tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/commercial-fishing-3210/articles
Commercial fishing – The Conversation
2022-03-23T03:29:04Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/176682
2022-03-23T03:29:04Z
2022-03-23T03:29:04Z
How much tuna can I eat a week before I need to worry about mercury?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444960/original/file-20220208-23-mcta7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5568%2C3692&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For as little as A$1 a tin, canned tuna is an excellent, affordable source of protein, polyunsaturated fats and other nutrients. A tin of tuna is significantly cheaper than many types of fresh meat or fish. </p>
<p>Sounds good, but how much can you eat before you need to worry about mercury?</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/chemicals/mercury/Documents/Mercury%20in%20Fish%20brochure%20Dec%202020%20Final.pdf">Food Standards Australia New Zealand</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It is safe for everyone (including pregnant women) to consume canned tuna as part of their fish intake. </p>
<p>Canned tuna generally has lower levels of mercury than tuna fillets because smaller tuna species are used and the tuna are generally younger when caught.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But how many tins a week? </p>
<p><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/mercury/11016258">Lab tests</a> we did for the ABC TV science program Catalyst in 2015 suggest – depending on your body weight and the exact brand of tuna you buy – you could eat anywhere between 25 and 35 small tins (95g each) of tuna a week before you hit maximum mercury limits.</p>
<p>That’s a level even the most keen tuna-lover would be hard pressed to consume.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-gold-industry-stamped-out-mercury-pollution-now-its-coals-turn-151202">Australia’s gold industry stamped out mercury pollution — now it's coal's turn</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How does mercury end up in fish anyway?</h2>
<p>Mercury is naturally present in our environment but can biomagnify to relatively high concentrations in fish – particularly predatory fish. </p>
<p>In other words, it builds up as smaller fish get eaten by middle-sized fish, which get eaten by large fish, which get eaten by us. So the bigger the fish, the higher the likely mercury content.</p>
<p>Most forms of mercury are potentially very toxic to humans. But to make matters worse, a substantial proportion of mercury in fish is present as methylmercury – a potent neurotoxin formed by bacteria in waters and sediments. </p>
<p>Although mercury pollution has increased since industrialisation, accumulation of methylmercury in animals is a completely natural phenomenon.</p>
<p>Even fish caught from the middle of the ocean, far from any polluting sources, will contain methylmercury.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450287/original/file-20220307-84943-1py9m1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450287/original/file-20220307-84943-1py9m1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450287/original/file-20220307-84943-1py9m1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450287/original/file-20220307-84943-1py9m1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450287/original/file-20220307-84943-1py9m1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450287/original/file-20220307-84943-1py9m1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450287/original/file-20220307-84943-1py9m1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450287/original/file-20220307-84943-1py9m1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tinned tuna is cheap, tasty and nutritious.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Tuna in Australian cupboards is likely smaller species</h2>
<p>Over the years, some scientists have <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23308249.2017.1362370?journalCode=brfs21">raised concerns</a> about high concentrations of mercury in canned tuna. </p>
<p>Mercury concentrations are higher in predatory fish such as tuna and generally increase with age and size. So this concern has largely been associated with the use of tuna species such as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935103002202?via%3Dihub">albacore and larger tuna specimens</a>.</p>
<p>Skipjack and yellowfin are the main tuna species listed as ingredients in canned tuna in brands sold at Australian supermarkets. </p>
<p>Skipjack are the smallest of the major tuna species, while yellowfin are larger.</p>
<p>So, the fact the canned tuna in Australian cupboards is likely to contain smaller species is already a bonus when it comes to reducing mercury risk. </p>
<p>But let’s drill down to the details.</p>
<h2>How much mercury can we have?</h2>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/publications/Documents/mercury%20in%20fish%20-%20further%20info.pdf">Food Standards Australia New Zealand</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Two separate maximum levels are imposed for fish ― a level of 1.0 mg mercury/kg for the fish that are known to contain high levels of mercury (such as swordfish, southern bluefin tuna, barramundi, ling, orange roughy, rays and shark) and a level of 0.5 mg/kg for all other species of fish.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, whether mercury is harmful or not also depends on the amount of fish you eat and how often. After all, it is the dose that makes the poison.</p>
<p>Based on <a href="https://www.wam.go.jp/wamappl/bb11gs20.nsf/0/49256fe9001b533f49256ef4002474e9/$FILE/2-1_1.pdf">international guidelines</a>, Food Standards Australia New Zealand also provides recommended safe limits for dietary intake. In other words, how much mercury you can safely have from <em>all</em> food sources (not just fish).</p>
<p>This limit is known as the “provisional tolerable weekly intake” or PTWI.</p>
<p>The maximum dose of mercury set for the general population is <a href="https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/publications/Pages/Mercury-in-fish---background-to-the-mercury-in-fish-advisory-statement.aspx">3.3 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per week</a>. 1,000 micrograms (µg) is 1 milligram (mg).(The guidelines assume all mercury in fish is present as the more harmful methylmercury as a worst case scenario).</p>
<p>The dose for pregnant women is approximately half this value – <a href="https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/publications/Pages/Mercury-in-fish---background-to-the-mercury-in-fish-advisory-statement.aspx">1.6 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per week)</a>. </p>
<p>Pregnant women are advised to limit their fish intake because of placental transfer of mercury to the unborn foetus and the effect of mercury on neural development.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450289/original/file-20220307-25900-1outlwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450289/original/file-20220307-25900-1outlwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450289/original/file-20220307-25900-1outlwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450289/original/file-20220307-25900-1outlwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450289/original/file-20220307-25900-1outlwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450289/original/file-20220307-25900-1outlwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450289/original/file-20220307-25900-1outlwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450289/original/file-20220307-25900-1outlwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Whether mercury is harmful or not also depends on the amount of fish you eat and how often.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Testing three tins</h2>
<p>Our laboratory is well equipped to measure mercury concentrations in fish. As part of the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/mercury/11016258">Catalyst</a> program in 2015, we analysed mercury concentrations in Australian fish including three tins of canned tuna purchased from the supermarket.</p>
<p>Given the very low sample numbers, our data is just a snapshot of mercury concentrations. More research is clearly needed.</p>
<p>We found none of the canned tuna brands exceeded the safe consumption levels for mercury of 0.5 milligrams of mercury a kilogram. All three tins had slightly different levels of mercury but even the “worst” one wasn’t that bad. </p>
<p>You would have to eat around 25 tins (at 95g a tin) of it a week before you hit the maximum tolerable intake of mercury. For pregnant people (or people trying to get pregnant), the limit would be around 12 tins (at 95g a tin) a week.</p>
<p>It is unlikely many consumers will reach these limits.</p>
<h2>But watch out for other species of fish</h2>
<p>Some Australian fresh fish can contain higher mercury concentrations than canned tuna.</p>
<p>Food Standards Australia New Zealand <a href="https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/chemicals/mercury/Pages/default.aspx">recommends</a> that, for orange roughy (also known as deep sea perch) or catfish, people should limit themselves to <a href="https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/publications/Documents/mercury%20in%20fish%20-%20further%20info.pdf">one 150 gram serving a week</a> with no other fish that week. For shark (flake) or swordfish/broadbill and marlin, the <a href="https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/chemicals/mercury/Pages/default.aspx">limit</a> is one serving a fortnight.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176682/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A tin of tuna is significantly cheaper than many types of fresh meat or fish. But how much can you eat before you need to worry about mercury?
Simon Apte, Senior Senior Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO
Chad Jarolimek, Senior Experimental Scientist, CSIRO
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/153795
2021-02-22T18:58:19Z
2021-02-22T18:58:19Z
Australia’s marine (un)protected areas: government zoning bias has left marine life in peril since 2012
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385437/original/file-20210222-15-1uhzf55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C11%2C7315%2C4891&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last week Australia joined a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/global-ocean-alliance-30by30-initiative">new alliance</a> of 40 countries pledging to protect 30% of the world’s oceans <a href="https://minister.awe.gov.au/ley/media-releases/australia-joins-global-oceans-alliance">by 2030</a> from pollution, overfishing, climate change and other environmental threats. Australia already boasts one of the largest networks of marine protected areas in the world, with about half of Commonwealth waters around mainland Australia under some form of protection. </p>
<p>Job done? Actually, no. </p>
<p>Despite the size of our protected areas, marine wildlife <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-have-more-parks-than-ever-so-why-is-wildlife-still-vanishing-34047">continues to vanish</a>. A government <a href="https://reportcard.reefplan.qld.gov.au/">report card</a> recently scored the Great Barrier Reef a “D” for its failing health. Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320720308715">commercial fishing</a> depletes non-target or non-economic species as collateral damage, and damages marine habitats through trawling, the marine equivalent of clear felling forests. These issues are extensive, but poorly understood. </p>
<p>So why the paradox? Our research <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320720308715">analysis</a> reveals that size is misleading. Marine zonings vary in their effectiveness in protecting biodiversity, and zones established in 2012, 2015 and 2018 put effective protection in the wrong places. </p>
<h2>Unhelpful from the start</h2>
<p>In a rich, developed country, a society’s commitment to nature conservation is measured by what it’s prepared to give up. In Australia, that’s not much. </p>
<p>In late 2012, Labor announced a massive increase in Commonwealth marine protected areas (MPAs). But it <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-new-marine-protected-areas-why-they-wont-work-11469">failed</a> to mention that the placement of “highly protected zones” — which don’t allow any commercial extraction — had no effect on oil and gas activities and a very minor effect on commercial fishing. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385449/original/file-20210222-19-1j80ovn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Fishing trawler at sea, surrounded by gulls" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385449/original/file-20210222-19-1j80ovn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385449/original/file-20210222-19-1j80ovn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385449/original/file-20210222-19-1j80ovn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385449/original/file-20210222-19-1j80ovn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385449/original/file-20210222-19-1j80ovn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385449/original/file-20210222-19-1j80ovn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385449/original/file-20210222-19-1j80ovn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many commercial fishing practices, such as trawling, damage marine ecosystems.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As a result, the contribution of the 2012 MPAs to conservation was disproportionately <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aqc.2445">small</a>.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-australias-marine-parks-being-reviewed-so-soon-after-they-were-signed-off-40329">2015</a> the Federal Coalition changed the 2012 zonings. In <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-new-marine-parks-plan-is-a-case-of-the-emperors-new-clothes-81391">2018</a> the Coalition changed them again.</p>
<p>The Coalition was openly <a href="https://theconversation.com/opposition-keen-to-stop-marine-parks-but-will-fishers-benefit-14955">hostile</a> toward the 2012 MPA expansion, so it came as no surprise the 2015 and 2018 MPA systems would become even more strongly residual — biased towards areas with least promise for extractive activities. </p>
<p>Our recent <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320720308715">paper</a> tells the story in detail, but here’s a summary.</p>
<h2>Zoning the ocean to make almost no difference</h2>
<p>Labor’s 2012 additions to the MPA system covered 2.4 million square kilometres, an impressive figure at first glance. </p>
<p>Under the Coalition, the boundaries of Labor’s new MPAs were not altered, but there were large changes to the internal zonings, which specify permitted uses, in 2015 and 2018. </p>
<p>The changes meant highly protected zones declined from 37% of the total MPA system in 2012 to about 22% in 2018. Other zones that allow fishing with varying restrictions, or that place few restrictions on commercial extraction, made up the rest. The conservation benefits of those other zones — dubbed “partially protected areas” — are <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.13677">dubious</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385450/original/file-20210222-13-1mbmjsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Coral" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385450/original/file-20210222-13-1mbmjsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385450/original/file-20210222-13-1mbmjsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385450/original/file-20210222-13-1mbmjsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385450/original/file-20210222-13-1mbmjsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385450/original/file-20210222-13-1mbmjsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385450/original/file-20210222-13-1mbmjsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385450/original/file-20210222-13-1mbmjsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Last week a reef quality report card highlighted the marine environment around the Great Barrier Reef remains poor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>How much difference did all the zoning and rezoning make to marine conservation? Very little. </p>
<p>That’s because, from the start, highly protected zones were put in places with no petroleum extraction and low previous fishing yield. The bias was only exaggerated in 2015, and again in 2018. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/75-of-australias-marine-protected-areas-are-given-only-partial-protection-heres-why-thats-a-problem-149452">75% of Australia's marine protected areas are given only 'partial' protection. Here's why that's a problem</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>By 2018, less than 1% of the area previously used for Commonwealth pelagic longlining had been protected from longlining. Pelagic longlining involves setting baited hooks on lines that can be kilometres long, suspended in the water. It can <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1617138117303503">seriously harm</a> non-target species, including sharks and seabirds. </p>
<p>Likewise, only about 1.5% of Australia’s previously trawled areas became covered by zones that prohibit trawling, a practice also known to have serious <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1365-2664.13278">biodiversity impacts</a>, such as destroying seafloor habitat.</p>
<p>The zoning of the Coral Sea tells part of the story. The 2012 highly protected zones carefully <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0308597X12002539">avoided</a> most commercial fishing in this vast region of open ocean, and research showed the benefits to conservation were “minimal”. When the 2012 zones were changed, the area open to fishing methods that pose <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-coral-sea-an-ocean-jewel-that-needs-more-protection-65219">ecological risks</a> increased further.</p>
<h2>Is Australia really leading the world?</h2>
<p>After the latest weakening — proposed in 2017 and formalised in 2018 — of the already weak 2012 marine protection, the federal environment minister and the director of Parks Australia said the revisions achieved the right <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/australia-cuts-conservation-protections-in-marine-parks-1.22369">balance</a> between conservation and use. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-coral-sea-an-ocean-jewel-that-needs-more-protection-65219">The Coral Sea: an ocean jewel that needs more protection</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In terms of commercial fishing, we show the “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320720308715">balance</a>” was about 2% conservation and 98% use across all of Commonwealth marine waters, which cover almost <a href="http://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/national-location-information/dimensions/oceans-and-seas">six million square kilometres</a>.</p>
<p>In real terms, Australia’s marine protection is minuscule, and its marine unprotected areas are vast — a failure that has attracted international criticism. In 2017, for instance, 1,286 researchers from 45 countries <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-than-1-200-scientists-urge-rethink-on-australias-marine-park-plans-84366">lambasted</a> the federal government’s draft marine park management plans that are now in place.</p>
<p>The current highly protected zones might guard against future expansion of petroleum extraction and commercial fishing, as technologies and markets evolve. Unfortunately, however, the chances of that seem slim. </p>
<p>Australian MPA decisions since 2012 suggest strongly that, if highly protected zones are found to prevent profitable extraction, they will be downgraded or moved so they don’t get in the way.</p>
<h2>Three ways Australia could lead the world (again)</h2>
<p>Australia led the world with the <a href="https://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/3390/GBRMPA-zoning-plan-2003.pdf">2004 rezoning</a> of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, a systematic exercise that placed about a third of the Park in highly protected zones. But almost 17 years on, we can see plenty of room for <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-great-barrier-reef-is-in-trouble-there-are-a-whopping-45-reasons-why-122930">improvement</a> in marine conservation as we learn what works and what doesn’t.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-great-barrier-reef-is-in-trouble-there-are-a-whopping-45-reasons-why-122930">The Great Barrier Reef is in trouble. There are a whopping 45 reasons why</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>How could Australia lead the world now? A first step would be to drop the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320717310376">deception</a> that square kilometres say anything meaningful about conservation. </p>
<p>Our commitment to marine conservation will be measured by how much oil and gas we leave under the seabed, how many fish we leave in the water, and how we catch the others. Decarbonising and properly managing catchments and coastal zones will also be critical.</p>
<p>A second step would be to establish explicit, quantitative, scientifically informed goals for conservation of individual species and ecosystems in highly protected zones. The lack of such goals allowed zonings from 2012 to 2018 to be passed off as representative of marine environments, when they <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320720308715">were not</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/humans-threaten-the-antarctic-peninsulas-fragile-ecosystem-a-marine-protected-area-is-long-overdue-147671">Humans threaten the Antarctic Peninsula's fragile ecosystem. A marine protected area is long overdue</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A third step would be to achieve explicit conservation goals through consultation with diverse stakeholders. This includes co-design and co-management of coastal MPAs that empower local communities and Indigenous peoples from the outset, rather than through consultation late in the process.</p>
<p>After many years of debate over MPAs, some will throw their hands up at the prospect of yet more planning. But that’s what’s needed to make Australia’s MPA zoning effective, along with the (recently elusive) vision and commitment needed for political leadership in real marine conservation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153795/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bob Pressey receives funding from the Australian Research Council. The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Brayden Cockerell to this article. Brayden was lead author on the journal paper on which the article was based.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jorge Alvarezromero receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rodolphe Devillers receives research funding from various public research funding institutions (ex. Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada - NSERC) but the research discussed in this article was not funded.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Trevor J Ward received no funding in the last 5 years directly relevant to the the research reported here.
</span></em></p>
Australia needs to drop the deception that square kilometres say anything meaningful about conservation.
Bob Pressey, Professor, Conservation Planning, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University
Jorge G. Álvarez-Romero, Senior Research Fellow, James Cook University
Rodolphe Devillers, Senior research scientist, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD)
Trevor J Ward, Visiting Fellow, University of Technology Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/148396
2020-10-20T20:02:55Z
2020-10-20T20:02:55Z
Nova Scotia lobster dispute: Mi’kmaw fishery isn’t a threat to conservation, say scientists
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364585/original/file-20201020-17-1rbwt1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C80%2C2833%2C1976&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of the Sipekne'katik First Nation prepare to go fishing in Saulnierville, N.S., on, Sept. 17, 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In mid-September, the Sipekne'katik First Nation launched a moderate livelihood lobster fishery along the coast of southwestern Nova Scotia. Its fishers set out an estimated 250 traps at the time, the equivalent of one commercial boat. </p>
<p>Some, including the commercial fishing sector, worried this new fishery was a threat to maintaining healthy lobster stocks. Commercial fishers have articulated two conservation concerns about the Sipekne'katik fishery: its scale and whether fishing during the summer season — when lobsters molt and their shells are soft — is a problem for the survival of lobsters that are thrown back. </p>
<p>As a researcher with expertise in fisheries science, fisheries economics and marine policy, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/mi-kmaw-fishery-moderate-livelihood-megan-bailey-conservation-dalhousie-university-1.5734030">I see no evidence the fishery will harm lobster stocks</a>. Conservation is not at the heart of the ongoing dispute. </p>
<h2>Inherent and treaty rights</h2>
<p>Mi'kmaq have <a href="https://www.aptnnews.ca/nation-to-nation/dear-non-mikmaw-fishers-mikmaq-in-nova-scotia-have-an-inherent-right-to-fish-you-do-not/">inherent rights to practise their traditions and customs</a>, including fishing. Under the Peace and Friendship Treaties signed in the 1700s, codified in the Constitution under Section 35 and reaffirmed by the Supreme Court, Mi’kmaq have a <a href="https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/1739/index.do">right to harvest fish for food, social and ceremonial purposes</a> and a <a href="https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/publications/fisheries-peches/marshall-1999-eng.html">right to fish for a moderate livelihood</a>. </p>
<p>Yet two decades later, there has been no clarity on what “moderate livelihood” means, nor how implementation of the treaty right should unfold. Great people have been working on it, but it is not a trivial question. </p>
<p>Others have as well, including <a href="https://listuguj.ca/listuguj-migmaq-government-fall-lobster-fishery-a-success-despite-opposition-from-department-of-fisheries-and-oceans/">Listuguj</a> and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/mi-kmaw-moderate-livelihood-fishery-potlotek-1.5765457">Potolek</a> First Nations.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Debris from a burnt building next to the ocean." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364583/original/file-20201020-15-1dkfw7r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364583/original/file-20201020-15-1dkfw7r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364583/original/file-20201020-15-1dkfw7r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364583/original/file-20201020-15-1dkfw7r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364583/original/file-20201020-15-1dkfw7r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364583/original/file-20201020-15-1dkfw7r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364583/original/file-20201020-15-1dkfw7r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fire destroyed a lobster pound being used by Mi'kmaw fishers in Middle West Pubnico, N.S., on Oct. 17, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS /Andrew Vaughan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The protests over the Mi'kmaw fishery have escalated to acts of vandalism and violence. The message from commercial fishers is that fishing in St. Marys Bay outside the commercial season is illegal and a conservation concern. In fact, it is neither. </p>
<p>Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) did not immediately help the situation. Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett waited five days to make an explicit statement that it was, in fact, a <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/fisheries-oceans/news/2020/09/joint-statement-from-minister-jordan-and-minister-bennett.html">legal fishery</a>. By that time, the commercial sector’s view became further entrenched. </p>
<h2>Conservation concerns unfounded</h2>
<p>The commercial lobster season in Lobster Fishing Area 34, where the bay is located, runs from late November to late May. The livelihood fishery was launched outside that, leading the commercial harvesters to label it as illegal. Yet, as <a href="https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/local-perspectives/shelley-denny-making-room-for-mikmaw-livelihood-fishery-easier-than-you-think-509373/">Shelley Denny, a Mi'kmaw doctoral student at Dalhousie University, points out</a>, there are two sets of rules for Indigenous and non-Indigenous fish harvesters. The Indigenous fishery is not illegal, but is it a conservation concern?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The sun sets over a harbour." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364371/original/file-20201020-21-1emnx9p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364371/original/file-20201020-21-1emnx9p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364371/original/file-20201020-21-1emnx9p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364371/original/file-20201020-21-1emnx9p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364371/original/file-20201020-21-1emnx9p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364371/original/file-20201020-21-1emnx9p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364371/original/file-20201020-21-1emnx9p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The sun sets over the wharf in Saunierville, N.S.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Brandon Maloney)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Initially, five Sipekne’katik vessels were fishing 50 traps per vessel; there are now reportedly 10 vessels fishing a total of 500 traps. Compare that to the commercial sector, where each vessel — there are about 100 fishing in the bay — is allowed to fish 350 traps, for a total of about 35,000 traps. </p>
<p>There is no reason, no science, to suggest that the equivalent of one or two commercial vessels fishing in St. Marys Bay will be problematic. Lobster biologist Robert Steneck would <a href="https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/mikmaw-fishery-dispute-is-not-about-conservation-scientists-say/">bet you a beer</a> there will be no negative impact on the lobster population. </p>
<p>Fisheries scientists and managers need only look to our neighbour to the south, Maine, which operates a year-round lobster fishery. In the summer, lobster molt and their shells are soft, resulting in a lower quality lobster. The Canadian market doesn’t prioritize these lobsters, even though Maine does. </p>
<p>These lobsters are more susceptible to what’s called “post-release mortality,” meaning that those lobsters that cannot be kept — lobsters that are too small or females bearing eggs, for example — are thrown back and may not survive. This mortality needs to be accounted for, but it doesn’t mean it’s not sustainable to fish during the summer. </p>
<h2>Normal catches</h2>
<p>One index fisheries scientists use to measure the status of a resource is called catch per unit effort (CPUE). In this case, lobster is the unit and the effort invested is one vessel.</p>
<p>While not perfect, the CPUE represents a relative abundance of lobster in a given area. When CPUE falls, it may be a sign that fewer lobsters are available in that particular area, but may or may not signal that the population as a whole may be in trouble.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man hauling a lobster trap down a ramp to waiting boats." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364587/original/file-20201020-23-h0kydb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364587/original/file-20201020-23-h0kydb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364587/original/file-20201020-23-h0kydb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364587/original/file-20201020-23-h0kydb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364587/original/file-20201020-23-h0kydb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364587/original/file-20201020-23-h0kydb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364587/original/file-20201020-23-h0kydb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Members of the Sipekne'katik First Nation load lobster traps on the wharf in Saulnierville, N.S., in September 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Data for St. Marys Bay and Lobster Fishing Area 34 show that commercial catches have declined the past two years compared to the 2015-16 season. Commercial fishers have argued this is due to the summer “food, social and ceremonial” fishery that operates outside the commercial season. </p>
<p>The recent protests have targeted the “livelihood” fishery, but it seems that what the commercial sector is actually angry about is the food, social and ceremonial fishery. According to Brandon Maloney, fisheries director for Sipekne’katik, the band developed their plan for this fishery twenty years ago — this is not a new development. </p>
<p>So, what does the CPUE for St. Marys Bay look like over the past 16 years? I took the data released by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and calculated it. Although the CPUE in the past two years are on the lower end of the range, they are clearly within it. And they really only seem low when compared to the highs recorded in 2015-16. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Figure showing the CPUE fluctuations over time" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364370/original/file-20201020-13-12cxv6l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364370/original/file-20201020-13-12cxv6l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364370/original/file-20201020-13-12cxv6l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364370/original/file-20201020-13-12cxv6l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364370/original/file-20201020-13-12cxv6l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364370/original/file-20201020-13-12cxv6l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364370/original/file-20201020-13-12cxv6l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">CPUE for St. Marys Bay and Lobster Fishing Area 34, 2002-19.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Author provided. Data from DFO, September 2020.)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The assertion that the drop in bay catches is a conservation concern is wrong, as <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/mi-kmaw-fishery-moderate-livelihood-megan-bailey-conservation-dalhousie-university-1.5734030">DFO itself has stated</a>. So if there is no conservation concern, then the assertion that Indigenous summer food fisheries are decimating the stocks, as the commercial sector has argued, is incorrect. </p>
<p>It’s not surprising that commercial fishers are upset by a decrease in lobster landings in St. Marys Bay. But my assessment of the fishery is not why the public has a poor view of the group. </p>
<p>Their behaviour has been abhorrent. The sector needs to address its racism, cease its vigilantism, support dialogue and ensure that its positions are grounded in evidence. And, as Denny argues, it must make <a href="https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/local-perspectives/shelley-denny-making-room-for-mikmaw-livelihood-fishery-easier-than-you-think-509373/">room for the livelihood fishery</a>. The rest of Canada — and the world — is watching in shame. We must do better.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148396/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Megan Bailey is on the Board of the Fishermen and Scientists Research Society. </span></em></p>
The message from commercial fishers is that fishing in St. Marys Bay outside the commercial season is illegal and a conservation concern. In fact, it is neither.
