fisheries that face the greatest threats. Coastal fisheries are generally overfished in most parts of the world, and they face the most significant threats in terms of coastal habitat destruction and pollution that stem from human activities on land. It is against this backdrop that artisanal fisheries face increasing competition from industrialized fleets.

3. Fish Utilization

In addition to questions of equity in the distribution of fish supplies, consideration of consumption must address the issue of bycatch, the unintended catch of "non-target" species of fish and other marine life. FAO estimates that some 27 million tons -- equivalent to more than one third of current global food fish production -- is caught and discarded every year.

This enormous waste results from several sources. First, most fishing gear is not very selective and varying amounts of non-target species of fish and other marine life are generally caught along with the target stock. Among the most notorious fisheries in this area are shrimp fisheries: in portions of the Gulf of Mexico it is estimated that for every one pound of shrimp caught, 10 pounds of other species are caught and discarded. In addition, limited storage capacity on large and small vessels leads to the discard of less valuable species.

A second utilization issue is the loss of fish due to perishability. FAO estimates that up to 10% of total food fish supplies are lost due to poor handling, processing and lack of protection against pests and spoilage.

A final utilization issue is the huge amount of fish -- 29 million tons -- that goes to the production of fish meal, oil, and other industrial products. Whether these are appropriate uses for the equivalent of more than one third of the world's marine food fish production, is a key question.

III. POLLUTION AND HABITAT LOSS

Pollution and coastal habitat loss, dealt with in other papers presented at this symposium, have crucial implications for marine fisheries and their ability to provide food for future generations.

Coastal waters provide critical spawning, nursery or other habitat for many commercially important marine fish populations. These waters are under a multitude of assaults that stem principally from human activities on land. For example, roughly 80% of marine pollution is estimated to come from land based sources. Development along the coast has destroyed an estimated 50% of all coastal wetlands worldwide. And global climate change has the potential to dramatically affect marine fisheries through the alteration of temperature regimes and impacts related to sea level rise. Ozone depletion and attendant increases in ultraviolet radiation are also of concern: increased ultraviolet radiation has been shown to result in significant biological and ecological damage to phytoplankton, zooplankton, fish, benthic organisms, and corals.

Fish production itself can have significant effects on coastal habitat. Commercial dragging operations for fish, clams, sea urchins and other commercial species have extensively altered nearshore bottom habitat. Aquaculture operations also impact coastal environments through the removal of existing mangrove, wetland and other communities in order to construct aquaculture facilities such as shrimp ponds. The addition of fish food, feces, antibiotics and other pollutants from aquaculture can also impact coastal water quality. Finally, aquaculture can pose threats to the genetic integrity of wild populations and contribute to the spread of disease among them when farmed individuals mix with wild populations.

The linkages between pollution and habitat destruction on the one hand and impacts on marine fish populations on the other are often difficult to quantify, particularly for offshore fisheries. These threats may disproportionately affect small scale artisanal fishers who cannot easily move out of fishing areas damaged by pollution and habitat destruction.

IV. SCIENCE ISSUES

Population and consumption pressures on marine fisheries have been compounded by the lack of basic scientific understanding of marine ecological relationships in general and of fish population characteristics and dynamics for many if not most species. The lack of scientific knowledge about fisheries has contributed to the failure of fisheries managers at the national and international level to prevent widespread overfishing and depletion of fish populations. Research is needed in many areas including the following, to list just a few:

a) fish population dynamics and characteristics of harvested species;

b) direct and indirect impacts of harvest on target and nontarget species of fish and other marine wildlife, and on ecological relationships in the marine environment;

c) the nature and extent of pollution impacts on fish at the population level;

d) the nature and extent of habitat impacts on fish at the population level;

e) the impacts of global climate change on marine ecosystems in general and fish populations specifically;

f) the impacts of aquaculture on coastal and marine ecosystems and how such impacts can be reduced or eliminated;

g) technological improvements including the development of more selective gear to reduce or eliminate bycatch; techniques for reducing waste through spoilage and pest infestation, and the development of suitable new products to enable shifts from animal feed to direct human consumption; and

h) further development of a credible process for managing fisheries in the face of substantial uncertainty. Given that research dollars for fishery science on the scale required are unlikely to appear in the near future, scientific uncertainty about fish and the impacts of fishery management decisions will continue to be a reality for the forseable future. Managing fisheries in the face of such uncertainty remains a major challenge.

