Originally published on the CGS blog on August 6, 2014.
For approximately 3 billion people in the world, both wild-caught and farmed seafood are their primary source of protein. Moreover, an estimated 85 percent of marine fish stocks are either overfished or fully exploited. But the problem of overfishing is not just an issue of consumption; the types of fish we choose to eat and the way in which we catch these fish are related to many other issues–namely food waste, environmental destruction, corruption, and even human rights.
Bycatching, or the portion of a commercial fishing catch that consists of marine life caught unintentionally, is a persistent problem. Some estimate that the global bycatch may make up 40% of the world’s overall catch, which totals 63 billion pounds per year. This has a significant effect on sea life, with many fisheries discarding more fish at sea than they bring in, while also “injuring and killing thousands of whales, dolphins, seals, sea turtles, and sharks each year.”
Its not just about the way fish are harvested, though, but rather the types of fish being harvested. Some of the most popular fish, such as Bluefin Tuna, have the biggest appetites. The Bluefin’s natural diet consists of a lot of other, smaller fish; farmed tuna are fed up to 15 pounds of other fish such as sardines and mackerel for each pound of tuna that can be sold.
But these small fish can, in fact, be used as much more than a tuna’s meal. Small fatty fish (i.e., mackerel, herring, sardines and anchovies) are high in omega-3s, vitamin D, and low on the food chain; and the fisheries that produce them are “among the most energy and carbon-efficient forms of protein production.” This has caused many to point to small fish as sustainable and healthy alternatives to popular seafood such as shrimp, particularly as a way to reduce the carbon footprint created by food production and waste. However, due to their typically unappealing taste, they have yet to reach widespread appeal.
In the face of illegal fishing, however, these arguments about best practices become pointless. “Ocean-grabbing” – the practice of pirating fish from the shores of developing countries – has become increasingly problematic, and represents between 24 to 26 billion pounds of fish. This not only negatively impacts fish populations (i.e., overfishing), but also has a profound impact on local fisherman in developing countries. Today, 12 million small-scale fisherman around the world rely on fishing as their main source of income. As Issa Fall, member of the Fisherman Committee in Senegal notes:
Families have lived off fish for generations … we used to be able to save a bit for our children’s education or to fix our boats but it has now become harder to make ends meet.
Many blame corruption between governments and the private sector for the recent trend, pointing to “shady access agreements, unreported catch, incursions into protected waters, and the diversion of resources away from local population.” As Max Jarrett, deputy executive director of the Africa Progress Panel, points out:
This is a global issue: 60% of the vessels which are carrying out these practices have been traced to east Asia, south Korea and Russia, among others. What’s particularly disturbing is that many of these countries are giving aid to African fisheries while also pirating fish illegally on a large scale.
In response to declines in fish populations and threatened livelihoods, many local fisheries (as well as big corporations) have turned to exploitative practices. A study by ecologists at the University of California, Berkeley found that “as fish and fauna are wiped out, more children around the world are forced to work, and more people are forced into indentured servitude.” The increased time and energy it now takes to find a decreased amount of food has forced many to turn to cheaper forms of labor, specifically child labor or slavery.
How do we address these issues? Justin Brashares, who led the study, argues that current policies focus on stopping traffickers rather than the source of the problem. He states:
The government’s strategy of tracking down key traffickers and arresting them is missing the scale of the problem and the underlying issues driving them: the rapid destruction of wildlife. We need to target areas where we know reliance on wildlife is the largest. Then local communities need to have tenure rights to these animals. This strategy may be working against the U.S. economically in the short term, but in the long term, it’s a no-brainer for the world.
There is clearly a need for increased international regulation, such as through the Law of the Sea Treaty, as well as improved fishing practices at the local and commercial levels. It’s also important, however, to encourage more sustainable consumption of fish on the consumer level; we must continue to discuss the effect our own purchases have on those seemingly a world away.