Megan Bailey, Associate Professor, Canada Research Chair, Integrated Ocean and Coastal Governance, Dalhousie University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/135613
2020-05-06T14:36:35Z
2020-05-06T14:36:35Z
Keeping fish local can help feed communities and support economies
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332494/original/file-20200504-83764-11w7mr7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=71%2C107%2C2373%2C1353&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lake Superior, the world’s largest freshwater lake, has more than 30 native species of fish and a long history of productive commercial and subsistence fisheries.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The spread of the COVID-19 virus has caused uncertainty for global food supply chains. <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/food-security-covid19-trudeau-1.5520492">Poverty and food insecurity are on the rise as a result of the pandemic</a>. Yet, for many, these crises predate the spread of the novel coronavirus.</p>
<p>Overwhelming evidence demonstrates the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2020-03-19/the-fragile-system-supplying-food-to-the-world-is-under-strain">vulnerability of global food supply chains</a> and long-distance transportation networks embedded in a “<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-the-perils-of-our-just-enough-just-in-time-food-system-133724">just enough, just in time</a>” approach. </p>
<p>This recent instability will affect everyone, but the impact will be far more severe for Indigenous people, precarious and low-wage workers and people living in poverty, <a href="https://proof.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Household-Food-Insecurity-in-Canada-2017-2018-Full-Reportpdf.pdf">struggling to meet their basic needs</a>. While we must develop ways to address the immediate concerns, <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-rationing-based-on-health-equity-and-decency-now-needed-food-system-expert-133805">enhancing the resilience of local food systems</a> has taken on new urgency. </p>
<h2>Local fish unavailable</h2>
<p>The structures that underpin the modern food system and the resulting food insecurity are evident in northwestern Ontario. Thunder Bay, the region’s largest city, serves as a hub for food, social services and other basic amenities for those living in surrounding communities, including dozens of First Nations. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326669/original/file-20200408-5654-gk65h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326669/original/file-20200408-5654-gk65h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326669/original/file-20200408-5654-gk65h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326669/original/file-20200408-5654-gk65h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326669/original/file-20200408-5654-gk65h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326669/original/file-20200408-5654-gk65h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326669/original/file-20200408-5654-gk65h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326669/original/file-20200408-5654-gk65h9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fishing boats at Mamainse Harbour, near Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., on Lake Superior.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Charles Levkoe)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The city is perched on the shores of Lake Superior, the world’s largest freshwater lake, which has more than 30 native species of fish and a long history of productive commercial and subsistence fisheries. Nevertheless, our research has shown that local fish is almost impossible to find on the shelves of regional grocery stores. </p>
<p>Why is there such limited access to locally caught fish in Thunder Bay and what has happened to local fisheries that have sustained regional livelihoods? </p>
<p>Our research on the <a href="https://thenorthernreview.ca/index.php/nr/article/view/781">role of fisheries in sustainable food systems</a> was conducted before COVID-19 posed a global threat, but it is more relevant now than ever. </p>
<p>As we explored how fisheries changed over time in the Thunder Bay region, we learned there are currently only three active licensed commercial fishing enterprises. Increasing consolidation, high costs of entry and challenges in procuring fair prices for catches have squeezed out many harvesters. At the same time, Indigenous communities seeking to assert their fishing rights face <a href="https://fledgeresearch.ca/2019/05/29/indigenous-self-determination-and-food-sovereignty-through-fisheries-governance-in-the-great-lakes-region/">resistance from settler governments</a>. Overall, harvesters felt their voices and concerns were not being heard by policy-makers.</p>
<h2>Dependent on distance</h2>
<p>Today, most fish caught in the Thunder Bay area are exported to markets in Boston and Chicago and sold as low-quality protein. The export market is facilitated by government policies focused on modernizing commercial fisheries, including Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs). </p>
<p>ITQs are a popular management tool that treats fish as quasi private property by enabling harvesters to lease quota for profit. While proponents suggest ITQs enable better control and efficiency, they have contributed to a concentration of wealth in the fisheries sector. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fishing-licences-and-quota-on-the-west-coast-are-murky-business-116939">Fishing licences and quota on the West Coast are murky business</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the Thunder Bay region, this has enabled large American-owned companies to lease quota through subsidiary businesses and secure access to fish for export. The situation has led to a decrease in infrastructure to process and sell fish for Thunder Bay residents. It has also made harvesters <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-coronavirus-threatens-seafood-economy-community-fisheries-find-ways-to-stay-afloat-135276">dependent on long-distance supply chains</a> over which they have relatively little control. </p>
<p>In response, there is a growing effort among non-profit organizations, Indigenous communities and local entrepreneurs to ensure that fish can remain part of the regional food system. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://tbfoodstrategy.com/">Thunder Bay and Area Food Strategy</a> identified the protection of Thunder Bay’s watershed and revitalization of its sustenance and commercial fisheries as essential to the region’s food systems. Indigenous communities are also asserting their Aboriginal and Treaty rights to fish as fundamental to their self-determination and livelihoods. There are also several locally owned businesses aiming to reconnect harvesters and eaters such as <a href="https://eatthefish.ca/">Eat the Fish</a> and the <a href="https://www.thefishshop.ca/">Fish Shop</a>.</p>
<h2>Better policy needed</h2>
<p>Establishing sustainable local food systems for the region with fisheries as a core component will require enabling policy. The <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/strategic-policy-commercial-fisheries-2011">Strategic Policy for Ontario’s Commercial Fisheries</a> identifies fish as a nutritious food source as a social benefit of commercial fisheries. The Assembly of First Nations has identified protection of Great Lakes fisheries as important to <a href="https://www.afn.ca/uploads/files/impacts_of_pollution_on_great_lakes_fisheries.pdf">food security for First Nation communities</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326670/original/file-20200408-150164-1erokop.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326670/original/file-20200408-150164-1erokop.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326670/original/file-20200408-150164-1erokop.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326670/original/file-20200408-150164-1erokop.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326670/original/file-20200408-150164-1erokop.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326670/original/file-20200408-150164-1erokop.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326670/original/file-20200408-150164-1erokop.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Eat the Fish,’ a local fish market, at the Thunder Bay Country Market.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Charles Levkoe)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If these benefits are to be realized, communities and governments must protect fair prices for harvesters, support succession plans for those retiring, provide greater oversight of ITQs and prioritize Indigenous fishing rights and quota allocations. </p>
<p>These needs are all the more pressing in the time of a pandemic for ensuring food security in regions that already face higher rates of food insecurity, higher food prices and distribution challenges. Integrating small-scale fisheries into regional food systems is an important way to address food self-sufficiency, food security and community livelihoods. A lack of resilient local food systems can create a precarious situation for feeding populations — even in the best of times. </p>
<p>This is a moment to pause and critically reflect on the food system we want — one driven by profit that puts our social and ecological health at risk or one that is rooted in democracy and supports the people that produce, harvest and eat food.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/135613/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristen Lowitt receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Z. Levkoe receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p>
Local fish are almost impossible to find on the shelves of grocery stores in northern Ontario, even though the region has an abundance of fish.
Kristen Lowitt, Assistant Professor, Geography and Environment, Brandon University
Charles Z. Levkoe, Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Food Systems, Lakehead University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/124096
2019-09-26T03:19:02Z
2019-09-26T03:19:02Z
A landmark report confirms Australia is girt by hotter, higher seas. But there’s still time to act
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294250/original/file-20190925-51457-m18usk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Aerial imagery revealing the extent of storm damage in Dee Why on Sydney's Northern Beaches in 2016 following wild weather. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">NEARMAP/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/home/">landmark scientific report</a> has confirmed that climate change is altering the world’s seas and ice at an unprecedented rate. Australia depends on the ocean that surrounds us for our health and prosperity. So what does this mean for us, and life on Earth?</p>
<p>The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) findings were launched in Monaco on Wednesday night. They provide the most definitive scientific evidence yet of warmer, more acidic and less productive seas. Glaciers and ice sheets are melting, causing sea level to rise at an accelerating rate.</p>
<p>The implications for Australia are serious. Extreme sea level events that used to hit once a century will occur once a year in many of the world’s coastal places by 2050. This situation is inevitable, even if greenhouse gas emissions are dramatically curbed.</p>
<p>The findings, titled the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, strengthen the already compelling case for countries to meet their emission reduction goals under the 2015 Paris agreement. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294261/original/file-20190926-51438-1a71qxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294261/original/file-20190926-51438-1a71qxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294261/original/file-20190926-51438-1a71qxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294261/original/file-20190926-51438-1a71qxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294261/original/file-20190926-51438-1a71qxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294261/original/file-20190926-51438-1a71qxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294261/original/file-20190926-51438-1a71qxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Beachgoers cool off in the water at Bondi Beach in Sydney, February 2019. Australia’s coast dwellers must adapt to the inevitable effects of climate change.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joel Carrett/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/this-situation-brings-me-to-despair-two-reef-scientists-share-their-climate-grief-123520">'This situation brings me to despair': two reef scientists share their climate grief</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A rapid and dramatic cut in greenhouse gas emissions would prevent the most catastrophic damage to the ocean and cryosphere (frozen polar and mountain regions). This would help protect the ecosystems and people that rely on them.</p>
<p>The report entailed two years of work by 104 authors and review editors from 36 countries, who assessed nearly 7,000 scientific papers and responded to more than 30,000 review comments. </p>
<h2>The picture is worse than we thought</h2>
<p>Mountain glaciers and polar ice sheets are shrinking and, together with expansion of the warming ocean, are contributing to an increasing rate of sea level rise. </p>
<p>During the last century, global sea levels rose about 15cm. Seas are now rising more than twice as fast – 3.6mm per year – and accelerating, the report shows. </p>
<p>The IPCC’s projections are more dire than in its 2014 oceans report. It has revised upwards by 10% the effect of the melting Antarctic ice sheet on sea level rise by 2100. <a href="https://theconversation.com/arctic-ice-loss-is-worrying-but-the-giant-stirring-in-the-south-could-be-even-worse-119822">Antarctica appears to be changing more rapidly</a> than was thought possible even five years ago, and further work is needed to understand just how quickly ice will be lost from Antarctica in future.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293978/original/file-20190925-51429-83ml6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293978/original/file-20190925-51429-83ml6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293978/original/file-20190925-51429-83ml6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293978/original/file-20190925-51429-83ml6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293978/original/file-20190925-51429-83ml6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293978/original/file-20190925-51429-83ml6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293978/original/file-20190925-51429-83ml6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Key components and changes of the ocean and cryosphere, and their linkages in the Earth system.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">IPCC, 2019</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>If you live near the Australian coast, change is coming</h2>
<p>By 2050, more than one billion of the world’s people will live on coastal land less than 10 metres above sea level. They will be exposed to combinations of sea level rise, extreme winds, waves, storm surges and flooding from intensified storms and tropical cyclones.</p>
<p>Many of Australia’s coastal cities and communities can expect to experience what was previously a once-in-a-century extreme coastal flooding event at least once every year by the middle of this century.</p>
<p>Our island neighbours in Indonesia and the Pacific will also be hit hard. The report warns that some island nations are likely to become uninhabitable - although the extent of this is hard to assess accurately.</p>
<p>Some change is inevitable and we will have to adapt. But the report also delivered a strong message about the choices that still remain. In the case of extreme sea level events around Australia, we believe a marked global reduction in greenhouse as emissions would buy us more than 10 years of extra time, in some places, to protect our coastal communities and infrastructure from the rising ocean.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294259/original/file-20190926-51434-1uc3hzh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294259/original/file-20190926-51434-1uc3hzh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294259/original/file-20190926-51434-1uc3hzh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294259/original/file-20190926-51434-1uc3hzh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294259/original/file-20190926-51434-1uc3hzh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294259/original/file-20190926-51434-1uc3hzh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294259/original/file-20190926-51434-1uc3hzh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Indonesian residents wade through flood water in Jakarta. The northwestern part of Jakarta is rapidly sinking.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">MAST IRHAM/EPA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More frequent extreme events are often occurring at the same time or in quick succession. <a href="https://theconversation.com/was-tasmanias-summer-of-fires-and-floods-a-glimpse-of-its-climate-future-58055">Tasmania’s summer of 2015-16</a> is a good example. The state experienced record-breaking drought which worsened the fire threat in the highlands. An unprecedented marine heatwave along the east coast damaged kelp forests and caused disease and death of shellfish, and the state’s northeast suffered severe flooding.</p>
<p>This string of events stretched emergency services, energy supplies and the aquaculture and manufacturing industries. The total economic cost to the state government was an estimated A$445 million. The impacts on the food, energy and manufacturing sectors <a href="https://report.ipcc.ch/srocc/pdf/SROCC_FinalDraft_FullReport.pdf">cut Tasmania’s anticipated economic growth</a> by about half.</p>
<h2>Reefs and fish stocks are suffering</h2>
<p>The ocean has taken a huge hit from climate change - taking up heat, absorbing carbon dioxide that makes the water more acidic, and losing oxygen. It will bring ocean conditions unlike anything we have seen before.</p>
<p>Marine ecosystems and fisheries around the world are under pressure from this barrage of stressors. Overall, the <a href="https://blog.csiro.au/warming-oceans-are-changing-australias-fishing-industry/">fisheries potential around Australia’s coasts</a> is expected to decline during this century.</p>
<p>Heat build-up in the surface ocean has already triggered a marked rise in the intensity, frequency and duration of marine heatwaves. Ocean heatwaves are expected to become between four and ten times more common this century, depending on how rapidly global warming continues.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/B21aymDi2i1/?utm_source=ig_embed\u0026utm_campaign=loading","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>The report said coral reefs, including the Great Barrier Reef, are already at very high risk from climate change and are expected to suffer significant losses and local extinctions. This would occur even if global warming is limited to 1.5°C - a threshold the world is set to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-un/global-temperatures-on-track-for-3-5-degree-rise-by-2100-u-n-idUSKCN1NY186">overshoot by a wide margin</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/extreme-weather-caused-by-climate-change-has-damaged-45-of-australias-coastal-habitat-120671">Extreme weather caused by climate change has damaged 45% of Australia's coastal habitat</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Our choices now are critical for the future</h2>
<p>This report reinforces the findings of earlier reports on the importance of limiting global warming warming to 1.5°C if we are to avoid major impacts on the land, the ocean and frozen areas.</p>
<p>Even if we act now to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, some damage is already locked in and our ocean and frozen regions will continue to change for decades to centuries to come.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294260/original/file-20190926-51438-ym8ikr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294260/original/file-20190926-51438-ym8ikr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294260/original/file-20190926-51438-ym8ikr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294260/original/file-20190926-51438-ym8ikr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294260/original/file-20190926-51438-ym8ikr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294260/original/file-20190926-51438-ym8ikr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294260/original/file-20190926-51438-ym8ikr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mertz Glacier in east Antarctica. IPCC scientists say the expected effect of melting Antarctic ice on sea level rise is worse than projected five years ago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Antarctic Division</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Australia, we will need to adapt our coastal cities and communities to unavoidable sea level rise. There are a range of possible options, from building barriers to planned relocation, to protecting the coral reefs and mangroves that provide natural coastal defences.</p>
<p>But if we want to give adaptation the best chance of working, the clear message of this new report is that we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124096/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jess Melbourne-Thomas receives funding through CSIRO from the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Australian Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathleen McInnes receives funding from the Earth System and Climate Change Hub of Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathan Bindoff receives funding from the Australian Research Council (via two current grants), the Natural Environment Science Program through the Earth System Science and Climate Change Hub and also through the Tasmanian Climate Change Office. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nerilie Abram receives funding from the Australian Research Council through the Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes and a Future Fellowship, and from the Department of Environment. </span></em></p>
The IPCC report says extreme sea level events that used to hit once a century will occur once a year in many places by 2050. This situation is inevitable, even if emissions are dramatically curbed.
Jess Melbourne-Thomas, Transdisciplinary Researcher & Knowledge Broker, CSIRO
Kathleen McInnes, Senior research scientist, CSIRO
Nathan Bindoff, Professor of Physical Oceanography, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania
Nerilie Abram, ARC Future Fellow, Research School of Earth Sciences; Chief Investigator for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, Australian National University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/123270
2019-09-12T20:02:49Z
2019-09-12T20:02:49Z
Breeding single-sex animal populations could help prevent disease and poverty
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292119/original/file-20190912-190050-er6odr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C19%2C3234%2C2423&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The giant freshwater prawn is native to the Indo-West Pacific from northwest India to Vietnam, Philippines, New Guinea and northern Australia. It has been introduced into many countries for aquaculture.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">https://www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The creation of all-male or all-female groups of animals, known as monosex populations, has become a potentially useful approach in aquaculture and livestock rearing. </p>
<p>Researchers and those in the produce industries are interested in how we can take advantage of the natural traits exhibited by a certain gender in a species.</p>
<p>In the poultry industry, the production of all-female groups for eggs and the production of all-male groups for meat would be desirable. This is also true for milk and beef production in cows and bulls, respectively. However, these animals’ sexual development process means we are currently unable to produce monosex populations of them. </p>
<p>On the other hand, monosex culturing is already common practice for some aquatic species. In fish species such as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1687428512000064">tilapia</a> and catfish, males grow faster, whereas in other species such as grass carp and salmon, females do. Creating monosex populations of the faster-growing gender increases production rate. </p>
<p>As the science develops, I and my colleagues in this field continue to find ways in which monosex animal populations can benefit humans. </p>
<h2>Superfood, but not as you know it</h2>
<p>During my PhD at Ben-Gurion University I <a href="http://lifeserv.bgu.ac.il/wb/sagia/pages/our-lab.php">developed</a> the molecular tools required for commercial-scale production of monosex populations in the giant freshwater prawn, <em>Macrobrachium rosenbergii</em>. This technology is now marketed and distributed by several companies across the globe. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Enzootic is one of the companies using this technology on a commercial scale.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Besides being a commercially important species, the giant freshwater prawn has a fascinating social hierarchy. Males compete for reproductive success using different growth strategies and develop into either small or large subordinate males, or large dominant males. </p>
<p>While some of the dominant males grow much larger than females, they suppress the overall growth and survival of the entire population. It’s therefore advantageous to produce only females. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fast-growing-prawn-helps-farmers-feeds-families-3447">Fast-growing prawn helps farmers, feeds families</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>All-female groups use feed more efficiently, have a greater survival rate (even at a much higher stocking density), and are more uniform because there’s no unwanted breeding; the genetic breeding program is highly controlled. </p>
<p>When unplanned breeding occurs it results in crowding and leads to wasted energy due to sexual activity at the expense of growth. In controlled breeding, the mating is done only in specified breeding tanks, whereas prawns in the other tanks invest only in growth.</p>
<h2>Combating disease</h2>
<p>These monosex prawn populations were <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/09/190904130651.htm">recently trialled</a> in western African countries as a potential biological control of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schistosomiasis">schistomiasis</a>. </p>
<p>This deadly disease is caused by parasitic flatworms in freshwater snails. The snails are a delicacy to giant freshwater prawns, meaning the prawns can break the deadly parasite’s life cycle.</p>
<p>Introducing monosex populations of these prawns to areas where they are not native is also ecologically safe. They will not reproduce unchecked and can’t establish the next generation of prawns. Even if leakage should occur into natural waterways, it wouldn’t be viable for more than one generation.</p>
<p>The fact that they’re a prized food commodity also means they can help sustain villages wanting to produce and sell them. </p>
<h2>Making monosex populations</h2>
<p>Production of all-female populations in the giant freshwater prawn relies on induced sex change. </p>
<p>This is done using a male-specific organ called the androgenic gland. When cells of this gland are inserted into females at an early stage (when they are about the size of a rice grain), they develop into males. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/male-female-ah-whats-the-difference-12786">Male, female – ah, what's the difference?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Using the genetic sex markers I <a href="http://lifeserv.bgu.ac.il/wb/sagia/media/Articles/84_Ventura_et_al_2011_Heredity_107_456-461_.pdf">developed</a>, researchers have established these altered “males” carry a female sex chromosome, making them neo-males. When neo-males are mated with females, they produce a population of about 25% “super-females”. </p>
<p>These super-females can then be turned into super neo-males. When super neo-males are bred with super-females, they produce only super-females, by virtue of eliminating the male sex chromosomes from the population.</p>
<h2>The way ahead</h2>
<p>The challenge with monosex populations of the giant freshwater prawn and other species is that it results in the genetic narrowing of population diversity. Diversity is crucial to combating disease in cultured populations and is a huge concern for aquaculture species. </p>
<p>To circumvent this issue, researchers are developing breeding programs to reinvigorate the genetic lines treated with this technology. </p>
<p>In other species of crustaceans we are yet to figure out how to manipulate gender the same way it can be done in <em>M. rosenbergii</em>. The crustacean research community, myself included, is <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2017-08-31/sex-switching-rock-lobster-research-to-protect-against-theft/8854864">working diligently</a> to develop similar technologies for other species such as crabs and lobsters.</p>
<p>The great paradox of sex determination and making monosex populations is that while the outcome is the same across animals (separate sexes), the way these are produced varies greatly, even between closely related species. This makes it a complicated task to unravel the underlying machinery for different species. </p>
<p>And so the quest continues.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123270/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tomer Ventura receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>
Entire populations of prawn ‘super-females’ are now being commercially distributed. The science behind this continues to advance and could have a far-reaching impact on both humans and animals.