These are just a few of the areas in need of research.

V. POLICY ISSUES

There are a number of policy issues that need to be addressed if marine fisheries are to reach their full potential as a source of food for the world. These policy issues include reducing overcapacity in the fishing sector, addressing pervasive pollution and habitat loss in coastal areas, improving fisheries management worldwide, and addressing population and consumption pressures.

A. Reducing Overcapacity

At its core, the crisis in overfishing stems from the fact that the world now has a substantial overabundance of fishing capacity. Industrialized fleets aided by sonar, sophisticated satellite technology and highly efficient gear are now capable of fishing out vast areas of the ocean in very short order. The predictable results of overcapitalized fleets have been overfishing and depletion of stocks as well as substantial economic losses. FAO estimates that to rehabilitate fisheries to 1970 abundance levels and catch rates would require the removal of 23% of the existing gross weight tonnage of the world's fleet.

Governments worldwide, anxious to preserve employment in fishing and shipbuilding and ameliorate the economic disruption caused by overfishing, have subsidized economic losses in the fisheries sector to the tune of $54 billion a year, according to FAO. Such subsidies serve to perpetuate overfishing and economic distress in the fishing sector. Reducing and eventually eliminating these subsidies as well as fishing capacity generally through boat buybacks and retraining, is politically painful and unpopular, but essential if fisheries are to be restored to sustainability. A key concern is to ensure that measures to reduce overcapacity to not result in adverse impacts to artisanal fisheries and do not simply shift overcapacity from one region to another.

B. Environmental Protection

Roughly two thirds of commercially caught marine fish spend part of their life cycles in coastal waters. Pollution and habitat destruction in the coastal zone must be addressed if these fisheries are to be rendered sustainable. Since most marine pollution originates on land, strategies for cleaning up land-based sources must receive top priority if economically important marine fisheries are to be protected. And the threats posed by global climate change to marine ecosystems and fisheries are sufficiently well understood to justify taking immediate remedial action.

C. Improvements in Fisheries Management

Major changes are required in the way in which fisheries are managed by national governments and international fisheries management organizations. Needed reforms include the following.

1)Precautionary catch levels. A precautionary or "risk averse" approach to establishing catch levels needs to be adopted on a wide scale. Currently, allowable catch levels are often set at or near (and sometimes above) the best available estimate of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) of a particular fish population, leaving little room for mistakes in estimating MSY or for natural population fluctuations. This needs to change so that catch levels include a safety factor of a size commensurate with the degree of uncertainty regarding the status and productivity of the resource and its ecological relationship with other species.

In addition, specific numeric thresholds for target species should be established at which previously determined management actions, such as catch reductions, area closures, or effort limitations will be taken automatically. Thresholds should be established below which moratoria and stock rebuilding plans (discussed below) will be automatically applied. All such thresholds should be established with a safety factor that is commensurate with the degree of uncertainty involved.

2) Bycatch. Gear types that minimize bycatch should be mandatory. Innovative programs to reduce bycatch and discards, including incentive programs such as preferential harvest allocations, are needed to begin to more effectively address the massive waste and environmental impact of bycatch. Bycatch plans should be required that evaluate the bycatch of all gear types used in the fishery and develop estimates of total bycatch of non-target fish, marine mammals, birds, and turtles for each fishery. As with "target" populations, bycatch thresholds should be established below which appropriate seasonal, time and area closures, gear modifications and other measures to reduce bycatch are automatically imposed. These bycatch thresholds should be set using a safety factor that reflects the degree of uncertainty associated with estimates of bycatch and waste.

3) Ecosystem approach. In addition to direct effects on marine life like bycatch, fishing can indirectly impact marine ecosystems by disrupting food chain relationships and other functions of marine ecosystems. To address this, representative species of marine life that are either dependent on or associated with the target fish population should be identified and monitored to verify that each fishery, by itself and in combination with other anthropogenic and natural factors, does not cause significant changes in abundance, population structure or ecosystem function. As with bycatch, trigger levels should be set below which pre-determined action such as catch limits or area closures are automatically imposed to protect dependent and associated species.

4) Monitoring and Enforcement. Effective monitoring and enforcement are key to effective fisheries management. Technology and resource needs are particularly acute in developing nations.