Tomer Ventura, Senior Lecturer, School of Science and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/116939
2019-06-02T16:07:40Z
2019-06-02T16:07:40Z
Fishing licences and quota on the West Coast are murky business
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276388/original/file-20190524-187176-1kxd12f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=38%2C0%2C4272%2C2833&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In the West Coast fisheries, a single licence may be exchanged for hundreds of thousands of dollars.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Being a commercial fish harvester is tough work. There are long hours, unpredictable seas and demanding physical conditions, not to mention the experience it takes to know where to drop the traps or cast a net. </p>
<p>Less recognized, but critical, are the economics of it. Some expenses you might expect: vessel, fuel, gear, ice and crew salary. In some jurisdictions, including the West Coast of Canada, harvesters must purchase or lease commercial licences that grant the right to participate in different fisheries, and quota that grant the right to catch a portion of a particular fish stock.</p>
<p>In the West Coast fisheries, a <a href="http://salishseas.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/2016_Valuation_Study_CMG_-REVISED.compressed.pdf">single licence may be exchanged for tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and quota transactions are worth tens of millions of dollars annually</a>. However, the market for licences and quota is not transparent or tightly regulated. Not unlike Vancouver housing, speculative investors see opportunity and can snap up licences and quota.</p>
<p>As licences and quota concentrate in fewer hands they become out of reach for active harvesters. In turn, <a href="http://www.bucksuzuki.org/images/uploads/The_State_of_Coastal_Communities_in_British_Columbia_2017.pdf">the socioeconomic fabric</a> of Indigenous and coastal communities stretches and strains. A recent <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/FOPO/Reports/RP10387715/foporp21/foporp21-e.pdf">study</a> by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans comes to similar conclusions. </p>
<h2>Access for sale</h2>
<p>Over the past year, I have been leading research into the history and distribution of West Coast licences and quota. One objective is to understand who holds what and how much. The answers are hard to come by. </p>
<p>Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) manages the country’s commercial fisheries. Like <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/y3427e/y3427e08.htm#bm08.4.2">many other agencies globally</a>, it has transitioned to a “limited-entry approach,” where the number of licences is capped, and the year’s total allowable catch is divided up as “quota” and allocated to licences. For example, there were 343 West Coast halibut licences and 6.13 million pounds of halibut quota in 2016. </p>
<p>Governments often favour the limited-entry approach because it institutionalizes their control over who can access fisheries. DFO knows how many eligible licences and vessels there are and, based on <a href="https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/species-especes/salmon-saumon/video/eval-stock-assess-eng.html">stock assessment science</a>, determines the year’s total allowable catch.</p>
<p>A common, though not universal, element of limited-entry fisheries is to make licences and quota freely tradeable. This is the case on the West Coast. </p>
<p>If you wanted to enter into the halibut fishery you would need to negotiate a deal with an existing holder. DFO records the official purchase and lease transactions but does not publicly report them. It does not track informal loans, co-ownership or other financing arrangements that some harvesters enter into to acquire licences and quota. </p>
<h2>Understanding the market</h2>
<p>Cautions about the transparency, fairness and effectiveness of the market for West Coast licences and quota have been circulating for <a href="http://ecotrust.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Catch-22-November2004_0.pdf">at least 15 years</a>. <a href="http://ecotrust.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/JustTranscations_JustTransitions_Dec21.pdf">Recent reports</a> and research on the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2016.02.019">B.C. salmon and herring fisheries</a> indicate that a small number of holders control a disproportionate number of licences and quota. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276389/original/file-20190524-187185-gg10ph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276389/original/file-20190524-187185-gg10ph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276389/original/file-20190524-187185-gg10ph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276389/original/file-20190524-187185-gg10ph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276389/original/file-20190524-187185-gg10ph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276389/original/file-20190524-187185-gg10ph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276389/original/file-20190524-187185-gg10ph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Herring on a fishing boat near Vancouver Island, B.C.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This raises a number of issues, but two patterns are especially important. </p>
<p>First, fish processing firms are free to accumulate licences and quota. B.C.’s largest fish processor, Canfisco, and its parent company, Jim Pattison Enterprises, control hundreds of licences and large volumes of quota across numerous fisheries. </p>
<p>Sometimes processors hire harvesters to run company-owned vessels. More often, they lease licences and quota to harvesters who run their own vessels and sell back the catch. This practice helps processors secure supply and some harvesters welcome working with them in this way. Other harvesters discuss being <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/FOPO/report-21/page-102#26">vulnerable to uncertainty and price squeezing</a> because the lease rates are not made public and fish prices fluctuate within and between seasons. </p>
<p>Second, one need not be in the fishing industry to hold West Coast licences and quota. This opens the door to <a href="https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/Dirty_Money_Report_Part_2.pdf">speculative investing</a>, though exactly how much is unclear. </p>
<p>The records DFO makes public list individual and company names, First Nations and many “numbered companies.” Without submitting an access to information request on each numbered company it is impossible to know who is behind them, where their investment funds originate and how licence and quota holdings factor into their business practices. It is not unheard of for fisheries agencies to <a href="https://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/publications/fishery_management/groundfish/permits/form-trawl-ownership.pdf">track ownership and corporate details</a>, but DFO does not appear to do so. </p>
<h2>Transparency, equitability and control</h2>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/FOPO/report-21/">recent report</a>, the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans made <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/FOPO/report-21/page-18">20 recommendations</a> to improve the transparency and equitability of B.C.’s fisheries and to better regulate who controls licences and quota. </p>
<p>For example, the committee suggests there should be no future sales of licences or quota to non-domestic interests and that DFO should publish a database listing licence and quota holders and transactions. It also recommends that the fisheries minister establish an independent commission to study “made-in-B.C. solutions,” including a system that would equitably share the value of harvested fish between the quota and licence holder, processor and harvester.</p>
<p>Regulations in other jurisdictions also provide guidance. In Atlantic Canada, for example, owner-operator policy states that <a href="http://www.glf.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/folios/00164/docs/licensing_policy_gulf-eng.pdf">only vessel owners in the inshore fleet can hold inshore licences</a>, that they must be aboard during fishing and that <a href="http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/initiatives/piifcaf-pifpcca/piifcafqa-pifpccaqr-eng.htm">controlling agreements — where harvesters finance licences through arrangements with processors or other private interests — are prohibited</a>.</p>
<p>West Coast harvesters and coastal communities themselves have many ideas, and several nonprofits support local initiatives. Two examples include <a href="http://ecotrust.ca/project/a-start-guide-fisheries-licence-banks/">community licence and quota banks</a> that hold licences and quota and lease them to local harvesters for a fair rate, and <a href="http://ecotrust.ca/project/electronic-monitoring/">affordable vessel equipment</a> that harvesters can use to meet DFO’s on-board monitoring requirements without breaking the bank.</p>
<p>A policy that mandates transparency, incorporates owner-operator principles and includes appropriate market regulation, combined with innovation in Indigenous and coastal communities, might just lead to a more socially sustainable fishing sector on the West Coast.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116939/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Silver receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response (MEOPAR) Network made possible through the Government of Canada Networks of Centres of Excellence program.</span></em></p>
West Coast fisheries policy leaves the door open to speculative investors who see opportunity and can snap up fishing licences and quotas.
Jennifer Silver, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of Guelph
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/104329
2018-12-20T18:50:44Z
2018-12-20T18:50:44Z
There aren’t plenty of fish in the sea, so let’s eat all that we catch
<p>‘Tis the season for seafood. While those in colder parts of the world tuck into turkey and hot dinners, in the southern hemisphere we get festive with prawn cocktails at Christmas and smoked salmon for New Year’s. Maybe crayfish and crab. Perhaps oysters and octopus. Or barramundi and more prawns on the barbie.</p>
<p>Yes, most of us love to eat fish. Some fish, anyway – and just some parts of those fish. When, for example, did you last eat a piece of fish that wasn’t a fillet? </p>
<p>That’s a problem when you consider how wild fish get caught. When fishing trawlers cast nets or reel out long lines, they don’t just catch the fish they know we want to eat. The industry calls the unwanted fish caught “bycatch”. These fish are generally discarded by being thrown back into the sea, alive or dead. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2018.09.007">Our research</a> shows that huge economic and environmental benefits could come from fully using fish now discarded. If all of the edible fish caught was kept and sold, both the sustainability and profitability of fishing would significantly improve.</p>
<h2>Here’s the bycatch</h2>
<p>Discarded fish accounts for <a href="https://www.seafish.org/media/742182/seafishguidetodiscards_201211.pdf">8% of the total global catch</a> by volume.
In Australia our reluctance to eat many types of fish makes the bycatch problem even worse. </p>
<p>As part of a CSIRO research team, we spent 12 months examining causes (and possible solutions) to the bycatch problem. This involved an economic analysis of fish caught and discarded by fishing trawlers operating in the Great Australian Bight Trawl Sector. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251442/original/file-20181219-27776-8a83as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251442/original/file-20181219-27776-8a83as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251442/original/file-20181219-27776-8a83as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251442/original/file-20181219-27776-8a83as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251442/original/file-20181219-27776-8a83as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251442/original/file-20181219-27776-8a83as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251442/original/file-20181219-27776-8a83as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251442/original/file-20181219-27776-8a83as.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Great Australian Bight Trawl Sector.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Fisheries Management Authority</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This region of the Southern Ocean is <a href="http://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/research-topics/fisheries/fishery-status/great-australian-bight-trawl-sector#113-economic-status">fished mostly</a> for deepwater flathead and bight redfish. There are, in fact, 120 different species that can be caught, but only 60 of these are eaten. The means up to 56% of any catch is discarded.</p>
<p>We calculated the cost and potential of the bycatch that fishing trawlers were already catching using the information about fish both caught and discarded that commercial fishing vessels are required to record in log books.</p>
<p>By our calculation, had the discarded fish been able to be sold, total annual fishing returns would have been increased by 18%, from A$1.97 million to A$2.32 million per vessel. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ocean-fish-are-under-threat-if-we-dont-curb-carbon-dioxide-emissions-107312">Ocean fish are under threat if we don't curb carbon dioxide emissions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>By always eating the same fish in the same ways, consumers are wasting other fish species. In the short term this means rising prices as the cost of finding and catching fish increases; in the longer term it means those fish will become luxury items and large swathes of the fishing industry will become unsustainable. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246105/original/file-20181118-44261-wnewhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246105/original/file-20181118-44261-wnewhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246105/original/file-20181118-44261-wnewhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246105/original/file-20181118-44261-wnewhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246105/original/file-20181118-44261-wnewhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246105/original/file-20181118-44261-wnewhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246105/original/file-20181118-44261-wnewhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A typical trawler catch. The big fish are hapuka, the red fish are bight redfish; these will be kept. The yellow fish, ocean jacket, will be discarded.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matt Koopman</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The obvious solution is to rethink how we use the fish we already catch. Cultural preferences and consumer demand are not external and fixed issues. We can make conscious choices.</p>
<h2>Consumer problem</h2>
<p>Why do we eat such a limited range of seafood? It is a combination of palate – what we are used to – and awareness. Culture plays a part, as does fashion. What our ancestors once commonly ate might strike us as unpalatable or as exotic as a foreign cuisine.</p>
<p>In Australia, most people tend to dislike “fishy” flavours like sardines and cook fish in a way – flinging it on the bbq – that may not work for more delicate, unusual species like clams. We prefer boneless fish that flakes but isn’t too soft or too oily (for example we love flathead, not eel). We have also gotten used to consuming the same foods at any time of year, with little thought to seasonality. </p>
<hr>
<p><iframe id="FTaF5" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/FTaF5/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr>
<p>That means molluscs may be too irregular, leatherjacket might have too many bones, and dogfish might just have the wrong name. </p>
<p>But these consumption preferences are not immutable. They can change.
As one fisher we spoke to said, there was much to be hopeful about reducing the level of discards, due not only to the potential of Asian markets but the increasing consumer interest in sustainable consumption. </p>
<h2>Changing how we think about eating fish</h2>
<p>Inspiration could come from the “nose to tail” movements that promote using all of the animal. The movement to use local produce could also help. There are restaurants in Scandinavia that specialise in cooking little-known previously discarded local species, cooking “whatever comes in that afternoon” off local fishing boats. </p>
<p>Programs to market lesser-known fish, provide recipes and identification charts are also becoming common overseas. Celebrity chefs or cooking programs could help make eating currently rejected fish fashionable. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/plenty-of-fish-in-the-sea-not-necessarily-as-history-shows-84440">Plenty of fish in the sea? Not necessarily, as history shows</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Increased demand for a wider range of locally caught species would also reduce imported fish (Australia imports more seafood than it exports). This would help take the pressure off overseas fisheries that may be less sustainably managed than our own (which are subject to strict environmental regulations).</p>
<p>So next time you buy or eat fish, explore your options. Talk to your local fish supplier and restaurateur and try something new. Don’t throw another shrimp on the barbie; make it ocean jacket or whatever has just come in fresh instead.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This research was funded by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (project 2015/204) on behalf of the Australian government. Alistair Hobday, Matt Koopman, Ian Knuckey and Shijie Zhou contributed to the project</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104329/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aysha Fleming was part of the project team lead by Alistair Hobday that received funding for this research from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (project 2015/204) on behalf of the Australian government. Ingrid van Putten lead the economic analysis on which this article is based.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:ingrid.vanputten@csiro.au">ingrid.vanputten@csiro.au</a> receives funding from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation on behalf of the Australian government. </span></em></p>
Australian fishing boats throw away up to half the fish they catch. To make the seafood industry sustainable, we need to eat all the fish that get caught.
Aysha Fleming, Research Scientist, Adaptive Urban and Social Systems Program, Land and Water, CSIRO
Ingrid van Putten, Research scientist, Oceans & Atmosphere, Adjunct Senior Scientist, Centre for Marine Socioecology, University of Tasmania, CSIRO
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/107751
2018-11-29T12:59:09Z
2018-11-29T12:59:09Z
Brexit: what the UK fishing industry wants
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247937/original/file-20181129-170235-191w5k1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C211%2C3930%2C2653&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/peterhead-scotland-19th-june-2012-fishing-391048333?src=x1bWXkTcbBYSfloysWSDDQ-1-4">Alan Smillie / Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The fishing industry constitutes a small but powerful voice when it comes to Brexit negotiations. Who gets <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46336962">to fish in UK waters</a> and how much they get to fish, as well as the UK fishing industry’s <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-46303911">access to EU markets</a>, have been front and centre of debates over the UK’s future relationship with the EU. </p>
<p>It’s widely recognised that the UK fishing industry <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2018/nov/26/why-did-the-fishing-industry-vote-for-brexit">voted for Brexit</a>. The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), which regulates fishing rights in the EU, is seen as a huge source of discontent among UK fishermen. But having interviewed key people in northeast Scotland’s fishing industry this summer, our conversations revealed a much more nuanced position on Brexit than is often portrayed in the media. </p>
<p>Perhaps most notably, some fishermen suggested that Brexit is not entirely about reversing the CFP, in the sense that foreign vessels should be banned from accessing UK fish stocks in UK waters. Rather, it is about the UK managing its own waters after Brexit more fairly than is possible within the CFP. There is an awareness that most UK fish exports are destined for EU markets and so maintaining a good working relationship is important. For example, one fisherman said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’m not also advocating that no foreign boat should be allowed in the UK, that would be wrong in my opinion. They have historical rights as well fishing our waters, it’s just the allocation of it.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Fair fishing for all</h2>
<p>In fact, the CFP is credited with some positives, such as bringing in management rules that helped the industry survive. But most agree that the CFP is now a burden to the industry that imposes impractical rules <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-fishermen-see-next-phase-of-the-discard-ban-take-effect">like the discard ban</a> and gives away a UK resource at the cost of the UK fishing industry. As one fisherman put it: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>To me the Common Fisheries Policy has been a disastrous policy for the fishing industry round the UK. Okay, it’s conserved the stocks but it’s decimated the fishing communities round about the UK.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247941/original/file-20181129-170226-1rpi144.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247941/original/file-20181129-170226-1rpi144.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247941/original/file-20181129-170226-1rpi144.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247941/original/file-20181129-170226-1rpi144.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247941/original/file-20181129-170226-1rpi144.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247941/original/file-20181129-170226-1rpi144.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247941/original/file-20181129-170226-1rpi144.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Peterhead fish market in northeast Scotland at auction time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andy Forse</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is also an awareness of the possibility that the fishing industry ends up in a worse position, if negotiations with the EU go badly. What they want is for the UK government to provide a plan that ensures the future of their industry and their communities, while dealing fairly with fishermen from the EU, where a significant part of their business plan relies on access to UK waters.</p>
<p>This understanding of the potential plight of their fellow fishermen from Europe, were the UK waters to be closed to foreign vessels, is reflected in one person’s comments: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I do not think it is fair that on a vote of the UK that a man who has built up a business in Denmark, Holland, France all of a sudden loses out overnight. I think we should be man enough to say we’re changing the rules and we’re going to do it over a ten to 15-year period.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There is also concern that the current Brexit transition period leaves the fishing industry within the CFP while the UK has no say in its operation. But this is minor compared to the fear that the UK will leave the EU and remain in the CFP. </p>
<h2>Little confidence in negotiations</h2>
<p>Interviewees recognise that the fishing industry is of low economic importance to the UK and have little confidence in the negotiation. The largest concern is that, as part of the negotiations to withdraw from the EU, the fishing industry is used as leverage in wider trade negotiations and ends up in the same or a worse position. One person said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It will just be a bargaining chip, the industry is nothing to the GDP in the UK, it’s less than 1%. Well, if you go to Denmark, you go to Holland, they all fight for their fishermen. France, Spain, you take the financial market in London, they’ll sacrifice the fishing industry to keep it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The industry also cares about a future EU-UK trade deal, as the majority of fish products exported from the UK go to the EU. Currently, there are no tariffs or customs checks on these products. But there are concerns that tariffs on seafood exports would increase the price of their products which could reduce sales. Plus, any delays from customs checks would reduce the quality of the fresh produce as it increases the time between catching and arriving at supermarkets and restaurants on the continent. One fisherman summed up his concerns on trade and markets: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I think the main risk is our markets in Europe. I have a fear that there’s a closed-door there and we have a perishable commodity and we have lorries backing up at the channel and fish decreasing in quality, you know, that can hit the price in the market for us.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Clearly, there are fears over how things will pan out. The fishing industry voted for Brexit to escape the rules and regulations of the CFP, many of which are seen as troublesome at best. But the ongoing Brexit negotiations have provided no certainty or clarity to the fishing industry, which both fears its decline and hopes for an outcome that enables a renaissance in the UK’s coastal communities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107751/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The ongoing Brexit negotiations have provided no certainty or clarity to the industry.
Andy Forse, PhD Researcher in Fisheries Management, University of Portsmouth
Ben Drakeford, Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of Portsmouth
Jonathan Potts, Principal Lecturer in Geography, University of Portsmouth
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/100512
2018-07-25T20:08:26Z
2018-07-25T20:08:26Z
How to reduce slavery in seafood supply chains
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229216/original/file-20180725-194140-a8azjf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Portside tuna unloading from a refrigerated cargo and trading vessel (reefer) in Thailand, 2013.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Trevor Ward</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Seafood is one of the most-traded foods in the world. The sector employs at least <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-2979.2011.00450.x">260 million workers globally</a>, and some 3 billion people rely on seafood as a <a href="http://www.iisd.org/sites/default/files/publications/ssi-blue-economy-2016.pdf">primary source of protein</a>.</p>
<p>The US <a href="https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/245365.pdf">State Department</a> and other <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/01/23/hidden-chains/rights-abuses-and-forced-labor-thailands-fishing-industry">credible sources</a> have consistently identified the seafood sector as a significant contributor to the global incidence of modern slavery. Widespread forced labour has been reported in the seafood industry in 47 countries.</p>
<p>Part of the problem is that global seafood supply chains are long and complex. That’s why my colleagues and I have developed a five-stage framework, published today in <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/7/e1701833">Science Advances</a>, that identifies the risk for specific products, all the way from ocean or farm to the supermarket shelf.</p>
<h2>What slavery might look like</h2>
<p>Companies can’t always be sure they’re buying and selling products that have been produced without forced labour. A single catch of fish may be caught in one country, processed in another and repackaged in a third before being shipped somewhere else for sale. </p>
<p>Some <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-2979.2011.00450.x">65-70%</a> of exported seafood is produced in developing countries where labour costs are relatively low. Work in distant water fleets, aquaculture areas and processing hubs can be highly appealing to the rural poor, who may have limited local job opportunities. </p>
<p>Getting to these jobs, however, often requires migration and using labour brokers. </p>
<p>In fishing, labour brokers supply a mix of professional crew from seafaring nations as well as less-skilled and lower-cost crew. Vessels are physically isolated, with working hours determined by ocean conditions and the round-the-clock duties needed to keep a ship operating safely. Payment for work is often a share of the catch value, based on seniority. </p>
<p>The less-skilled crew, who may not speak their colleagues’ language or have any legal standing in the vessel’s flag state, are vulnerable to involuntary and unpaid work. This is particularly the case where the direct employer is a distant labour agent, rather than the vessel’s owner. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, vulnerable conditions alone do not dictate forced labour. Fishing wages provide dignified livelihoods and an escape from poverty for millions of fishers and crew operating in many remote fisheries.</p>
<h2>Five steps to reducing slavery</h2>
<p>How can we unravel these complex strands to identify slavery? Given the complex international nature of the trade, private companies have an important role to play alongside national regulations. </p>
<p>This is why we developed the five-point Labour Safe Screen. Four of these components are designed to identify the risk of slavery: </p>
<ul>
<li>product screening for country-level origins and standing on forced labour in seafood</li>
<li>a template for mapping the supply chain</li>
<li>an algorithm for estimating risk in fishing operations</li>
<li>surveys for collecting proof of protective conditions in the workplace.</li>
</ul>
<p>The fifth component is a set of principles for minimum protective conditions in the workplace. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229220/original/file-20180725-194131-1rdusyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229220/original/file-20180725-194131-1rdusyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229220/original/file-20180725-194131-1rdusyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229220/original/file-20180725-194131-1rdusyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229220/original/file-20180725-194131-1rdusyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229220/original/file-20180725-194131-1rdusyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229220/original/file-20180725-194131-1rdusyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229220/original/file-20180725-194131-1rdusyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Field-tested principles for minimum conditions to protect workers from forced labour.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Eighteen companies participated in our study and most carry hundreds of seafood products. We developed a tiered approach for screening a large number of their products, with quantitative scoring for persistent risks moving upstream into the supply chain and the workplace.</p>
<p>The majority of human rights data on forced labour in seafood production is available at the country level. While this provides a starting point for risk assessment, extrapolation to a particular product can be misleading. </p>
<p>We found that by triangulating industry and human rights data (from proprietary and public data sources), our framework allowed traders to identify the “pinch” points in their supply lines. They could then pinpoint labour risks where corrective actions could be most efficiently focused.</p>
<p>This approach captures data for each workplace as a product moves through the supply chain, transcending national domains and trans-shipping issues. </p>
<p>The results give traders the tools to identify areas where working conditions are either acceptable, unknown or inadequate. </p>
<p>Although risk-based due diligence does not guarantee that a product is free from forced labour, it does allow screening of large numbers of products. It can also focus attention on the most urgent points for remedial steps. </p>
<p>Ultimately, regulatory oversight is the main ingredient for low risk and makes it easier to focus on minimum protective work conditions. So in situations where the regulatory systems are strict and enforced (as in Australia), then minimum standards are likely to prevail and forced labour is likely to be a low risk.</p>
<p>Ideally, robust risk assessment should be part of a multi-pronged strategy for sustainable and socially responsible seafood. As part of this, we should always include ways to hear directly from workers and their organisations at the front line.</p>
<p><br></p>
<hr>
<p><em>The work described here was jointly undertaken by the authors of the Science Advances paper, including <a href="http://www.seafoodchampions.org/news/seaweb-announces-2018-seafood-champion-awards/">prizewinning front-line workers</a> active in the rescue of seafood workers.</em></p>
<p><em>Katrina Nakamura (lead author for the Science Advances paper) assisted with the development of this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100512/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Trevor J Ward has received funding from Humanity United. </span></em></p>
The seafood industry is a major contributor to modern slavery.
Trevor J Ward, Adjunct professor, University of Technology Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/93976
2018-04-08T20:26:39Z
2018-04-08T20:26:39Z
Why the Arctic isn’t a ‘global commons’
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213461/original/file-20180405-189798-1vsor3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The captain of a Finnish icebreaker looks out from the bridge as it sails into floating sea ice on the Victoria Strait while traversing the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in July 2017. The waterways of the Arctic are of particular interest to non-Arctic jurisdictions like China and the European Union.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/David Goldman)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the most recent Arctic Council meeting in Finland indicates, interest in the Arctic is <a href="https://www.arctic-council.org/index.php/en/our-work2/8-news-and-events/486-sao-levi-2018-02">as avid as ever</a>.</p>
<p>The Arctic Council itself, however, serves as a reminder of the dominance of the eight Arctic states — Canada, the United States, Russia, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Finland — in the politics of the region due to their jurisdictional claims there.</p>
<p>But some have argued <a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/arctic/community/2016/02/18/what-we-mean-when-we-talk-about-the-global-arctic">against that supremacy.</a></p>
<p>They see the Arctic as what’s known as a global commons. Additionally, they see the abundant resources and economic opportunities there as common goods. This broadly means that the Arctic is seen an international, borderless area and the resources there, such as fish stocks, are available for any state to access. </p>
<p>This point of view raises the question: If the Arctic region is a global commons, why should the Arctic states be leading discussions about it? </p>
<h2>What exactly is a global commons?</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2016.1154441">According to public international law expert Nico Schrijver</a>, the term global commons “denotes areas and natural resources that are not subject to the national jurisdiction of a particular state but are shared by other states, if not the international community as a whole.”</p>
<p>He adds: “The high seas, the deep seabed, outer space, the Moon and other celestial bodies … can be viewed as global commons because no national entity can claim sole jurisdiction over these physical areas.”</p>
<p>Some who see the Arctic as a global commons take issue with the fact that “the current <a href="https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/135416/IB_TheArcticasaGlobalCommon.pdf">discourse on the Arctic</a> is dominated by the Arctic Five countries and the Arctic Council.” </p>
<p>However, much of the region’s ocean falls within the recognized national jurisdictions of the Arctic coastal states — Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the U.S. They are sometimes referred to as the <a href="http://www.springer.com/us/book/9789400747128">Arctic Five.</a></p>
<p>Those insisting that the Arctic is a global commons are conflating the high seas of the central Arctic Ocean with the entire Arctic region. The Arctic Five acknowledge that those waters <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201415/ldselect/ldarctic/118/11810.html">qualify as a global commons</a>, but the distinction between the high seas and whole Arctic region is not always clearly articulated. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213053/original/file-20180404-189798-3zfb8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213053/original/file-20180404-189798-3zfb8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213053/original/file-20180404-189798-3zfb8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213053/original/file-20180404-189798-3zfb8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213053/original/file-20180404-189798-3zfb8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213053/original/file-20180404-189798-3zfb8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213053/original/file-20180404-189798-3zfb8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This June 2017 photo provided by the Norwegian Polar Institute shows a bowhead whale in the Fram Strait between Greenland and Svalbard. The recent Arctic Council meeting in Finland shows there is still debate about jurisdictional claims in the region.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kit M. Kovacs, Christian Lydersen/Norwegian Polar Institute via AP)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is a strategic advantage, however, in arguing that the Arctic is a global commons. If a state does not have a claim to, or a defined role in, the Arctic, then pushing the idea of a global commons opens up opportunities they might otherwise be excluded from. </p>
<p>China, for example, has pushed the notion that the Arctic’s waterways and the central Arctic Ocean <a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-01/26/c_136926498.htm">are international waters</a>. </p>
<h2>Waterways are controversial</h2>
<p>While the central Arctic Ocean is certainly high seas, the waterways are more controversial. China, for example, has ambitions of developing international shipping routes through the Arctic region, despite <a href="https://sustainablesecurity.org/2018/02/26/the-northwest-passage-dispute/">Canada and Russia claiming sovereignty over two of the proposed shipping routes</a> the Chinese mention in their 2018 White Paper — <a href="http://english.gov.cn/archive/white_paper/2018/01/26/content_281476026660336.htm">the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route.</a></p>
<p>Another player in the Arctic — Greenland — has problems with the notion of the region as a global commons. This is clearly demonstrated in its relationship with the European Union.</p>
<p>Greenland has a disconnected relationship with the EU in part because of the EU notion of global commons and common goods. Greenland was initially brought into the EU’s predecessor, the European Economic Community (EEC), because Denmark joined and Greenland is a semi-autonomous part of the Danish Kingdom. </p>
<p>Greenland opposed EEC membership because it meant that its waters would be open to fishing by other EEC member states <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/greenland-exit-warning-to-britain-brexit-eu-referendum-europe-vote-news-denmark/">and this would undermine Greenland’s economy</a>. After Greenland held a referendum on the issue, <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/greenland-exit-warning-to-britain-brexit-eu-referendum-europe-vote-news-denmark/">it left the EEC in 1985</a>, though Denmark remains a member.</p>
<h2>Top EU official: ‘Arctic is a common good’</h2>
<p>Advocating that Arctic resources are common goods persists in the EU. Last year, EU High Representative Federica Mogherini argued that the Arctic “<a href="https://eeas.europa.eu/arctic-policy/eu-arctic-policy/28322/arctic-cooperation-and-innovation-tackle-climate-change-key-future-region-and-planet_en">is a common good, and we have a common responsibility to preserve it</a>.”</p>
<p>The Arctic Five, in the meantime, have recognized the need to protect the Arctic, and decided that other states like the EU and China could help. After three years of negotiations, with the the Inuit Circumpolar Council represented at the meetings, an agreement was reached to protect fish stocks in the Arctic’s high seas.</p>
<p>In 2017, the Arctic Five and key fishery industry leaders — the EU, China, Iceland, Japan, South Korea — signed an international agreement to temporarily ban commercial fishing in the Arctic’s high seas. No commercial fishing occurs there now, and the ban is expected to last “<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/high-arctic-fishing-ban-1.4428360">for at least the next 16 years</a>.”</p>
<p>The aim is to conduct scientific research to learn about possible sustainable fisheries management in the Arctic Ocean before commercial fishing takes hold. The ban is also meant to help prevent fish stock collapse of the type that occurred with the <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/archives/topic/fished-out-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-cod-fishery">cod fishery in Atlantic Canada</a> <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2580733.stm">in the 1990s</a>. </p>
<p>Negotiating with states like the EU and China shows that the Arctic Five acknowledge that they don’t have sole authority to determine what happens in the central Arctic Ocean. </p>
<p>Making clear the distinction between the high seas and the whole Arctic region, however, is critical. Pushing a broad Arctic “global commons” view will not foster positive relations with the Arctic states and the Indigenous peoples who live in the region.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93976/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Danita Catherine Burke is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow. Dr. Burke's host institution is the Center for War Studies at the University of Southern Denmark. She is currently a Visiting Research Fellow at School of Politics, Philosophy, International Relations and the Environment (SPIRE) at Keele University. </span></em></p>
The recent Arctic Council meeting in Finland shows there’s still avid interest in developing the Arctic. Some are arguing the entire region should be considered a ‘global commons.’
Danita Catherine Burke, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow, University of Southern Denmark
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/93092
2018-03-19T12:59:51Z
2018-03-19T12:59:51Z
Snow crab saga: a story that demonstrates the complexities of climate change
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210125/original/file-20180313-30994-3ckmlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/snow-crab-opilio-on-seabed-611947913?src=9n7kLrGJxMkX9KWIiQfotw-1-25">Kondratuk Aleksei/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There’s much more to <a href="http://www.fao.org/fishery/species/2644/en">snow crab</a> than their tasty legs and claws. Especially so in the last few years as these large, cold water Arctic crabs have started <a href="http://www.ices.dk/sites/pub/CM%20Doccuments/CM-2014/Theme%20Session%20F%20contributions/F0414.pdf">showing up in the Barents Sea</a>, where they’ve never been before. The snow crab’s story is a harbinger of climate change complexities on the horizon, and much more.</p>
<p>Until recently, they could only be found in Alaskan, Pacific Russian and Atlantic Canadian waters. But globalisation and growing human access to Arctic waters due to climate change have expanded the crab’s reach: increased marine traffic has seen the species successfully hitch a ride to the Barents from elsewhere in the Arctic. The new territory has proved quite amenable, and they are thriving. Crabs still at home in their native habitats, however, have been weathering climate change <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/snow-crab-stock-assessment-1.4001411">less successfully</a> due to climate changes and warming waters. </p>
<p>Climate change is also making it easier to fish the crabs, with <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017GL074304/pdf">more of the Barents ice-free for longer</a>. And that means humans are benefiting too, because humans adore eating this particular variety of crab. Alaskan crab fishing is so dangerous, risky, but potentially profitable that it has had its own TV series since 2005: <a href="https://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/deadliest-catch/">The Deadliest Catch</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210812/original/file-20180316-104639-s365z8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210812/original/file-20180316-104639-s365z8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210812/original/file-20180316-104639-s365z8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210812/original/file-20180316-104639-s365z8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210812/original/file-20180316-104639-s365z8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210812/original/file-20180316-104639-s365z8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210812/original/file-20180316-104639-s365z8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Served up for supper.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/snow-crab-legs-178126874?src=9n7kLrGJxMkX9KWIiQfotw-1-3">alisafarov/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Economics and ecosystems</h2>
<p>Given humanity’s voracious appetite for this particular variety of crab, when they started appearing in Russian waters in the Barents Sea in the late 1990s, the Russians and Norwegians agreed to study them to see whether they could make money for them too. They also wanted to know what effects they were having as newcomers to the area’s seabed. The countries now do <a href="http://www.imr.no/tokt/okosystemtokt_i_barentshavet/survey_reports/nb-no">joint ecosystem surveys</a> each autumn, and have a pretty good idea now that populations are growing very fast – fast enough that <a href="http://barentsobserver.com/en/opinion/2014/03/snow-crab-valuable-new-fishery-resource-barents-sea-20-03">some predict</a> that their value in the fishing industry in Norway could overtake cod in terms of value within a decade or two.</p>
<p>The crabs eat pretty much everything, but the net effect on the marine ecosystem’s productivity is still unclear. This is for two reasons. First, baseline science on Arctic seabed conditions still has a lot of unknowns. We can’t be sure what the changes are, because <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00300-005-0013-5">we don’t really know</a> what has always been there. Second, the way the crabs dig into the seabed <a href="https://forskning.no/meninger/kronikk/2015/05/snokrabben-skurk-eller-nyttig-mellommann">can release food</a> for other species. </p>
<p>The ecosystem is definitely changing, but we don’t really know if that’s going to be good or bad for the planet. It’s at times like these that we like to invoke the <a href="http://www.precautionaryprinciple.eu/">precautionary principle</a>, which suggests that we should avoid taking risks when consequences are highly uncertain but may include permanent losses or other unacceptable damages to present or future generations. In this case, that means stopping the spread of the crab until we know more. That way we can avoid making irreversible choices. </p>
<p>But humans also like to make money, and the global price of snow crab <a href="https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2018/02/06/snow-crab-prices-not-melting-any-time-soon/">keeps rising</a>. As the crab has expanded west, it has crawled out of Russian waters and into <a href="http://www.fao.org/tempref/FI/DOCUMENT/ec-sfs/2002/Stokke-Barents-FAO-Bergen.pdf">international waters</a> – more than 200 nautical miles from any shore – meaning any nation’s vessels could fish for them. Some EU and Norwegian vessels started doing that around 2012. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209616/original/file-20180308-30983-u38ype.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209616/original/file-20180308-30983-u38ype.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209616/original/file-20180308-30983-u38ype.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209616/original/file-20180308-30983-u38ype.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209616/original/file-20180308-30983-u38ype.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209616/original/file-20180308-30983-u38ype.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209616/original/file-20180308-30983-u38ype.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The snow crabs’ expansion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brooks Kaiser</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479718300070">This fishing has an added bonus</a>: it has reduced the population of crabs that remain on the seabed that could continue moving west and changing the existing ecosystems. And so market forces are currently helping implement the precautionary principle, which is unusual to say the least.</p>
<h2>Whose crabs are they, anyway?</h2>
<p>The crab’s advance into international waters meant anyone might fish crab and make money. But in 2015, Norway and Russia found common ground and changed the rules in their favour. </p>
<p>They used a loophole in international law to categorise the crab as seabed resource, basically equivalent to a mineral or oil, instead of a fishing resource. Reclassifying the crab means that the Russians and Norwegians can kick out vessels from other countries and keep the profits from the crab. This is because continental shelves define mineral resource boundaries, while distances to shore define fisheries boundaries. The Barents’ continental shelves extend beyond the 200 nautical mile fishing boundaries, and so this identity change benefits the Norwegians and the Russians.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.politico.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/SPOLITICO-17061514340.pdf">arrest</a> of a foreign crab fishing vessel in these Barents international waters spawned a lawsuit in Norway that has made it to the highest state court, which recently <a href="https://www.domstol.no/globalassets/upload/hret/decisions-in-english-translation/hr-2017-2257-a-snow-crab.pdf">held up Norway’s actions</a>. The case has potential to proceed to European courts. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210829/original/file-20180316-104673-nmnr05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210829/original/file-20180316-104673-nmnr05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210829/original/file-20180316-104673-nmnr05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210829/original/file-20180316-104673-nmnr05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210829/original/file-20180316-104673-nmnr05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210829/original/file-20180316-104673-nmnr05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210829/original/file-20180316-104673-nmnr05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Koreans love their snow crab.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1225730">PX Here</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Broader truths</h2>
<p>But that’s not even the biggest controversy. The Norwegian continental shelf also extends to <a href="http://www.npolar.no/en/the-arctic/svalbard/">Svalbard</a>. Due to an <a href="http://library.arcticportal.org/1909/1/The_Svalbard_Treaty_9ssFy.pdf">international treaty from 1920</a>, anyone who wants to engage in commercial or scientific opportunities on Svalbard may do so. </p>
<p>This has led to a complementary <a href="https://www.neafc.org/">set of international treaties</a> which help govern fishing in the area around the archipelago. When international vessels were kicked out of the international waters, some moved to the Svalbard zone, <a href="http://ldac.chil.me/attachment/f6eb347b-06e7-4f41-ba15-9a3fa22f0c64">gaining international permits to fish snow crab there</a>. But Norway <a href="http://www.fiskerforum.dk/en/news/b/crab-catcher-arrested-in-svalbard-zone">arrested one of these boats</a>, too. EU states <a href="http://www.dpa-international.com/topic/eu-norway-row-crab-fishing-rights-arctic-waters-heats-180224-99-221213">continue to issue licenses</a>, against Norway’s insistence that they cease. The question at the bottom line is – do the continental shelf rules trump the 1920 Svalbard rules, or vice-versa? </p>
<p>This time, it is not just about profit from crabs. The stakes are high. The dispute is set to resolve broader questions about the seabed under the Svalbard zone. As valuable as the crabs may be, oil, gas and other seabed resources may be <a href="https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/industry-and-energy/2017/04/norway-doubles-arctic-oil-estimates">many times more valuable</a>. Norway and the EU are at an impasse: legal arguments will have to decide whether Norway has the right to other seabed mineral and oil resources in the zone, or whether the resources fall under the open commercial access rules for Svalbard. </p>
<p>The consequences should also be expected to extend far beyond the Barents. Because climate change is making it more and more common for species to move <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aqc.2764/full">in and out of legal jurisdictions</a>. This will require new ways of negotiating shared resources amongst interested local and global parties. And these decisions will then impact the ecological changes brought by the species, as well as who profits.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93092/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brooks Kaiser receives funding from the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Danish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Carlsberg Foundation, and the Belmont Forum (Nordforsk). She is affiliated with the Polar Research and Policy Initiative. Colleagues Melina Kourantidou, University of Southern Denmark, and Linda Fernandez, Virginia Commonwealth University, also contributed substantially to the research behind this article. </span></em></p>
The tale of the snow crab bears witness to the how the complexities of climate change and fights over fishing rights play out.
Brooks Kaiser, Professor, Management and Economics of Resources and the Environment, University of Southern Denmark
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/84440
2017-10-02T18:41:08Z
2017-10-02T18:41:08Z
Plenty of fish in the sea? Not necessarily, as history shows
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188275/original/file-20171001-22066-1p8v0lh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ern McQuillan, Tuna Fishing at Eden, New South Wales, 1960.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Library of Australia</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia has had tens of thousands of years of fisheries exploitation. That history reveals a staggering natural bounty, which has been alarmingly fragile without proper management. The current debate over the federal government’s new <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-new-marine-parks-plan-is-a-case-of-the-emperors-new-clothes-81391">draft marine park plans</a> is the latest chapter of this story. </p>
<p>Early accounts described what we can only read today as some sort of fishing Eden. The sea floor off the west coast of Tasmania was carpeted red with crayfish. Extraordinary schools of Australian salmon swelled the beaches of southern Australia — from Albany right around to Port Macquarie. Mountains of mullet migrated annually up the east coast of the continent.</p>
<p>Colonial writers described huge hauls of fish, caught using nets they had brought over on the First Fleet. One catch in 1788 was so large, wrote David Collins, the colony’s newly minted Judge-Advocate, that it actually broke the net. Collins speculated that if the haul had been landed, the entire catch could “have served the settlement [of over 1000] for a day”.</p>
<p>Like colonial fishers on the coast, inland explorers such as John Oxley were struck by the paradox of Australia’s natural world. The land seemed barren and unsuited for pastoralism, he observed in 1817, yet the water teemed with life. In less than an hour, one of his party “caught 18 large fish, one of which was a curiosity from its immense size and the beauty of its colours,” wrote Oxley. “It weighed entire 70 pounds [31kg].”</p>
<h2>Indigenous fishing knowledge</h2>
<p>For Indigenous people, seasonal mobility had both signalled and prescribed the times for fishing and its availability, forming a vital part of their management of local fisheries.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188272/original/file-20171001-13542-1551kjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188272/original/file-20171001-13542-1551kjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188272/original/file-20171001-13542-1551kjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188272/original/file-20171001-13542-1551kjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188272/original/file-20171001-13542-1551kjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188272/original/file-20171001-13542-1551kjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188272/original/file-20171001-13542-1551kjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188272/original/file-20171001-13542-1551kjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Joseph Lycett, Aborigines Spearing Fish, Others Diving for Crayfish, c.1817.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Library of Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For the Yolngu in Arnhem Land, flowering stringybark trees coincided with the shrinking of waterholes, where fish could be more readily netted and speared, or poisoned. When the D’harawal people of the Shoalhaven region in southern New South Wales saw the golden wattle flowers of the Kai’arrewan (Acacia binervia), they knew the fish would be running in the rivers and prawns would be schooling in estuarine shallows.</p>
<p>In Queensland, the movement and population of particular fish species had their own corresponding sign on land. The extent of the annual sea mullet run in the cool winter months could apparently be predicted by the numbers of rainbow lorikeets in late autumn. If black magpies were scarce in winter, numbers of luderick would also be low. When the bush was ablaze with the fragrant sunny blooms of coastal wattle in early spring, surging schools of tailor could be expected just offshore.</p>
<p>A diversity of Indigenous fishing practices developed to capitalise on this. In the Gadigal nation (where Sydney is situated), Eora fisherwomen hand-lined for snapper, dory and mullet. At the end of their lines, elegant fishhooks made from carved abalone or turban shells were dropped over the side of their canoes. </p>
<p>These canoes, known as <em>nowies</em>, were “nothing more than a large piece of bark tied up at both ends with vines”, described the British officer Watkin Tench. Despite their apparent flimsiness, the fisherwomen were master skippers, paddling across the bays and offshore, waves slapping at the sides of their precarious vessels. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188273/original/file-20171001-21091-yfa5wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188273/original/file-20171001-21091-yfa5wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188273/original/file-20171001-21091-yfa5wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188273/original/file-20171001-21091-yfa5wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188273/original/file-20171001-21091-yfa5wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188273/original/file-20171001-21091-yfa5wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188273/original/file-20171001-21091-yfa5wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188273/original/file-20171001-21091-yfa5wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Frank Hurley, Aboriginal Man Standing Holding a Large Oval Fishing Net, 1914.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Library of Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When the water was calm and clear enough, Aboriginal men around Sydney Harbour and Botany Bay were frequently seen lying across their <em>nowies</em>, faces fully submerged, peering through the cool blue with a spear at the ready. They “do this with such certainty,” wrote John Clark in 1813, that they “rarely miss their aim”.</p>
<p>Yet the growth of stationary colonial settlements soon saw those fisheries put under enormous pressure.</p>
<h2>Over-fishing concerns by the 1880s</h2>
<p>By the mid-1800s, local fisheries near rapidly-growing cities such as Port Jackson and Botany Bay were already seeing the effects of <a href="https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/booralee_fishing_town">over-fishing</a>. Practices such as “stalling” netted off entire tidal flats at high tide, and trapped everything behind a thin layer of fine mesh when the water retreated. Fishers picked out the larger fish such as bream, whiting and flathead for market, but piles of small fish were simply left to rot.</p>
<p>While the “net of the fishermen gradually increased in length”, noted Alexander Oliver, who was appointed to the 1880 Commission of Inquiry into the NSW fisheries, the “meshes decreased in width, so that nothing escaped, and bushels upon bushels of small fry — the young of the very best fishes — were left on the beaches”.</p>
<p>There were calls for greater regulation and fisheries management by the mid-19th century. Fish “are followed up every creek and cranny by their relentless human enemies”, and “perpetually harassed and hunted”, reported the 1880 Commission, which had been convened to investigate the poor state of the local fishing industry. It revealed an anxiety over stocks and sustainability that sounds eerily familiar today.</p>
<p>The fine-line between commercial exploitation and sustainability has been gingerly walked throughout Australia’s fishing history, sometimes catastrophically. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188274/original/file-20171001-12953-68di39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188274/original/file-20171001-12953-68di39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188274/original/file-20171001-12953-68di39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188274/original/file-20171001-12953-68di39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188274/original/file-20171001-12953-68di39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188274/original/file-20171001-12953-68di39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188274/original/file-20171001-12953-68di39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188274/original/file-20171001-12953-68di39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Catch of Sea Garfish (Hemirhamphus) at Thompson’s Beach, near Sydney, N.S.W. 1911, plate II in The Future of Commercial Marine Fishing in New South Wales by David George Stead.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Library of Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the late 1920s, tiger flathead stocks south of Sydney completely collapsed - less than a decade after the introduction of ocean trawl fishing. In 1919, takings on the Botany Grounds had totalled 2.3 million tons. In 1928, flattie stocks crashed, and by 1937 only 0.2 million tons were hauled up by the trawling fleet. </p>
<p>That stocks are still only 40% of pre-1915 levels, nearly a century after their initial collapse, shows just how much longer it takes fish populations to recover after plunder.</p>
<p>In the 1970s and 1980s, the same cycle of boom-to-bust played out with southern blue-fin tuna and orange roughy. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188277/original/file-20171001-8620-1hae1ju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188277/original/file-20171001-8620-1hae1ju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188277/original/file-20171001-8620-1hae1ju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188277/original/file-20171001-8620-1hae1ju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188277/original/file-20171001-8620-1hae1ju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188277/original/file-20171001-8620-1hae1ju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188277/original/file-20171001-8620-1hae1ju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Julie Fourter and Ruth Maddison, Guy Robert on Osprey IV Climbing Mound of Orange Roughy, a Deep.