5) Recovery plans. The status of important commercial, subsistence and recreational fish populations should be annually assessed. For all fisheries classified as overfished or depleted, recovery plans should be developed and implemented that specify the actions to be taken to restore populations to a specified level within a specified period of generally no longer that five years. Progress toward achieving the goal should be assessed and reported to all interested parties (including the public and NGOs) on an annual basis.

6) Environmental impact assessment. An environmental impact assessment process should be established for evaluating the impact of new fisheries, expanded fishing levels, new gear or technology (including processing technology) on target and non-target species before such new activity is permitted. The burden of proof should rest on the proponent of the proposed activity to show that the activity will not harm the target species or the ecosystem of which it is part.

7) Inadequate information. The absence of adequate scientific information must not be used as a reason for failing to take action to protect a resource.

8) Reporting. Timely and accurate information is essential to effective management. Minimum standards are needed for collecting and reporting catch and other information, including for bycatch caught but discarded at sea. "No data/No fishing" requirements should be imposed so that participants in a fishery that fail to report catch and bycatch are excluded from the fishery during the subsequent season.

9) Protected areas. The appropriateness of protected areas, where no catch is permitted, should be evaluated as a method of conserving target and non-target populations and implemented as appropriate.

10) Transparency. Most international fisheries management operates outside the public eye, which inhibits accountability for management decisions. Opening fisheries management to the scrutiny by the public and NGOs is key to improving public accountability and ultimately fisheries management in general.

D. Population and Consumption Issues

If marine fish are properly managed and fish populations allowed to rebuild the annual fish catch could be increased by some 20 million tons according to FAO. That is enough to meet the projected new population-driven demand for food fish by the year 2010 (19 million tons over today's level). But ultimately demand will outstrip supply unless population growth is limited. Addressing the issue of population growth is thus a key policy issue for marine fisheries.

Consumption patterns also require the attention of policy makers. Worldwatch estimates that if fish consumption in industrial countries dropped by 50% (which would still allow adequate supplies for healthy diets), the supply of fish in developing countries could jump by almost 50%. This would allow developing countries to maintain their current per capita supply of fish until 2010 without other increases in fish supply.

A second consumption issue is the current use of almost one third of the world's marine fish production for animal feed -- for pets, livestock and pond raised fish -- and other industrial uses. Shifting this amount of fish to direct human consumption could maintain today's per capita consumption until the year 2017; according to Worldwatch. While there are significant technological and other hurdles to redirecting this fish to human use, the potential in this sector merits the attention of policy makers.

VI. Conclusion

Marine fisheries are a vital economic, ecologic, and food resource. The good news is that most depleted fish populations can bounce back if pressure on them is reduced and populations are allowed to rebuild. Rendering these fisheries a sustainable source of food for the world however will require a large-scale coordinated effort. Elements of such an effort must include addressing overcapacity in the fishing industry, improving fisheries management, protecting crucial habitats, eliminating the massive waste of fish that results form bycatch and spoilage, redirecting consumption, and limiting population growth.

There is some progress to report on the fisheries management front. The international fisheries treaty adopted at the UN last month is an important step forward in a number of key areas. Among other things, the treaty:

But there is much more to do. The treaty only covers fish that occur on the high seas, about 20% of the total marine catch. Individual nations -- including the U.S. -- still need to take steps to manage their own fisheries more effectively. The treaty also does not effectively deal with government subsidies or the need to address overcapacity in the fishing industry. These and the other issues discussed in this paper await comprehensive action.

Bibliography

FAO, 1994. Marine Fisheries and the Law of the Sea: A Decade of Change. FAO Fisheries Circular No. 853, p. 35.

FAO, 1994. News Release dated 4/13/94, p. 1.

FAO, 1995. The State of the World's Fisheries and Aquaculture, p. 47.

Meyers, R.A., H.J. Barrowman, J.A. Hutchings, and A.A. Rosenberg. "Population Dynamics of Exploited Fish Stocks at Low Population Levels." Science 269: 1106-1108.

National Marine Fisheries Service, 1993. Our Living Oceans, Table 3.

National Research Council, 1995. Understanding Marine Biodiversity, p.p. 32 and 33.

Weber, Peter, 1994. Net Loss: Fish, Jobs, and the Marine Environment, Worldwatch Paper #120, page 7, and FAO, 1994, Marine Fisheries, p. 34.

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