Sea Fish, Portland, Victoria, 1988.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Ruth Maddison</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In response, marine parks were introduced from the 1980s, as well as national regulations that enforced catch sizes, fishing zones and seasons, and even the mesh size of nets. </p>
<p>Fisheries management have responded to declining stocks by introducing wide-ranging legislation across the recreational and commercial sectors. But they’re in an unenviable position, essentially forced to make laws in response to fishing practices sometimes over a century old (such as the excessive by-catch of trawlers), while simultaneously “balancing” the contemporary demands of conservationists, recreational and commercial fishers. </p>
<p>To be fair, that quest for “balance” isn’t easy. Yet we also know from history that this is a zero-sum game: there are plenty of fish in the sea — until there aren’t.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84440/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Clark does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The history of fisheries exploitation in Australia reveals a staggering natural bounty, which has been alarmingly fragile without proper management.
Anna Clark, Australian Research Council Future Fellow in Public History, University of Technology Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/81391
2017-07-24T05:40:04Z
2017-07-24T05:40:04Z
Australia’s new marine parks plan is a case of the Emperor’s new clothes
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179377/original/file-20170724-28505-1oghl27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Orca family group at the Bremer Canyon off WA's south coast.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">R. Wellard</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The federal government’s new <a href="https://parksaustralia.gov.au/marine/management/draft-plans/">draft marine park plans</a> are based on an unsubstantiated premise: that protection of Australia’s ocean wildlife is consistent with activities such as fishing and oil and gas exploration. </p>
<p>Under the proposed plans, there would be no change to the boundaries of existing marine parks, which cover 36% of Commonwealth waters, or almost 2.4 million square kilometres. But many areas inside these boundaries will be rezoned to allow for a range of activities besides conservation.</p>
<p>The plans propose dividing marine parks into three types of zones:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Green</strong>: “National Park Zones” with full conservation protection</li>
<li><strong>Yellow</strong>: “Habitat Protection Zones” where fishing is allowed as long as the seafloor is not harmed</li>
<li><strong>Blue</strong>: “Special Purpose Zones” that allow for specific commercial activities.</li>
</ul>
<p>Crucially, under the new draft plans, the amount of green zones will be almost halved, from 36% to 20% of the marine park network, whereas yellow zones will almost double from 24% to 43%, compared with <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/marine/marine-reserves/overview/resources">when the marine parks were established in 2012</a>.</p>
<p>The government has <a href="http://www.joshfrydenberg.com.au/guest/mediaReleasesDetails.aspx?id=394">said</a> that this approach will “allow sustainable activities like commercial fishing while protecting key conservation features”.</p>
<p>But like the courtiers told to <a href="http://www.andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheEmperorsNewClothes_e.html">admire the Emperor’s non-existent new clothes</a>, we’re being asked to believe something to be true despite strong evidence to the contrary. </p>
<h2>The Emperor’s unrobing</h2>
<p>The new plans follow on from last year’s release of an <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/marinereservesreview/home">independent review</a>, commissioned by the Abbott government after <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/environment/marine-reserves-ditched-despite-tide-of-research-20140825-1083js.html">suspending</a> the <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/marine/marine-reserves/overview/resources">previous network of marine reserves</a> implemented under Julia Gillard in 2012.</p>
<p>Yet the latest draft plans, which propose to gut the network of green zones, ignore many of the recommendations made in the review, which was itself an erosion of the suspended 2012 plans.</p>
<p>The extent of green zones is crucial, because the <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v506/n7487/full/nature13022.html?foxtrotcallback=true">science says</a> they are the engine room of conservation. Fully protected marine national parks – with no fishing, no mining, and no oil and gas drilling – deliver far more benefits to biodiversity than other zone types. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.12247/abstract">best estimates</a> suggest that 30-40% of the seascape should ideally be fully protected, rather than the 20% proposed under the new plans.</p>
<p>Partially protected areas, such as the yellow zones that allow fishing while protecting the seabed, do not generate conservation benefits equivalent to those of full protection.</p>
<p>While some studies suggest that partial protection is <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/faf.12044/abstract">better than nothing</a>, others suggest that these zones offer <a href="http://www.int-res.com/articles/meps2008/367/m367p049.pdf">little to no improvement</a> relative to areas fully open to exploitation. </p>
<p>Environment minister Josh Frydenberg has pointed out that, under the new plans, the total area zoned as either green or yellow will rise from 60% to 63% compared with the 2012 network. But yellow is not the new green. What’s more, yellow zones have <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1755-263X.2011.00171.x/abstract">similar management costs</a> to green zones, which means that the government is proposing to spend the same amount of money for far inferior protection. And as any decent sex-ed teacher will tell you, partial protection is a risky business.</p>
<h2>What do the draft plans mean?</h2>
<p>Let’s take a couple of examples, starting with the <a href="https://parksaustralia.gov.au/marine/pub/draft-plans/coral-sea-draft-management-plan-2017.pdf">Coral Sea Marine Park</a>. This is perhaps the most disappointing rollback in the new draft plan. The green zone, which would have been one of the largest fully protected areas on the planet, has been reduced by half to allow for fishing activity in a significantly expanded yellow zone.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179316/original/file-20170723-28478-1lc3sey.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179316/original/file-20170723-28478-1lc3sey.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179316/original/file-20170723-28478-1lc3sey.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=266&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179316/original/file-20170723-28478-1lc3sey.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=266&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179316/original/file-20170723-28478-1lc3sey.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=266&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179316/original/file-20170723-28478-1lc3sey.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179316/original/file-20170723-28478-1lc3sey.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179316/original/file-20170723-28478-1lc3sey.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Coral Sea Marine Park zoning, as recommended by Independent Review (left) and in the new draft plan (right), showing the proposed expansion of partial protection (yellow) vs full protection (green).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">From http://www.environment.gov.au/marinereservesreview/reports and https://parksaustralia.gov.au/marine/management/draft-plans/</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This yellow zone would allow the use of <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/629be75b-5c16-4d6e-944e-c104ee312ac6/files/fishing-risk-assessment.pdf">pelagic longlines</a> to fish for tuna. This is despite <a href="http://www.afma.gov.au/fisheries/eastern-tuna-and-billfish-fishery-page/">government statistics</a> showing that around 30% of the catch in the Eastern Tuna and Billfish fishery consists of species that are either overexploited or uncertain in their sustainability, and the government’s <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/629be75b-5c16-4d6e-944e-c104ee312ac6/files/fishing-risk-assessment.pdf">own risk assessment</a> that found these types of fishing lines are incompatible with conservation. </p>
<p>What this means, in effect, is that the plans to establish a world-class marine park in the Coral Sea will be significantly undermined for the sake of saving commercial tuna fishers A$4.1 million per year, or <a href="http://www.joshfrydenberg.com.au/guest/mediaReleasesDetails.aspx?id=394">0.3% of the total revenue</a> from Australia’s wild-catch fisheries. </p>
<p>Contrast this with the <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/au/Documents/Economics/deloitte-au-economics-great-barrier-reef-230617.pdf">A$6.4 billion</a> generated by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park in 2015-16, the majority of which comes from non-extractive industries.</p>
<p>This same erosion of protection is also proposed in Western Australia, where the government’s draft plan would reduce green zones by 43% across the <a href="https://parksaustralia.gov.au/marine/management/draft-plans/">largest marine parks</a> in the region.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179320/original/file-20170723-28483-16vxtzl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179320/original/file-20170723-28483-16vxtzl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179320/original/file-20170723-28483-16vxtzl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=189&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179320/original/file-20170723-28483-16vxtzl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=189&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179320/original/file-20170723-28483-16vxtzl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=189&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179320/original/file-20170723-28483-16vxtzl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=237&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179320/original/file-20170723-28483-16vxtzl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=237&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179320/original/file-20170723-28483-16vxtzl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=237&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Zoning for the Gascoyne Marine Park as recommended by the Independent Review (left) and the new draft plan (right).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">http://www.environment.gov.au/marinereservesreview/reports and https://parksaustralia.gov.au/marine/management/draft-plans/</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Again, this is despite clear evidence that the fishing activities occurring in these areas are not compatible with conservation. Such proposals also ignore future pressures such as deep-sea mining.</p>
<p>The overall effect is summarised neatly by <a href="http://www.joshfrydenberg.com.au/guest/mediaReleasesDetails.aspx?id=394">Frydenberg’s statement</a> that the government’s plans will: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>…increase the total area of the reserves open to fishing from 64% to 80% … (and) make 97% of waters within 100 kilometres of the coast open for recreational fishing. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Building ocean resilience</h2>
<p>Science shows that full protection creates resilience by supporting intact ecosystems. Fully protected green zones recover faster from <a href="https://theconversation.com/marine-reserves-saved-coral-reefs-from-queensland-floods-26053">flooding</a> and <a href="http://www.wri.org/chagos-archipelago-case-study-rapid-reef-recovery">coral bleaching</a>, have reduced rates of <a href="https://theconversation.com/banning-fishing-has-helped-parts-of-the-great-barrier-reef-recover-from-damage-55828">disease</a>, and fend off <a href="https://theconversation.com/marine-reserves-help-fish-resist-climate-change-invaders-20960">climate invaders</a> more effectively than areas that are open to fishing. </p>
<p>Green zones also contribute indirectly to the blue economy. They help <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms3347">support fisheries</a> and function as <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982212003958">“nurseries” for fish larvae</a>. For commercial fisheries, these sanctuaries are more important than ever in view of the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms10244">declines in global catches since we hit “peak fish” in 1996</a>. </p>
<p>Of course it is important to balance conservation with sustainable economic use of our oceans. Yet the government’s new draft plan leaves a huge majority of Australia’s waters open to business as usual. It’s a brave Emperor who thinks this will protect our oceans. </p>
<p>So let’s put some real clothes on the Emperor and create a network of marine protection that supports our blue economy and is backed by science.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81391/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Meeuwig has received funding from the National Environmental Science Programme and the Ian Potter Foundation in relation to understanding offshore marine protected areas.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Booth has received funding from the Australia Research Council. He is affiliated with Australian Coral Reef Society and Australian Marine Science Association </span></em></p>
The government aims to dramatically reduce the areas offered full protection and expand zones where fishing is allowed, while also claiming that this will still deliver good conservation.
Jessica Meeuwig, Professor & Director, Marine Futures Lab, The University of Western Australia
David Booth, Professor of Marine Ecology, University of Technology Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/66274
2016-10-03T19:15:44Z
2016-10-03T19:15:44Z
Marine parks and fishery management: what’s the best way to protect fish?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140033/original/image-20161003-15278-1txbgdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Closing parts of the ocean to fishing displaces fishers to other areas. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tuna image from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The federal government is considering changes to Australia’s marine reserves to implement a national system. This week The Conversation is looking at the science behind marine reserves and how to protect our oceans.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>While academics often focus on biodiversity objectives for marine parks, the public and political debate tends to come down to one thing: fishing. </p>
<p>When former federal MP <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/with-barely-one-vote-to-spare-marine-reserve-patchwork-was-saved-20130610-2nzvy.html">Rob Oakeshott cast one of the deciding votes</a> in support of the Commonwealth marine parks plan in 2013, he explained that he believed they <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-04/coalition-motion-to-kill-off-marine-reserve-parks-fails/4733306">benefit fisheries</a>. The federal government has also emphasised the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/5eaad4f9-e8e0-45d1-b889-83648c7b2ceb/files/benefits-mpas.pdf">benefit of marine parks to fisheries production</a>. </p>
<p>There’s also an academic debate. When a study showed that the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/14-1427.1/full">Great Barrier Reef marine park had harmed fisheries production</a>, there was a <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/15-0457/full">passionate response from other experts</a>. This is despite advocates arguing that reserves are primarily about biodiversity conservation, rather than fishing production. </p>
<p>Clearly, fishing is a hot issue for marine parks. So what does the science say?</p>
<h2>How do marine parks protect fish?</h2>
<p>The proposed benefits to fisheries from marine parks include: protection or insurance against overfishing; “spillover”, where larvae or juveniles from the parks move out and increase the overall production; habitat protection from damaging fishing gear; and managing the ecosystem effects of fishing such as resilience against climate change.</p>
<p>Marine parks regulate activities, mainly fishing, within a specified area. They come in a variety of categories. Some allow fishing, but the most contentious are “no-take” marine parks.</p>
<p>Fishery managers also sometimes close areas of the ocean to fishing. This is different to how no-take marine parks work in two ways: the legislative authority is different (being through fisheries rather than environmental legislation); and the closures usually target a specific fishery, whereas no-take marine parks usually ban all fishing.</p>
<p>Fishery closures, rather than no-take marine parks, are usually applied to protect special areas for particular fish, such as spawning sites or nursery areas. They are also used to protect habitats, such as in the case of trawl closures, which allow the use of other gear such as longlines in the same location. </p>
<p>Fisheries legislation bans damaging fishing gear outright, while benign gears are allowed. In contrast, no-take marine parks tend to exclude all gear types.</p>
<h2>Displacing fishers</h2>
<p>Neither marine parks nor fishery closures regulate the amount of catch and fishing effort. They only control the location. Commercial fishers take most fish caught in Commonwealth waters and most of this is limited by catch quotas.</p>
<p>When a no-take marine park closes an area to fishing, fishers and their catch are displaced into other areas of the ocean. This occurs for all types of fishing, including recreational fishing. Recreational fishers displaced by marine parks don’t stop fishing, they just fish somewhere else – and the same number of fishers are squeezed into a smaller space. </p>
<p>Marine parks increase the intensity of fishing impacts across the wider coast, which is an uncomfortable outcome for marine park advocates. <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00288330.2005.9517344?needAccess=true&#aHR0cDovL3d3dy50YW5kZm9ubGluZS5jb20vZG9pL3BkZi8xMC4xMDgwLzAwMjg4MzMwLjIwMDUuOTUxNzM0ND9uZWVkQWNjZXNzPXRydWVAQEAw">Modelling of Victorian marine parks</a> showed that displaced catch would harm lobster stocks and associated ecosystems, and was counterproductive to their fishery management objective of rebuilding stock.</p>
<p>Because ecosystems don’t respond in predictable ways, depletion of fish stocks from the fishing displaced from marine parks could lead to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2793314/">severe ecosystem outcomes</a>. </p>
<p>For this reason, a second and separate management change is often needed after marine parks are declared, which is to reduce the number of fishers and fish caught to prevent risk of impacts from the park. </p>
<p>Controlling how many fish are caught (which is what traditional fisheries management does) has substantially more influence on overall fish abundance than controlling where fish are caught with parks, as <a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(16)30344-X">shown recently on the Great Barrier Reef</a>.</p>
<h2>Public cost</h2>
<p>Commonwealth fisheries catch quotas are routinely reduced <a href="http://www.afma.gov.au/about/objectives-functions-powers/">if a fishery harms the sustainability of the marine environment</a>. There’s no compensation to fishers, so there’s no cost to the public, other than a possible reduced supply of fish. </p>
<p>Catches can also be reduced to manage fishing displaced by marine reserves and the outcome is identical except in terms of the public cost. Creation of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park led to over <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/4b3d907c-a200-40ce-88b0-c377c371357f/files/gbrmp-sap-review.doc">A$200 million in payments to displaced fishers</a>. <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/node/20736">Another publicly funded package</a> is planned for the Commonwealth marine reserves. </p>
<p>Marine parks also have high recurring public cost because boundaries need to be policed at sea. Catch quotas can be policed at the wharf, with <a href="http://www.afma.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Levy-Guide-2014-15.pdf">compliance costs fully recovered from industry</a>. </p>
<h2>Do marine parks help fish and fishers?</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms3347">Evidence of a benefit to fisheries</a> from marine parks is scarce. However, there are some clear examples of <a href="http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v384/p47-60/">fishing displacement that is so minor</a> that there has been an <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0073922">overall increase in fish</a> inside and outside the park. </p>
<p>These examples show that marine parks can sometimes benefit fish stocks, the fishery and also the overall marine ecosystem. However, these examples come from situations where traditional fishery management has not been applied to prevent overfishing.</p>
<p>This is consistent with modelling of marine parks that shows they only increase overall fish populations when there has been severe overfishing. This generally means that if there’s already <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0107032">effective traditional fisheries management</a>, marine reserves cannot benefit fish stocks and fisheries, or restock fish outside the reserve (spillover) (<a href="http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/f05-243">see also here</a>). </p>
<p>In jurisdictions where fisheries management is lacking, any regulation, including through marine reserves, is better than nothing. But this isn’t the situation with Australia’s Commonwealth fisheries where harvest strategies are used and <a href="http://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/media-releases/2015/fishery-status-reports-released">overfishing has been eliminated</a>.</p>
<p>The conclusions from <a href="http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/66/1/122">modelling of marine reserves</a> mean that the areas of the reserves that limit fishing would be expected to reduce fishery production and harm our ability to contribute to global food security. </p>
<p>The Coral Sea marine reserve, in particular, represents an area with known large stocks of fish, especially tuna, that could be harvested sustainably. Limiting fishing in the Coral Sea eliminates any potential for these resources to help feed Australians or contribute to global food supplies. </p>
<p>The potential sustainable, ecologically acceptable harvest from the Coral Sea is unknown, so we don’t know the full scale of what’s being lost and how much the recent changes reduce this problem, although Papua New Guinea sustainably harvests 150,000-300,000 tonnes of tuna in its part of the sea.</p>
<p>Allowing fishing doesn’t mean the oceans aren’t protected. Existing fisheries management is already obliged to ensure fishing doesn’t affect <a href="http://www.afma.gov.au/about/objectives-functions-powers/">sustainability of the marine environment</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66274/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caleb Gardner has received funding from the Australian Research Council, the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, the Australian Seafood CRC, and the Tasmanian Government to assess sustainability of fisheries, conduct research on fishery harvest systems and provide advice on improving fisheries sustainability. This includes research evaluating the effectiveness of fishery closures and marine parks. He is affiliated with the University of Tasmania and has participated or is participating in roles on committees that provide management advice to the Tasmanian, Victorian and Australian Commonwealth Government and fishing industry groups including the Tasmanian Lobster Fishermen's Association as a Director (unpaid research representative) of Southern Rock Lobster Ltd. </span></em></p>
The public and political debate about marine reserves often comes down to one thing: fishing.
Caleb Gardner, Principal Research Fellow, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/64498
2016-09-20T18:13:20Z
2016-09-20T18:13:20Z
Over-fishing is strangling a key protein source for West Africans
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137074/original/image-20160908-25253-5kqe6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An illegal fishing vessel caught off the coast of Sierra Leone, a region where illegal fishing is a serious problem</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Around <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0964569115001039">6.7 million people depend </a>directly on small-scale fisheries in West Africa. In the past, fisheries were an appealing refuge. But the sector is beset with challenges including over-fishing and, in particular, illegal fishing. </p>
<p>This has driven traditional fisher-folks and their households deeper into poverty with people surviving on less than <a href="http://opensample.info/feeding-the-poor-contribution-of-west-african-fisheries-to-employment-and-food-security">$1 a day</a>.</p>
<p>Fisheries contribute around <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-i3917e.pdf">$3 billion annually</a> to African economies. But over-exploitation, driven by extensive industrial fishing in the 1970s and illegal fishing by European and Asian <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0118351">vessels</a>, has led to the collapse of valued fish stocks off the <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211464515300026">West African coast</a>. And the region continues to face pressure from big competing fishing companies from all parts of the world whose main focus is exporting the fish elsewhere. </p>
<p>Those most affected are coastal populations who rely on fish as the main provider of protein, employment and livelihood. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations people in the region on average eat 17.5 kg per person annually. In reality they eat 35 kg of fish annually, which is calculated from the <a href="http://www.seaaroundus.org">Sea Around Us</a> database. This means that people get enough protein from fish to cover most of their needs.</p>
<p>This is why it’s vital that traditional fisheries in the region are prioritised and protected. </p>
<h2>Under-reported and under-appreciated</h2>
<p>The importance of traditional fisheries, or small-scale fisheries, is downplayed because catches are under reported. As a result the revenue they generate is not perceived as important. In many instances the catches landed by traditional fishers go under the radar. They simply appear on the local markets and most never land on official charts. </p>
<p>For every kilogram of fish recorded at landing sites, another kilogram escapes official accounting. This statistic is based on five years of investigative work I performed on the region. The under-reporting is a problem because the value is not accounted for. What this means is that officially, traditional fisheries are perceived as not being economically important. In addition, the fact that they generate enough protein for local populations is missed. </p>
<p>For example, during the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone staff from the ministry of fisheries reported that fish consumption increased. People saw fish as the safest source for animal protein. But official figures didn’t reflect this, giving the impression that fish played no role at all in preventing people from eating infected bushmeat. Yet one <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/306/5699/1180">study</a> shows that the tendency to chose fish over bushmeat is real. </p>
<p>This underscores why fisheries should be protected. </p>
<p>The bigger danger is that important decisions are being made without vital information. Because the contribution of traditional fisheries is barely recognised, governments make decisions that are detrimental to smaller fishermen. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>allowing more people to fish, </p></li>
<li><p>subsidising more fishing, and </p></li>
<li><p>prioritising big fishing boats that often compete with the small traditional ones. </p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137075/original/image-20160908-25240-1qgll6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137075/original/image-20160908-25240-1qgll6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137075/original/image-20160908-25240-1qgll6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137075/original/image-20160908-25240-1qgll6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137075/original/image-20160908-25240-1qgll6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137075/original/image-20160908-25240-1qgll6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137075/original/image-20160908-25240-1qgll6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137075/original/image-20160908-25240-1qgll6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Big fishing boats exercise more pressure on already over-exploited fish stocks and they need policing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Exploitation by big players</h2>
<p>Bigger boats are problematic on two fronts. The first is that they exercise more pressure on already over-exploited fish stocks. What’s been harvested outstrips the ability of stocks to regenerate. </p>
<p>Secondly, the revenue generated by these catches doesn’t make it back into state coffers. Boats from China and Europe caught fish valued at <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0118351">$8.3 billion</a> in a ten year time period from the region. Only a tiny fraction - <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0118351">$0.5 billion</a> - went back into local economies.</p>
<p>In addition, fishing stock worth as much as $2 billion is either taken without prior consent from local governments or never reported due to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.</p>
<p>Big Chinese fishing vessels <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36734578">have been reported</a> plundering the waters off the west African coast. An example of this is the bandit six <a href="http://www.seashepherdglobal.org/news-and-commentary/commentary/the-end-of-the-bandit-6.html">story</a> in which six fishing vessels were reported to have been fishing illegally for toothfish in the region. The men tried to find refuge in West Africa as they were on list of Interpol’s most wanted fishing vessels.</p>
<p>But most culprits do not get media attention. </p>
<p><a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0118351">Research</a> shows that China is heavily involved in illegal fishing. Europe and Russia, along with other east Asian countries, also operate illegally in the region. A Spanish boat <em>Gotland</em> was recently caught fishing illegally in Senegalese <a href="http://researcherdiaries.com/2016/07/busted-the-gotland-to-pay-1-5-million-euros-in-fines-to-the-government-of-senegal/">waters</a>.</p>
<p>High levels of corruption and weak governance are to blame for the high rate of undetected and hence unpunished illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities. The good news is that the region is witnessing major shifts associated with higher international visibility and increased research interest.</p>
<p>Guinea announced at the Committee on Fisheries at the Food and Agriculture Organisation that it has adopted <a href="http://researcherdiaries.com/2016/07/a-journey-where-international-policies-are-born/">new regulations</a> to fight illegal fishing. As a disincentive against <a href="https://www.issafrica.org/iss-today/how-can-senegal-combat-illegal-fishing">illegal fishing</a> Senegal has amended legislation to make it possible for the imposition of historical fines. And Gambia has stopped all industrial fishing until more comprehensive legislation is adopted.</p>
<p>Positive incentives like increased international cooperation to combat illegal fishing, increased investment in fisheries monitoring and protecting coastal waters by creating protected areas are becoming popular worldwide. </p>
<p>But for these efforts to bear fruit, small-scale fisheries should regain their role. In addition, industrial fisheries should become a tool for economic development rather than fish stock plunder.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64498/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dyhia Belhabib received funding from the MAVA Foundation</span></em></p>
The fisheries sector in West Africa is beset with serious challenges including over-fishing and, in particular, illegal fishing.
Dyhia Belhabib, Research Associate and Fisheries Scientist, University of British Columbia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/64884
2016-09-06T05:05:04Z
2016-09-06T05:05:04Z
Government review supports Australia’s marine reserves – now it’s time to move on
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136678/original/image-20160906-21913-1s2garu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australia's oceans are feeding grounds for many wildlife species, including seabirds. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/blachswan/28282204612/in/photolist-6ZaTvA-e8SnPq-66xc9T-KfqcKH-JPrCAs-K6cG6s-JiZfp2">Ed Dunens/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>More of Australia’s oceans should be placed under high protection, according to the long-awaited <a href="http://www.parksaustralia.gov.au/marine/review/reports.html">review of Commonwealth marine reserves</a> released yesterday. The review, launched in 2014 by then prime minister Tony Abbott, largely vindicates the original planning process. It recommends zoning changes to 26 of 40 reserves, and reductions to the area available to mining, while reducing the impact on commercial fisheries. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/marine/marine-reserves">Commonwealth marine reserves</a> were meant to be an easy win for the then-Labor federal government when they were declared in November 2012. All are in Commonwealth waters, from three nautical miles (about 5.5km) from the coast to 200 nautical miles (370km). Their generally remote location meant that few people would be affected.</p>
<p>Declaring the reserves fulfilled national and international commitments, a feat achieved by very few marine jurisdictions in the world. Australia was leading the way. </p>
<p>The reserves were also hugely popular. A sophisticated social media campaign run by international and national environmental groups had harnessed massive public support, especially for the declaration of a huge, no-fishing (or “no-take”) zone in the Coral Sea. </p>
<p>But criticisms of the parks emerged quickly leading up to and following their declaration. Predictably, commercial and recreational fishers protested the loss of fishing access. But some <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-new-marine-protected-areas-why-they-wont-work-11469">scientists also questioned whether these huge parks were the best way to protect our seas</a>.</p>
<p>These same concerns have been raised in response to the world’s largest marine park – the <a href="http://www.papahanaumokuakea.gov/news/expansion_announcement.html">Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument</a> in Hawaii, announced last week by US President Barack Obama.</p>
<p>So in 2013 the incoming Abbott government suspended the parks’ management plans, making the reserves, at least temporarily, “<a href="https://theconversation.com/paper-parks-or-a-world-class-system-of-ocean-protection-21527">paper parks</a>”. </p>
<p>The review has restated the importance of no-take zones and recommended an increase in some of the reserves and a decrease in the Coral Sea.</p>
<p>So will the recommendations appease the critics? </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136672/original/image-20160906-21901-48p3oj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136672/original/image-20160906-21901-48p3oj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136672/original/image-20160906-21901-48p3oj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136672/original/image-20160906-21901-48p3oj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136672/original/image-20160906-21901-48p3oj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136672/original/image-20160906-21901-48p3oj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136672/original/image-20160906-21901-48p3oj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136672/original/image-20160906-21901-48p3oj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australia’s marine reserves as proposed in 2012.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/marine/marine-reserves">Department of Environment</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Balancing act</h2>
<p>The review panels had a challenging job of balancing conservation with emerging uses of marine space. Planning marine reserves is far more complex than agreeing to protect a certain amount of our oceans. </p>
<p>We don’t yet know a lot about ocean ecosystems. Researchers are trying to understand in more detail how marine species are connected and how they reproduce and feed in water and seabed habitats. Different species and communities have different needs and vulnerabilities. </p>
<p>A precautionary approach would suggest protection of large areas. But this begs the question of whether it’s most effective or fair to stakeholders to close large tracts of remote ocean to all forms of fishing, compared (for example) with infrequent, often seasonal, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolling_(fishing)">surface trolling</a> of open ocean species by commercial or recreational fishers. </p>
<p>It is easy for planning processes to get caught up in a highly polarised debate between fishing and conservation interests. Part of the problem comes from a narrow understanding of benefits and impact, which focuses purely on numbers of people using an area and economic losses versus benefits. </p>
<p>Focusing on these questions alone fails to recognise the important role that values, emotion and identity play in framing the ways people respond to marine reserves.</p>
<p>For example, conservation groups have been perplexed by the opposition of recreational fishing groups to remote marine parks. Why would recreational fishers oppose parks that are well outside the usual fishing spots for the average fisher?</p>
<p>Conversely, fishing groups often feel that their interests should be prioritised over the tens of thousands of people who made submissions in support of the reserves – many of whom may never visit these areas. </p>
<p>A better understanding of why people fish, sail, dive, surf, do business, get involved in conservation campaigns and care about marine management will improve our understanding of <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X14002899">what drives individual, group and community values</a> and attitudes. We need to understand these emotional responses better before we can adequately evaluate the impact of marine reserves. </p>
<p>Without these data available now, the review panel has recommended adapting to new knowledge as it becomes available. It remains to be seen how fishing and environment groups will respond to these proposed changes. But it is likely they will still spark opposition despite the huge amount of time and resources that have gone into them. </p>
<h2>How do you look after a remote marine park?</h2>
<p>Another problem with large remote marine reserves is the high cost of managing and monitoring them. </p>
<p>Having people actively engaged in making use of these remote areas in low-impact ways can contribute to monitoring environmental health and discouraging illegal activities. </p>
<p>Other cost-effective solutions include technologies such as vessel-monitoring systems (which automatically track and survey boats), satellite monitoring, remote instruments and voluntary citizen science. </p>
<p>Along with the benefit of understanding how people use and value marine reserves, vessel-monitoring systems would increase safety and reduce costs of search, rescue and routine surveillance. While all Commonwealth-managed fisheries have these systems as a management requirement, most state fisheries do not. This is one example of the potential and the challenge of developing a coordinated system for managing and funding Australia’s coastal and ocean waters. </p>
<p>Inshore areas and many fisheries operating in Commonwealth waters are state and territory responsibilities. Many of the impacts affecting remote marine reserves come from these coastal areas.</p>
<p>So the success of the final zoning arrangements in achieving conservation objectives will require looking beyond state versus Commonwealth and fishery versus environment disputes.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136679/original/image-20160906-21924-1uas2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136679/original/image-20160906-21924-1uas2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136679/original/image-20160906-21924-1uas2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136679/original/image-20160906-21924-1uas2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136679/original/image-20160906-21924-1uas2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136679/original/image-20160906-21924-1uas2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136679/original/image-20160906-21924-1uas2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136679/original/image-20160906-21924-1uas2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Humpback whales migrate along Australia’s coasts.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Whale image from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Where to from here?</h2>
<p>Regardless of where you sit in this highly polarised debate, the final zoning of Australia’s marine reserves should not be seen as the end of the story.</p>
<p>There’s growing interest in Australia’s “<a href="https://theconversation.com/marine-science-challenges-for-a-growing-blue-economy-22845">blue economy</a>”. It is time to revisit the need for a national oceans policy – a partnership between states and the Commonwealth that addresses the complexity of managing our seas. The development of <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08920753.2012.652519">Australia’s Oceans Policy</a> in 1994 came close. </p>
<p>This was originally designed to address a range of issues, which included, but were not limited to, biodiversity conservation and the Commonwealth marine reserve network. Issues with negotiations prevented the policy coming to fruition. </p>
<p>With the reserve network now close to completion, it is time to turn attention to the range of other challenges that lie on the horizon for our oceans. No-take marine reserves provide sanctuaries and reference sites for understanding our impact on marine environments and are part of the solution to sustaining them. </p>
<p>It’s now time to move on, provide certainty for industry and stakeholders, and shift attention to the challenge of managing these reserves and the waters that surround them in a sustainable, productive and inclusive way. A great deal of work remains to be done.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64884/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Voyer has been involved in a number of projects that have received funding from the Commonwealth Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, the NSW Recreational Fishing Trust and the NSW Department of Primary Industries. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Ambrose Kenchington has received funding from CSIRO as part of a Coastal Cluster study of barriers to the application of science in Coastal Zone management.</span></em></p>
More of Australia’s oceans should be placed under high protection, according to the latest marine reserves review.
Michelle Voyer, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Wollongong
Richard Kenchington, Professor, Marine Environment and Resource Management, University of Wollongong
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/61023
2016-07-31T20:08:42Z
2016-07-31T20:08:42Z
Why it’s so hard to ‘eat local’ when it comes to fish
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127666/original/image-20160622-19789-lc875s.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Good old Aussie barramundi, straight from a farm in Vietnam.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australians are often taken aback to discover that we <a href="http://www.agriculture.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/fisheries/aus-seafood-trade.pdf">import about 75% of the seafood we consume</a>. Yes, that’s right – in a nation girt by sea that vaunts its love of a shrimp on the barbie, three-quarters of our fish and shellfish comes from overseas. </p>
<p>Wander over to your local supermarket and look at the seafood on offer. Barramundi, the iconic Australian fish, is usually there but it is typically <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/landline/content/2013/s3945647.htm">from Vietnam</a>, having been farmed and frozen. The processed products – crumbed prawns or garlic prawns – are also usually from Asia, and bright yellow-dyed smoked cod is seemingly always <a href="https://www.woolworths.com.au/Shop/Browse/meat-seafood-deli/frozen-thawed-seafood?name=imported-smoked-cod-african-fillets&productId=48888">from South Africa</a>. </p>
<p>Then there are the truly “glocal” (local-global) items, such as crumbed products made using Australian fish that has been sent to Thailand for processing and then shipped back again. This type of practice is set to become more common, as <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-31/wa-seafood-kailis-bros-sells-to-chinese-legend-holdings/7287860">the family-owned Australian company Kailis Bros this year sold 90% of its seafood processing, wholesale and export business to a Chinese conglomerate</a>.</p>
<h2>Eating ‘glocal’?</h2>
<p>As anyone who has a passing acquaintance with contemporary food politics knows, it’s all about eating local, seasonal and sustainable produce. As previous writers on The Conversation have <a href="https://theconversation.com/tastes-like-moral-superiority-what-makes-food-good-59581">pointed out</a>, food choices have become loaded with moralism, which can make choosing the “right” food somewhat daunting.</p>
<p>Our research – including Elspeth’s forthcoming book, <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/eating-the-ocean">Eating the Ocean</a>, and Kate’s soon-to-be-submitted PhD thesis on sustainable tuna – shows these problems become even trickier when it comes to fish.</p>
<p>Beyond the obvious problem of trying to eat local when talking about food that comes from a vast ocean, there is the added problem of the way in which fishing has developed as a globalised industry.</p>
<p>Over the past 20 years the ownership of fishing boats in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North%E2%80%93South_divide">Global North</a> (including Australia) has shrunk to a fraction of what it was. This has been part of a necessary move to regulate international fishing practices and ensure all countries have access to a fair share.</p>
<p>But the <a href="http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/agriculture-and-food/quota-allocation-in-international-fisheries_218520326143?crawler=true">quotas</a> introduced in Iceland, Canada and Australia in the late 1970s and early 1980s have also had the effect of concentrating ownership of the fishing industry in relatively few hands. In South Australia, for example, the number of licensed bluefin tuna fishers went from <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/b750620c-5865-4651-923b-7b94768b8dde/files/att3-fisheries-statistics.pdf">several hundred to fewer than 30</a>. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the downturn in inshore fishing, because of overfishing, and the need to cover the costs of increasingly sophisticated technology to track fish have led to ever-larger boats that can work farther from shore.</p>
<p>Simply put, this means you can no longer go down to the dock and “look the fisherman in the eye” as the US writer Michael Pollan has <a href="http://michaelpollan.com/articles-archive/no-bar-code/">urged us to do</a> for land-based farming. Long fishing trips means that fish have to be caught in vast numbers, flash-frozen while still at sea, then landed and immediately transferred to huge logistical operations covering hundreds or thousands of kilometres.</p>
<p>There are other reasons why Australia, despite having the world’s third-largest Exclusive Economic Zone, consumes so much imported fish. Our seas evidently suffer from <a href="http://www.agriculture.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/fisheries/aus-seafood-trade.pdf">low productivity and scarce nutrients</a>. But no matter: the government reassures us that high seafood imports are common in wealthy nations.</p>
<p>One answer might be to catch your own, but be careful where you try, especially in urban areas. UNSW Australia’s Emma Johnston has <a href="https://theconversation.com/massive-storms-are-pumping-pollution-into-our-oceans-time-to-clean-up-our-cities-60551">described</a> how Sydney’s stormwater overflows, combined with a history of industrial dumping, have rendered its harbour a toxic slurry – so it’s better not to eat any fish caught under the bridge.</p>
<h2>Fish going in all directions</h2>
<p>The flow of fish goes both ways, or rather multiple ways. Australia exports high-value fish and seafood around the world. Our lobsters and abalone are loved in China, while nearly all of South Australia’s bluefin tuna goes to Tokyo’s famous <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tsukiji-Fish-Market-Center-World/dp/0520220242">Tsukiji fish market</a>. </p>
<p>The tuna barons in Port Lincoln, a South Australian town that used to boast the nation’s <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/swimming-with-bluefin-tuna-lucrative-starter/2008/04/24/1208743153757.html">highest number of millionaires per capita</a>, have become experts in international currency. Their fish, fattened in pens and inspected by visiting connoisseur Japanese investors, are priced in yen – and the farmers listen carefully to the visitors’ advice, knowing that a good product is worth even more yen. </p>
<p>Back in the supermarket, there’s evidence that consumers are willing to spend time thinking about tuna too – at least, if Kate’s collection of dozens of eco-labelled tuna cans is any guide. Unlike the Japanese market, where the quality of the flesh is paramount, the supermarket labels suggest ecological sustainability is the key consideration. But sustainability goes deeper than just the fish itself; we rarely think about how sustainable the can is, nor about how the metal was mined, nor about the transport costs for the fish or packaging.</p>
<p>Does it matter that we eat so much of other nations’ fish, while sending our most prized delicacies to foreign buyers? The answers vary: some people worry about reports of illegal fishing practices and pollution in Southeast Asia, where some fish are still <a href="http://www.wri.org/resource/destructive-fishing-widespread-southeast-asia">caught using cyanide</a>. </p>
<p>Equally chilling are the reports of “<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jul/20/thai-fishing-industry-implicated-enslavement-deaths-rohingya">sea slaves</a>” – indentured labourers from Cambodia and Myanmar who are forced to work in the Thai shrimp trade. </p>
<p>On the other hand, would we want to stop our fishers, who by and large work in a highly regulated, sustainable enterprise, from getting top dollar for their produce? It is a tough call, and an even tougher set of complex relations. </p>
<p>What’s certain is that guilt-tripping consumers into buying local doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the ethics of eating the ocean.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61023/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Prof Elspeth Probyn receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Johnston does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
How do you choose local produce when buying fish, which is caught in vast oceans by a globalised industry? Answer: with great difficulty.
Elspeth Probyn, Professor of Gender & Cultural Studies, University of Sydney
Kate Johnston, PhD Candidate in Cultural Studies, University of Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/61784
2016-07-01T12:04:31Z
2016-07-01T12:04:31Z
Does Brexit mean plain sailing for UK fishermen … or stormy waters?
<p>The clash on the River Thames outside Westminster between Nigel Farage’s flotilla of fishing boats and Bob Geldof’s Remain ship was one of the EU referendum’s <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36537180">defining images</a>. But fishing has long been at the centre of UK hostility towards Europe, with many blaming the EU’s common fisheries policy (CFP) for the <a href="http://time.com/4351849/brexit-grimsby-fishing-capital-eu/">decline of the British industry</a>. </p>
<p>Calls for the UK to reclaim its seas and fish were emotive and significant elements of the Brexit campaign. But, as Britain now enters the Brexit era, what actually are the legal implications of withdrawal for UK fisheries?</p>
<p>First things first: change may be afoot, but it will not be quick. Until the UK formally invokes <a href="http://blogs.ft.com/david-allen-green/2016/06/14/can-the-united-kingdom-government-legally-disregard-a-vote-for-brexit/?siteedition=uk">Article 50</a>, fisheries regulation will remain as it was before the referendum.</p>
<p>Economic stability is undoubtedly the short-term priority. Fisheries may be particularly valuable in Aberdeenshire, Shetland or along England’s east coast, but the industry still comprises <a href="http://www.mseproject.net/data-sources/doc_download/122-8-fishing-and-uk-gdp">less than 0.1%</a> of the UK’s GDP. As in the past, continued access for European fleets to British fishing grounds may form part of a final compromise between the UK and the EU.</p>
<h2>Too complex to change overnight</h2>
<p>Reforming the law will take considerable time and effort. A quick look at the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fishing-regulations-the-blue-book">marine management blue book</a>, an online database of fisheries legislation, reveals more than 100 different laws or policy instruments at the EU and domestic level alone. Brexit does not mean fisheries will become simpler. Being in or out of Europe does not change the need for regulation to ensure fishing is conducted safely and sustainably.</p>
<p>Although most fisheries law is derived from the EU, there are important pieces of domestic legislation which may remain in force, regardless of Brexit. The UK’s territorial sea, continental shelf (seabed) and 200 nautical mile “exclusive economic zone” are established under domestic law, for instance. These will not require review, unless Scotland gains independence and so require the redrawing of international boundaries. Scottish waters comprise 62% of the UK total and contain many productive fishing grounds.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128878/original/image-20160630-30632-1xcqzhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128878/original/image-20160630-30632-1xcqzhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128878/original/image-20160630-30632-1xcqzhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=790&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128878/original/image-20160630-30632-1xcqzhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=790&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128878/original/image-20160630-30632-1xcqzhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=790&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128878/original/image-20160630-30632-1xcqzhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128878/original/image-20160630-30632-1xcqzhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128878/original/image-20160630-30632-1xcqzhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The UK’s exclusive economic zone is mostly Scottish.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UK_exclusive_economic_zone.jpg">Andmoreagain0815</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Brexit may provide an opportunity to update and consolidate some of the UK’s diffuse and dated fishing laws. Parts of the basic legal framework are nearly 50 years old now, such as the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1967/84">Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967</a>. But these domestic laws are still interwoven with their EU equivalents. By itself, UK law does not provide anywhere near a complete regulatory regime for fishing and so, while some domestic laws may continue, there will need to be a wholesale review.</p>
<h2>The Common Fisheries Policy</h2>
<p>The CFP is the most important part of Britain’s fisheries regulation. And it will continue to apply until the UK formally withdraws from the EU. Even then UK vessels will still have to comply with EU rules on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing if they want to sell their fish to Europe.</p>
<p>It has been a controversial policy. And one rightly criticised. Yet, it is something of an irony that reforms introduced in 2014 have begun to yield <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1466056863647&uri=COM:2016:396:FIN">positive results</a>. More stocks are being fished at the maximum sustainable yield, and economic efficiency has improved in some sectors. (with the exception of the Mediterranean). The North Sea has been an example of this, and British trawlers in particular have <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/462753/UK_Sea_Fisheries_Statistics_2014_-_online_version.pdf">benefited</a>.</p>
<p>While the CFP regulates fishing, the UK has wide discretion over who it allocates its quota too, generally favouring <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-would-brexit-really-mean-for-the-uks-fishing-industry-56312">large, factory-scale ships</a>. The Dutch-controlled Cornelis Vrolijk and Interfish ships, and the British firm Andrew Marr hold a <a href="http://energydesk.greenpeace.org/2016/05/15/investigation-big-fish-quota-barons-squeeze-out-small-scale-fishermen/">61% share of the UK quota</a>. <a href="http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2016/55.html">Legal challenges</a> in favour of smaller, low-impact vessels have failed. This indicates Brexit may not entail a change in domestic allocation practices.</p>
<h2>Global oceans, global deals</h2>
<p>The UK is a party to both the <a href="http://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_overview_convention.htm">UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982</a> (UNCLOS) and the <a href="http://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_overview_fish_stocks.htm">Fish Stocks Agreement 1995</a>. These treaties mean the UK will still have to negotiate and share responsibilities with neighbouring states in the waters around the UK, and on the high seas, regardless of Brexit.</p>
<p>UNCLOS entitles the UK to sovereign rights to explore and exploit natural resources in its exclusive economic zone. The call to “<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/15/nigel-farage-and-sir-bob-geldof-go-head-to-head-in-brexit-flotil/">take back our seas</a>” implies ownership or exclusivity – going it alone. This is unlikely. Under international law, coastal states are stewards, not owners, of their exclusive economic zone, and obliged to cooperate in fisheries management.</p>
<p>This may entail allowing foreign fleets access to fish stocks in coastal waters.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128889/original/image-20160630-30649-dqsc5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128889/original/image-20160630-30649-dqsc5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128889/original/image-20160630-30649-dqsc5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128889/original/image-20160630-30649-dqsc5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128889/original/image-20160630-30649-dqsc5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128889/original/image-20160630-30649-dqsc5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128889/original/image-20160630-30649-dqsc5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Norway, the Faroe Islands and the EU together decide mackerel fishing quotas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Krasowit / shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The EU currently represents the UK on the <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/international/rfmo/index_en.htm">organisations that manage regional fisheries</a>, either covering a particular area or a migratory species like tuna. The UK will need to secure membership in order to benefit from quota allocations of valuable fish such as mackerel. Yet it seems unlikely that the UK could simply continue on the same terms as its EU membership, and admitting new states is a headache as existing members want to maintain their own quotas.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, securing fishing agreements with EU neighbours is essential. The UK has too many maritime neighbours to ignore, and fish don’t notice or respect international boundaries.</p>
<p>These are just some of the challenges an already stretched civil service will have to meet if it is to uphold international commitments and ensure UK interests are advanced.</p>
<p>In our view, Brexit is unlikely to produce a radical revolution in fishing regulation and allocation. At least in the short to medium term. There is scope for change, but it must ensure fishing is conducted in a truly sustainable manner, and in a way that ensures the integrity and security of marine ecosystems. Britain can’t do this alone – even after Brexit.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61784/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Exiting the EU does not mean closing off British seas.
Richard Barnes, Professor of Law, University of Hull
Mercedes Rosello, PhD Candidate - International Fisheries Law
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/56312
2016-03-24T16:45:10Z
2016-03-24T16:45:10Z
What would Brexit really mean for the UK’s fishing industry?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116379/original/image-20160324-17835-177gr7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pitamaha / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fish is as tasty and popular as ever, but no one seems to like the policies that regulate the industry behind it. For decades, European management of fisheries has been lambasted by fishers, conservationists and scientists, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232912553_Fisheries_Discards_in_the_North_Sea_Waste_of_Resources_or_a_Necessary_Evil">including</a> <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X15003206">us</a>. </p>
<p>The centrepiece of this system, the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy, is particularly unpopular. Some scientists even argue it is <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X10000709">designed to fail</a>. Opponents blame it for not only mismanaging Europe’s highly productive seas, but also for giving away “our fish”, with the subject recently taking centre stage in an unlikely <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBi-KXc0CRk">viral Brexit campaign video</a>. </p>
<p>You might think that the chance to take back control of the fish in UK seas would be one of the most solid reasons to vote “Out” in June’s referendum on EU membership. So what’s the catch?</p>
<p>First, the idea that fish in British waters have been fished into near-extinction by pesky foreign boats simply doesn’t match up with reality. At least not anymore. </p>
<p>Yes, fish numbers aren’t what they were in the time of Moby Dick. However, a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/47545073_The_effects_of_118_years_of_industrial_fishing_on_UK_bottom_trawl_fisheries_Nat_Commun_1">recent analysis of 118 years of statistics</a> revealed the vast majority of the decline occurred prior to the Common Fisheries Policy’s implementation in 1983. In fact, the policy is now overall <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/griffin-carpenter/eu-common-fisheries-policy-has-helped-not-harmed-uk-fisheries-0">helping, not harming</a>, the country’s fisheries.</p>
<p>Since EU policy was reformed in 2002, the health of many fish stocks <a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(13)00707-0">has improved</a>. By 2011 the majority of assessed fisheries were considered to be sustainably fished. Take the case of North Sea cod: once the “poster child” for overfishing and all that was wrong with European policy, it is now recovering strongly and likely to be <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/12150836/North-Sea-cod-could-be-sustainable-by-2017.html">certified as sustainable</a> next year. </p>
<p>The EU is now <a href="https://theconversation.com/discard-ban-can-benefit-fish-and-fishers-but-sustainability-must-come-first-26769">phasing out the discarding</a> of unwanted fish and setting quotas more in line with <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X15003206">scientific advice</a>. The aim is to ensure maximum sustainable yield of all stocks <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/index_en.htm">by 2020</a>.</p>
<h2>Who actually owns “our” fish?</h2>
<p>Ownership of UK fishing quotas is controversial and often misunderstood. After total EU fishing limits are decided by the Council of fisheries ministers, it is up to each member state to distribute its share among its own fleet. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116383/original/image-20160324-17824-1yt0cot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116383/original/image-20160324-17824-1yt0cot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116383/original/image-20160324-17824-1yt0cot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116383/original/image-20160324-17824-1yt0cot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116383/original/image-20160324-17824-1yt0cot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116383/original/image-20160324-17824-1yt0cot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116383/original/image-20160324-17824-1yt0cot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116383/original/image-20160324-17824-1yt0cot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Cornelis Vrolijk catches a good portion of the UK’s entire fish quota.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AlfvanBeem</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is not an EU decision. The fact that a single <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2821284/EU-lets-one-Dutch-ship-net-QUARTER-England-s-fishing-quota-Holland-holds-23-permits.html">giant Dutch-owned vessel</a> nets a quarter of the English quota (6% of the UK total) might be shocking, especially considering the UK’s quota is in theory shared between <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/462753/UK_Sea_Fisheries_Statistics_2014_-_online_version.pdf">more than 6,000 vessels</a>, but the UK government could easily change how it allocates fish. In fact, the alternative allocation systems suggested by <a href="http://www.iea.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/files/Entry23_Cutting%20the%20Gordian%20knot_web.pdf">some pro-Brexit groups</a> are already in place <a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2015/540357/IPOL_STU(2015)540357_EN.pdf">elsewhere in Europe</a>.</p>
<h2>Your plaice or mine?</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116267/original/image-20160323-28178-1df0k8y.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116267/original/image-20160323-28178-1df0k8y.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116267/original/image-20160323-28178-1df0k8y.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=696&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116267/original/image-20160323-28178-1df0k8y.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=696&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116267/original/image-20160323-28178-1df0k8y.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=696&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116267/original/image-20160323-28178-1df0k8y.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=875&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116267/original/image-20160323-28178-1df0k8y.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=875&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116267/original/image-20160323-28178-1df0k8y.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=875&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Britain has to share with its neighbours.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:North_sea_eez.PNG">Inwind / wiki</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another common argument for Brexit is that it would give the UK <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-32220052">sole control</a> of the fish in its waters. However, these fish are <a href="https://theconversation.com/fact-check-is-80-of-uk-fish-given-away-to-the-rest-of-europe-39966">not “British”</a>; they don’t respect national boundaries. Mackerel, herring, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.12343/abstract">cod</a> and other commercial species are all <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0079661114000913">highly mobile</a>, and move easily across borders, especially in places such as the North, Celtic and Irish Seas, where “exclusive economic zones” are jammed together like sardines in a can.</p>
<p>So unlike more isolated countries such as Iceland and Norway, the UK was always going to have to share its fish with its neighbours, especially as we moved into an era of <a href="http://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_overview_convention.htm">global maritime regulation</a>.</p>
<h2>Fencing out foreign fishermen</h2>
<p>A post-Brexit UK might still have to agree quotas with its neighbours, but could it prevent foreign boats from fishing in its waters? Maybe. But only with huge investment in monitoring and control public bodies such as the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) – organisations which are <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/330935/annual_report_2014.pdf">being cut</a> at present. </p>
<p>Whether the UK would want this sort of escalation is a different question, as it would also mean British boats could no longer fish in the waters of other European nations. This is a <a href="https://hansard.digiminster.com/Commons/2016-03-02/debates/16030275000030/CommonsChamber#contribution-16030275000164">major concern</a> in the fishing industry as 20% of the fish caught by the UK fleet is <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/462753/UK_Sea_Fisheries_Statistics_2014_-_online_version.pdf">landed elsewhere in the EU</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116405/original/image-20160324-17817-11ypigu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116405/original/image-20160324-17817-11ypigu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116405/original/image-20160324-17817-11ypigu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=324&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116405/original/image-20160324-17817-11ypigu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=324&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116405/original/image-20160324-17817-11ypigu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=324&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116405/original/image-20160324-17817-11ypigu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116405/original/image-20160324-17817-11ypigu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116405/original/image-20160324-17817-11ypigu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dutch herring fleet in the North Sea, c1700, protected by a naval vessel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herring_buss#/media/File:Konvoi_Haringvloot.jpg">Pieter Vogelaer</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The reality is that a Brexit would require a complete re-negotiation of fishing rights, with uncertain outcomes. Some of these rights <a href="http://www.eureferendum.com/documents/fishinggreenpaper.pdf">extend back to the Middle Ages</a> and banning foreign vessels from UK waters may well be <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/griffin-carpenter/eu-common-fisheries-policy-has-helped-not-harmed-uk-fisheries-0">incompatible with international law</a>. </p>
<p>Such negotiations may harm trading relationships with Europe. At present the UK exports around 80% of its wild-caught seafood, with <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/462753/UK_Sea_Fisheries_Statistics_2014_-_online_version.pdf">four of the top five destinations</a> being European countries. </p>
<p>Remaining in the EU also has big benefits for the marine ecosystems that the fishing industry ultimately relies on. The <a href="http://www.association-ifca.org.uk/marine-protected-areas/european-marine-sites-ems">Habitats Directive</a> protects key habitats and species such as reefs and Atlantic salmon, while the <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-framework/index_en.html">Water Framework Directive</a> and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/341146/msfd-part-2-final.pdf">Marine Strategy Framework Directive</a> commit EU members to restore and protect the environment. It <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29210467">seems unlikely</a> that the UK’s current Conservative government, at least, would continue similarly progressive measures after a Brexit.</p>
<p>It’s no surprise the “In” campaign is <a href="http://www.ieep.eu/news/2016/03/brexit-what-would-be-the-environmental-implications">gaining support</a> from a range of environmental groups – the weight of evidence is on their side. In contrast, many fishermen <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35746323">have strong feelings about the EU</a>, but the main industry organisations and decision makers are <a href="https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2016/03/11/uk-fishing-bodies-keeping-cards-close-to-chest-on-brexit/">remaining</a> <a href="http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2016/02/27/stay-or-go-industry-figures-have-their-say-on-eu-referendum">neutral</a>.</p>
<p>We’ve come a long way since the bad old days of excessive quotas and widespread illegal fishing. As things become more sustainable, fish numbers are rebounding, leading to <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ad349d0a-e0a4-11e5-9217-6ae3733a2cd1.html#axzz42b8OvewC">increasing UK fishing quotas</a> and <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/griffin-carpenter/eu-common-fisheries-policy-has-helped-not-harmed-uk-fisheries-0">growing profits</a> (now the <a href="https://stecf.jrc.ec.europa.eu/documents/43805/1034590/2015-07_STECF+15-07+-+AER+2015_JRCxxx.pdf">highest in the EU</a>). </p>
<p>The history of the EU’s fishing policy is one of criticism and improvement. It is therefore unclear why the UK would want to abandon ship at this point.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/56312/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bryce Stewart is involved in The UK in a Changing Europe Initiative funded by the ESRC, though this article does not reflect the view of the research councils.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Griffin Carpenter works for the New Economics Foundation.</span></em></p>
These days, EU policy is more helpful than harmful for Britain’s fish.
Bryce Stewart, Lecturer in Marine Ecosystem Management, University of York
Griffin Carpenter, Visiting Lecturer in Environmental Economics, Oxford Brookes University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/49957
2015-12-02T03:27:27Z
2015-12-02T03:27:27Z
Anglers have helped detect a shift in the habitat of black marlin
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103629/original/image-20151130-10278-8hd6sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Catching black marlin is big business on Australia's east coast.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We know that <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/">climate change is driving</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-report-the-chance-to-rescue-the-worlds-oceans-from-climate-change-is-drifting-away-43257">changes in the world’s oceans</a>. Currents are shifting, temperatures are climbing and the availability and dynamics of nutrient upwelling is changing.</p>
<p>But the question is whether marine species can adapt at the rate at which these changes are occurring?</p>
<p>The coastal waters of south-eastern Australia are a climate change hotspot, warming at a rate <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2007GL030393/abstract">three to four times</a> the global average. This is in part due to an increase in the strength and <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2007GL030393/full">southward penetration</a> of the East Australian Current (EAC), which carries warm water from the tropics down Australia’s east coast.</p>
<p>In response, numerous marine species have been documented extending their distributions polewards, affecting the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ele.12450/full">functioning of coastal</a> and marine ecosystems in <a href="https://theconversation.com/sydneys-waters-could-be-tropical-in-decades-heres-the-bad-news-31523">south-eastern Australia</a>. This will have knock on effects for <a href="http://coastalclimateblueprint.org.au/local-impacts/climate-and-sealife/">local communities and fisheries</a>, many of which are not well prepared.</p>
<p>With so many species on the move and changes happening so quickly, scientists have enlisted the help of citizen scientists – such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-you-can-help-scientists-track-how-marine-life-reacts-to-climate-change-33370">recreational SCUBA divers and fishers</a> – to help record when, where and how often species are sighted. Initiatives such as <a href="http://www.redmap.org.au/">Redmap</a> have helped scientists identify many tropical species shifting their ranges south.</p>
<h2>Tagging program</h2>
<p>Another successful example of citizen science is the New South Wales state government’s <a href="http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/recreational/saltwater/gamefish-tagging">gamefish tagging program</a>. This world-leading gamefish tagging program, established in 1974, asks recreational anglers to tag and release gamefish and provide information on the species, size, and release location which is sent back to the Department of Primary Industries (<a href="http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/">DPI</a>). </p>
<p>More than 400,000 fish from at least 20 different species have been tagged, and more than 7,000 recaptures recorded.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103624/original/image-20151130-10291-1d4fz5m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103624/original/image-20151130-10291-1d4fz5m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103624/original/image-20151130-10291-1d4fz5m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103624/original/image-20151130-10291-1d4fz5m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103624/original/image-20151130-10291-1d4fz5m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103624/original/image-20151130-10291-1d4fz5m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=687&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103624/original/image-20151130-10291-1d4fz5m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=687&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103624/original/image-20151130-10291-1d4fz5m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=687&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">All black marlin tag release locations recorded in the NSW DPI tagging program within the south-west Pacific Ocean.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This has enabled us to investigate whether there had been any geographical shifts in suitable habitat for the highly-mobile black marlin (<em><a href="http://australianmuseum.net.au/black-marlin-makaira-indica-cuvier-1832">Istiopmax indica</a></em>) in the previous 16 years.</p>
<p>The black marlin is one of the most keenly sought gamefish species targeted by recreational anglers in Australia, with more than 54,000 records of tagged black marlin within the NSW DPI’s database.</p>
<h2>Big business</h2>
<p>An annual aggregation of large adults, some weighing more than 500kg, occurs off the northern Great Barrier Reef each spring, forming the basis of a charter fishery that will <a href="http://www.cpgfa.asn.au/be-a-part-of-cairns-marlin-history/">celebrate its 50th year</a> of operation in 2016.</p>
<p>At the other end of the spectrum, juvenile black marlin from 15kg to 40kg undertake an annual migration southward along the east coast in association with the EAC.</p>
<p>Anglers target these juveniles off Cairns and Townsville in late winter, south-east Queensland in late spring, and Port Stephens, NSW, in late summer. Depending on the behaviour of the EAC, juvenile black marlin may even extend as far south as Bermagui, NSW, in some years. </p>
<p>But our research, published in October in <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.13129/full">Global Change Biology</a>, aims to identify any changes in the distribution of marlin habitat through time. We used the release positions of black marlin in the NSW DPI database and satellite-derived data such as sea surface temperature and current velocity. </p>
<p>The extensive spatial and temporal coverage of the tagging data allowed us to model the geographic distribution of black marlin habitat in the South-West Pacific for 192 consecutive months from 1998 to 2013.</p>
<h2>On the move</h2>
<p>We found variability in the location of suitable black marlin habitat across months and years. </p>
<p>On an annual basis, conditions favoured by black marlin occurred off north Queensland at the start of spring and gradually shifted south along Australia’s east coast from October to April. This coincided with the peak availability of black marlin to recreational anglers and also to a seasonal pulse in the EAC.</p>
<p>From May to August, suitable habitat retreats back towards the equator as cold water currents push north over winter. We also identified a strong effect of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with black marlin habitat extending up to 300km further south during La Niña phases. </p>
<p>In addition to the large variability on shorter timescales, we also found that suitable marlin habitat has shifted south at a rate of about 88km per decade across all seasons, independently of the influence of ENSO.</p>
<h2>Heading south</h2>
<p>We found that habitat is shifting faster during summer months (111km per decade) in contrast to the rest of the year (77km per decade). This suggests that suitable habitat is extending south quicker than it is contracting at its northern edge.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103627/original/image-20151130-10285-118eq5p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103627/original/image-20151130-10285-118eq5p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103627/original/image-20151130-10285-118eq5p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103627/original/image-20151130-10285-118eq5p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103627/original/image-20151130-10285-118eq5p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103627/original/image-20151130-10285-118eq5p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=691&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103627/original/image-20151130-10285-118eq5p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=691&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103627/original/image-20151130-10285-118eq5p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=691&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Poleward shift in the distribution of suitable black marlin habitat across all three seasons from 1998-2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This result adds to the growing body of evidence showing that many species’ habitat is shifting polewards in response to climate change.</p>
<p>Considering that all highly mobile tuna and billfish species respond to a similar suite of environmental factors, numerous species are likely responding to climate change.</p>
<p>What does this mean for Australian fishers, black marlin and similar pelagic species? These are questions that still need answering. </p>
<p>What is clear from this study is that mobile fish species are not immune from the impacts of climate change, and that long term data sets from recreational fishers are valuable tools in discerning such changes.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article was co-authored by Dr <a href="http://www.julianpepperell.com/">Julian Pepperell</a>, a marine biologist and an external co-supervisor of honours and PhD students, and his JCU honours student Nick Hill.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49957/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Bridge receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Tobin receives funding from the Australian Government via the Fisheries Research & Development Corporation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>April Reside does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Climate change is driving the iconic black marlin further south, with a possible impact on ecosystems and the fishing industry.
Tom Bridge, Postdoctoral research fellow, James Cook University
Andrew Tobin, Sen Research Fellow, Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture, James Cook University
April Reside, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Spatial Ecology, James Cook University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/38413
2015-04-02T05:11:46Z
2015-04-02T05:11:46Z
Boom or bust in a jelly bloom market
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76174/original/image-20150326-8695-drzfb9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cannonball Jellyfish in the Gulf of California</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yazmin Flores for GCMP</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The earth’s climate is changing and extreme weather events are <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1205276109">on the rise</a>. Hurricanes are wreaking havoc with <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature03906">more ferocity</a>, summers are <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/7/1/014007">getting warmer</a> and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1101766108">winters colder</a>. But what about our oceans? They, too, are <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.287.5461.2225">warming</a>.</p>
<p>With the seas’ temperature rise has come an <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-8817.2010.00815.x">increased frequency</a> of bloom events. These are rapid increases in the abundance of (normally) planktonic species, often associated with seasonal events or climatic phenomena. The duration of a bloom event depends on a number of <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0125">environmental conditions</a>, including temperature, light and nutrient availability. A well known example is the green algae that <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/world/asia/01algae.html">struck Qingdao</a>, China during the 2008 Olympic sailing events.</p>
<p>With oceanic temperatures steadily <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0606291103">creeping upwards</a>, the general consensus is that such bloom events are on the rise in <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-8817.2010.00815.x">many areas</a>. Although bloom events can cause significant <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f94-087">problems in fisheries</a>, some blooms can prove useful to fishers. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/fme.12115">recent study</a> in the upper Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez, demonstrates just this relationship between fishers and blooms. Researchers from the <a href="http://gulfprogram.ucsd.edu">Gulf of California Marine Program</a> describe how in the summer of 2012, local fishermen were host to a huge bloom of non-native Cannonball Jellyfish (<em>Stomolophus meleagris</em>). Thanks to the fast-growing Chinese dried-jelly market, the bloom made the local fishermen US$3.5 million in just 40 days. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76022/original/image-20150325-14515-1ss56s8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76022/original/image-20150325-14515-1ss56s8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76022/original/image-20150325-14515-1ss56s8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76022/original/image-20150325-14515-1ss56s8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76022/original/image-20150325-14515-1ss56s8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76022/original/image-20150325-14515-1ss56s8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76022/original/image-20150325-14515-1ss56s8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76022/original/image-20150325-14515-1ss56s8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">M Wukusick for GCMP</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Above-average surface temperatures and algal blooms promoted the growth of the jellies in the Guaymas basin, which is midway up the Gulf of California. These advantageous feeding conditions meant that what could have been a normal amount of jellyfish turned into a floating swarm. The jellies traveled north with the prevailing currents for 30 days until reaching the Santa Clara basin area of the Gulf, 750km north of Guaymas, where the bloom was fished.</p>
<p>The jelly bloom brought added revenue and employment to the upper gulf, but the story is not as rosy as it first seems. With such a large pulse to the local economy, and the assumption that the bloom would be a regular annual fixture, fishermen began investing in equipment and training courses (promoted by local <a href="http://www.oem.com.mx/laprensa/notas/n3041845.htm">fisheries managers</a>) to prepare for the coming year’s anticipated harvest. Alas, in 2013, the jellyfish never appeared and the local fishers’ investment was lost.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76017/original/image-20150325-14515-1yc380p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76017/original/image-20150325-14515-1yc380p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76017/original/image-20150325-14515-1yc380p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76017/original/image-20150325-14515-1yc380p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76017/original/image-20150325-14515-1yc380p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76017/original/image-20150325-14515-1yc380p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76017/original/image-20150325-14515-1yc380p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76017/original/image-20150325-14515-1yc380p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Slimy catch during the jellyfish bloom in 2012.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hector GCMP</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With bloom events on the rise and many fish stocks facing unsustainable exploitation pressures, it seems clear that such jelly-fishery events will become more common in our seas and jellies more abundant in fish markets, albeit those in Asia. It is, however, important that careful investment is made in fickle fisheries stocks, like the jellies, that appear sporadically with low predictability. Similar stories of the rise and fall of cannonball jellyfish echo along the <a href="https://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/mrri/SEAMAP/pdf/10yr.pdf">Southeast US continental shelf</a>, but over longer and unpredictable time frames, highlighting the difficulty in relying on such blooms even over the longer term. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76021/original/image-20150325-14523-1ah3jv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76021/original/image-20150325-14523-1ah3jv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76021/original/image-20150325-14523-1ah3jv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76021/original/image-20150325-14523-1ah3jv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76021/original/image-20150325-14523-1ah3jv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76021/original/image-20150325-14523-1ah3jv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76021/original/image-20150325-14523-1ah3jv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76021/original/image-20150325-14523-1ah3jv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cannon ball jellyfish washed up in the Gulf of California.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Iram Garcia GCMP</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If fishermen mis-invest and lose confidence in a fishery and local management, it will have negative consequences in the long term. The divide between rules – such as catch limits, closed seasons and protected areas – and compliance will likely widen as overall profits are reduced and the hunt for declining fishes increase. </p>
<p>In order to ensure full benefit is gained from new fishery opportunities without post-fishery “bust” scenarios, it is imperative that scientists, managers and fishers work together to make both economically and ecologically sound decisions based on long-term outlooks. Ways to get it right will include avoiding flooding markets and maintaining good market prices for catch, fishing within biological limits of species to prevent stock collapses and aid future stock booms, and using robust science, based on long-term data to make good predictions on future catches.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38413/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Frederick Johnson receives funding from the Gulf of California Marine Program and associated external funders.</span></em></p>
In a changing climate, ocean populations sometimes rise and fall in unpredictable waves. Scientists, managers and fishers must make economically and ecologically sound decisions based on long-term outlooks.
Andrew Frederick Johnson, Postdoctoral Researcher of Marine Biology at Scripps Insitution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/38177
2015-03-03T19:16:12Z
2015-03-03T19:16:12Z
The Pacific islands ‘tuna cartel’ is boosting jobs by watching fish
<p>I met Ali on a flight from Fiji to Funafuti, an atoll in the tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu. He was on his way home from Korea, having completed four months as a fisheries observer on a Korean tuna fishing vessel. Sitting across from Ali was another observer, also on his way home. He had been away for longer still (five months), aboard a Spanish vessel staffed by Ecuadorian crew, and was flying back from Kirimati island, part of another tiny Pacific nation, Kiribati.</p>
<p>Ali is one of 50 Tuvaluan fisheries observers whose job it is to monitor the activities of fishing vessels from distant nations such as China, Japan, Korea, the United States, Taiwan, and the European Union. These vessels pay for the privilege of fishing in Tuvalu’s waters. As one of the <a href="http://www.pnatuna.com/">Parties to the Nauru Agreement</a> – along with Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Solomon Islands, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, and Palau – Tuvalu’s licence fees are set as part of the <a href="https://www.ffa.int/vds">Vessel Day Scheme</a>. </p>
<p>Vessels pay for the days in which they are allowed to fish, with (tradable) days allocated to PNA member countries. Benchmark fees were US$6,000 (A$7660) per day in 2013 (three times higher than in 2009), and have <a href="http://www.pina.com.fj/?p=pacnews&m=read&o=1514730148539e1997a64ce334e564">risen</a> to US$8,000 as of 1 January 2015. </p>
<h2>Trading in fish</h2>
<p>The scheme is controversial in some circles. The Nauru Agreement nations have effectively closed fishing in the “high seas” – the pockets of international waters that lie between member states – by mandating that any vessel that fishes in their national waters must abstain from fishing in the high seas. Given that about <a href="http://devpolicy.org/presentations/2014-Pacific-Update/Day-2/Les-and-Sangaa-Clark.pdf">60% of tuna from the western and central Pacific ocean</a> is caught in the exclusive economic zones of PNA members, the majority of vessels abide by the rules.</p>
<p>By flexing its collective muscle, the PNA “tuna cartel” – the source of more than half of the world’s tuna cannery supply – has been able to generate significant benefits for members. Access fees or their equivalent (in benefits from domestic processing or associated “aid”) have been estimated at US$218 million in 2013 and US$91 million in 2009, after the vessel day scheme was introduced, compared with US$60 million in 1999, US$67 million in 2006, and US$71 million in 2007, before the scheme was introduced. </p>
<p>Such revenues are very significant in microstates like Tuvalu. Its fisheries revenue reached an all-time high in 2013 of A$18.2 million, or 55% of domestic revenue. This revenue, which admittedly is unusually high, was greater than the A$11.3 million received as grants from development partners – placing in question the appropriateness of labelling Tuvalu a <a href="http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:322512">“MIRAB” economy</a>, dependent on Migration, Remittance, Aid and Bureaucracy.</p>
<h2>Jobs and workers</h2>
<p>Observation of tuna fisheries efforts is also a key source of employment for Tuvaluans. Fifty observers may not sound like many, but in a country with only 2,000 formal sector workers, that is 2.5% of the workforce. That makes fisheries observation proportionally as significant as the mining industry in Australia.</p>
<p>There is more that PNA members could do to maximise the benefits from tuna. Past efforts to develop domestic processing of tuna were unsuccessful, and with the exception of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, will probably never be viable in such small countries. But there is scope to use Pacific island labour on foreign fishing fleets.</p>
<p>A requirement that vessels using purse seine nets should draw 10% of their crew from PNA member countries has already been agreed in principle by PNA Fisheries Ministers as part of the 2009 <a href="http://www.pnatuna.com/sites/default/files/Attachment%20P%20-%20SIGNED%20BIKENIBEU%20DECLARATION-UPDATED.pdf">Bikenibeu Declaration</a> (this figure would rise to 20% over five years).</p>
<p>However, its implementation has been stalled in the past by opposition from some member countries that lack maritime training institutes where nationals could be trained to work on tuna fishing vessels. Last November, PNA Ministers <a href="http://www.pnatuna.com/node/170">reiterated their support for the 10% quota</a>, set to come into force next year, which presumably would rise over time, and would also include the option of paying a waiver fee for vessels unable to find local crew. Details on how that scheme will function, include waiver fees, should emerge at the next <a href="https://www.ffa.int/node/1437">PNA meeting</a>, which begins this week.</p>
<p>Skills development will clearly be important for maximising the benefit of any local crewing requirements. In Tuvalu’s case, the maritime training institute could offer training appropriate for tuna fisheries, rather than its current focus on freight vessels (employment on which is becoming harder to find, given competition from countries like the Philippines). </p>
<p>It is not difficult to picture a tuna fishing industry with large numbers of Tuvaluans, or I-Kiribati (the people of Kiribati), working on vessels in PNA waters, generating employment opportunities and payments in their respective countries. The Director of Fisheries in Tuvalu recently estimated that a 10% local crewing requirement could lead to employment for 900 Tuvaluans – 45% of the current formal workforce, and 9% of the entire population. </p>
<h2>A national resource</h2>
<p>Tuna, the only significant economic resource in countries like Tuvalu, would thereby not only provide resource rents (in the form of licence fees) for government, but also significant employment and income earning opportunities for Tuvaluan workers. </p>
<p>Government-paid observers, like Ali, would of course continue to be important. Without them, the government would be unable to verify the fishing activities of foreign vessels. But employment in fisheries for Tuvaluans would not be limited to observers.</p>
<p>The most difficult part of Ali’s job? Communication. Four months on a boat where none of the crew, except the Captain, speaks English (or Tuvaluan), is a long time. When we said our goodbyes, Ali was about to spend two weeks in Tuvalu with his family. </p>
<p>After that, he was to board another foreign vessel, for another four months of watching people catch tuna.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38177/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Dornan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A tiny handful of Pacific island nations control more than 50% of the world’s tuna fishery, and their efforts to monitor international fishing vessels are set to become a major source of jobs.
Matthew Dornan, Research Fellow, Australian National University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/36540
2015-01-23T10:41:48Z
2015-01-23T10:41:48Z
Simple index assesses reef health to guide fisheries management choices
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69819/original/image-20150122-12100-oy3yul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Looks healthy, but still lacks the big predatory fish... how would it rate on the index?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AF Johnson</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We know that fishing has significant impacts on our oceans and the animals that live in them. Effects can range from <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/08-0351.1">habitat modification</a> caused by bottom trawls, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1059199">stock declines</a> from overfishing or subtler consequences such as shifts in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1577/1548-8446(2004)29%5B19:FDCFWI%5D2.0.CO;2">structure</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/frequent-trawling-leads-to-skinnier-fish-35356">functioning</a> of marine food webs.</p>
<p>Although such effects are ubiquitous and happen across many different marine systems, the difficulty of producing a standardized way of measuring them has often stymied scientists. And this type of health information is vital when making fisheries management decisions. </p>
<p>Recently a team from the <a href="http://gulfprogram.ucsd.edu">Gulf of California Marine Program</a> at the <a href="https://scripps.ucsd.edu">Scripps Institution of Oceanography</a> decided to tackle this problem of gauging health in marine systems. Their goal was to develop a simple model that could easily evaluate the health of reefs, and in turn guide decisions on the potential effects of ocean protection.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69812/original/image-20150122-12105-1sr3kgb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69812/original/image-20150122-12105-1sr3kgb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69812/original/image-20150122-12105-1sr3kgb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69812/original/image-20150122-12105-1sr3kgb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69812/original/image-20150122-12105-1sr3kgb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69812/original/image-20150122-12105-1sr3kgb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69812/original/image-20150122-12105-1sr3kgb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69812/original/image-20150122-12105-1sr3kgb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Researcher in SCUBA gear examining an old fishing spear in a protected area.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AF Johnson</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Measuring fish to measure health</h2>
<p>The team set out to produce an <a href="http://datamares.ucsd.edu/eng/projects/promonitor/health-index/">index</a> that could be used to rate the health of rocky reef areas with different levels of protection from fishing. The researchers sampled 147 reefs across <a href="http://datamares.ucsd.edu/eng/projects/promonitor/mexicos-reefs-and-underwater-data/">1200km</a> in the Gulf of California off Baja California. At each reef, they suited up in SCUBA gear to swim along underwater transect lines, counting and measuring all fish and invertebrate species they encountered.</p>
<p>By combining data on species, size, diversity and abundance, the team created 51 unique measures to describe each of the reefs. But 51 factors would lead to a very complicated model, and the idea was to come up with a simple way to describe marine communities and their health.</p>
<p>By analyzing the importance of each of these measures, the team filtered the 51 down to just five. These were:</p>
<ul>
<li>biomass of fish eating fishes (e.g. groupers)</li>
<li>biomass of carnivorous fishes (e.g. grunts)</li>
<li>abundance of zooplankton eaters (e.g. creole fish) </li>
<li>number of sea stars</li>
<li>number of sea urchins </li>
</ul>
<p>These five factors were the most important in defining the health of a reef, best representing its animal community. The idea is that rather than doing an exhaustive survey, scientists would be able to make a reliable assessment of a reef’s health by measuring just these five variables.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69816/original/image-20150122-12113-19bfpyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69816/original/image-20150122-12113-19bfpyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69816/original/image-20150122-12113-19bfpyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69816/original/image-20150122-12113-19bfpyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69816/original/image-20150122-12113-19bfpyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69816/original/image-20150122-12113-19bfpyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69816/original/image-20150122-12113-19bfpyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69816/original/image-20150122-12113-19bfpyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lots of big predatory fish are a sign of reef health.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AF Johnson</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Healthy reefs that benefited from higher levels of protection from fishing showed a lot more big, predatory fishes than those in areas open to fishing. So a healthy reef is just as the postcards describe – colorful, with lots of big fishes. In addition, they were the areas with the most complex sea bottoms, having many different shapes and sizes of rocky reefs interspersed with sand. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69818/original/image-20150122-12095-qjika6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69818/original/image-20150122-12095-qjika6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69818/original/image-20150122-12095-qjika6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69818/original/image-20150122-12095-qjika6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69818/original/image-20150122-12095-qjika6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69818/original/image-20150122-12095-qjika6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69818/original/image-20150122-12095-qjika6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69818/original/image-20150122-12095-qjika6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Damaged reefs hosted more sea stars and sea urchins.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AF Johnson</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The degraded reefs affected by chronic fishing pressure had high numbers of sea stars and sea urchins. As one might expect, these were more desolate landscapes, with fewer fish and high numbers of grazing organisms scouring the seabed in search of a meal.</p>
<h2>Putting the index to work</h2>
<p>Marine protected areas are becoming ever more <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature13053">common and popular</a> as a method of <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature13022">conserving or regenerating diversity</a> and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0023601">fish biomass</a>. The rebuilding of global fish stocks makes <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0040542">good economic sense</a> but closing areas to fishing can initially result in economic losses for local communities who rely on the areas for fishing grounds. Decisions to close fisheries or set up marine protected areas need to be based on sound scientific advice, not <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1116193109">randomly placed</a> in the hope of net benefits in the long run.</p>
<p>It’s therefore imperative that once areas are closed to fishing, we can evaluate their success, whether the goal is biodiversity, habitat or fish biomass recovery. This <a href="http://datamares.ucsd.edu/eng/projects/promonitor/health-index">Index of Reef Health</a> is an easy way to make those kinds of assessments.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69820/original/image-20150122-12095-17zeykd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69820/original/image-20150122-12095-17zeykd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69820/original/image-20150122-12095-17zeykd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69820/original/image-20150122-12095-17zeykd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69820/original/image-20150122-12095-17zeykd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69820/original/image-20150122-12095-17zeykd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69820/original/image-20150122-12095-17zeykd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69820/original/image-20150122-12095-17zeykd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ghost reef - low diversity, low biomass on a fished reef.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AF Johnson</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.12.006">Index</a> is simple and applicable across a range of different protection/fishing situations and can be applied to rocky reef habitats globally. It will allow scientists to both measure the health of reefs before and after proposed protections in order to better locate future marine protected areas and evaluate if protection measures are working.</p>
<p>In combination with <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsq179">work published last year</a> that suggests significant changes in the fisheries management in the Gulf of California, the index is of real importance. Although protected reefs are, in general, healthy, those that are under-protected have a low species diversity and produce low fish biomass. <a href="http://gulfprogram.ucsd.edu/about-us/">The team</a> hopes this work will aid in the future design of marine protected areas in the Gulf of California, increasing the diversity and biomass of local reefs that in the long run will benefit neighboring fisheries.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36540/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Frederick Johnson works for Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He receives funding the Gulf of California Marine Program. </span></em></p>
We know that fishing has significant impacts on our oceans and the animals that live in them. Effects can range from habitat modification caused by bottom trawls, stock declines from overfishing or subtler…
Andrew Frederick Johnson, Postdoctoral Researcher of Marine Biology at Scripps Insitution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/35830
2015-01-02T09:41:40Z
2015-01-02T09:41:40Z
Competitive lobsters are fighting it out in UK’s first marine park
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68124/original/image-20150101-8229-1kj9jbb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Catch my disease.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Homarus_gammarus_01.JPG">H. Zell</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It has long been news that overfishing persists in many of the world’s oceans. Fish and invertebrate stocks have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/frequent-trawling-leads-to-skinnier-fish-35356">over-exploited for our ever-hungry, growing human population</a>, leaving some species in dangerous decline.</p>
<p>The establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs) across the globe has been hailed as the silver bullet for conservation, with reports of increased catch, and <a href="http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v400/p233-243">spillover of recovered populations into adjacent fisheries</a>, helping to <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0023601">replenish overfished stocks</a>.
But there may be unintended consequences if these areas are left unchecked. As populations of certain species are restored, disease can increase too. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68113/original/image-20150101-8221-b2y185.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68113/original/image-20150101-8221-b2y185.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68113/original/image-20150101-8221-b2y185.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=782&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68113/original/image-20150101-8221-b2y185.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=782&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68113/original/image-20150101-8221-b2y185.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=782&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68113/original/image-20150101-8221-b2y185.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=983&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68113/original/image-20150101-8221-b2y185.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=983&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68113/original/image-20150101-8221-b2y185.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=983&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Lundy Island Marine Conservation Zone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lundy Field Society</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Lundy Island, off the coast of Devon, was <a href="http://www.lundymcz.org.uk/conserve/history-of-marine-protection">the UK’s first MPA</a>. It was established as a marine nature reserve in 1986, incorporated a <a href="http://www.ukmpas.org/faq.html#whatisaNTZ">no take zone</a> in 2003 and was designated a marine conservation zone in 2010. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.lundymcz.org.uk/docs/Public/Research/2011%20Variable%20population%20Responses%20by%20crustaceans%20in%20the%20NTZ%20Hoskin%20et%20al.pdf">Four years of monitoring from 2003 to 2007</a> saw a marked increase in commonly fished species, such as lobster, inside the no take zone when compared to fished areas.</p>
<p>But in 2010, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0051615">a study of Lundy</a> called for a cost-benefits review of marine reserves, after it was found that shell disease in European lobsters may be increasing inside the protected area, supposedly caused by the high density of certain species. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68114/original/image-20150101-8226-12vd6i3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68114/original/image-20150101-8226-12vd6i3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68114/original/image-20150101-8226-12vd6i3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68114/original/image-20150101-8226-12vd6i3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68114/original/image-20150101-8226-12vd6i3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68114/original/image-20150101-8226-12vd6i3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68114/original/image-20150101-8226-12vd6i3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A lobster from Lundy Island with shell diseased claws.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Charlotte Eve Davies</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We returned to Lundy the following year to monitor the populations of European lobster. When we compared a fished area to the eight-year-old, unfished, no take zone, <a href="http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/12/29/icesjms.fsu237.abstract?keytype=ref&ijkey=dDa8lY93ZSiidtt">we found more abundant, and larger lobsters inside the no take zone</a></p>
<p>This phenomenon is a well known upshot of establishing MPAs and one of the reasons they are celebrated. Local fishermen agreed that since the no take zone was implemented, there has been an increase in catch around the area. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68115/original/image-20150101-8196-3c78rb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68115/original/image-20150101-8196-3c78rb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68115/original/image-20150101-8196-3c78rb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68115/original/image-20150101-8196-3c78rb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68115/original/image-20150101-8196-3c78rb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68115/original/image-20150101-8196-3c78rb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68115/original/image-20150101-8196-3c78rb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Training fishermen in surveying techniques at Lundy Island.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Charlotte Eve Davies</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But in the same survey, we found that there was a higher probability of lobsters being injured inside the Lundy no take zone. Injury is thought to be induced by the European lobsters’ aggressive and solitary nature, so naturally in areas of high density such as the no take zone we expected to find a lot. Still, injury is known to be a precursor to disease. The shell of a lobster is its first line of defence and once breached, this may give rise to entry of pathogens. </p>
<p>This is crucial to understand because other studies have shown that pathogens in marine ecosystems <a href="http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/1540-9295(2004)002%5B0375:TRTOOD%5D2.0.CO%3B2">are on the rise</a>, a phenomenon which may be exacerbated by <a href="http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-marine-010213-135029">climate change</a>. </p>
<p>In the past, disease in American lobsters is thought to have <a href="http://www.vims.edu/research/departments/eaah/programs/crustacean/research/lobster_shell_disease/Lobster-Project-Resources/Publications/Lobster-pdf-files/2009%20Wahle%20et%20al%20estimating%20impacts%20of%20disease%20in%20clawed%20lobster.pdf">contributed to the collapse</a> of a lobster fishery in southern Massachusetts. It is important to monitor disease and understand the effects on populations elsewhere in the world, especially those species <a href="http://www.uri.edu/news/releases/?id=6756">which are commercially exploited</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68125/original/image-20150101-8219-1ua90b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68125/original/image-20150101-8219-1ua90b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=242&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68125/original/image-20150101-8219-1ua90b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=242&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68125/original/image-20150101-8219-1ua90b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=242&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68125/original/image-20150101-8219-1ua90b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=304&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68125/original/image-20150101-8219-1ua90b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=304&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68125/original/image-20150101-8219-1ua90b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=304&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lundy Island: where more lobsters may mean more disease.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lundy#mediaviewer/File:The_Jetty,_Lundy.jpg">MichaelMaggs</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our study is interesting in that it introduces the idea that un-fished populations in marine parks may eventually reach a threshold at which conditions become unhealthy. This may even introduce the possibility of controlled fishing in long-standing no take zones. </p>
<p>This may be a controversial move but studies have shown high abundance in marine reserves may render animals vulnerable to disease particularly because infections can no longer be <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2005.01043.x/full">“fished out”</a>. A total ban on fishing is certainly positive in allowing recovery of populations back to unexploited densities, but they may have a finite time span of success.</p>
<p>There is no doubt that fishery closures and marine protected areas do help contribute to the conservation of species, but the important message here is that we must monitor them closely. In November 2013, the UK <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukmo/2013">designated 27 new MPA sites</a>. Monitoring species richness, abundance and disease in these areas will be crucial to avoid any unwanted byproducts such as disease increase.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35830/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was funded by SEAFISH to Swansea University and the ERDF INTERREG IVA, Ireland–Wales programme grant—SUSFISH (Project No. 042).</span></em></p>
It has long been news that overfishing persists in many of the world’s oceans. Fish and invertebrate stocks have been over-exploited for our ever-hungry, growing human population, leaving some species…
Charlotte Eve Davies, Researcher in crustacean disease, Swansea University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.