Climate Action 2010-2011

Ecosystem based adaptation
An influential World Bank report, The Sunken
Billions, points out that we are already suffering the
consequences of overfishing – to the tune of about
US$50 billion per year. Firstly, depleted stocks mean
there are fewer fish to catch, making the cost of
fishing higher than it could otherwise be. Secondly,
the massive overcapacity of fishing fleets around the
world mean there are too many fishermen chasing
too few fish.
Collaborative management
So how can we, the international community collaborate
to ensure the recovery of our vital fisheries?
Clearly, we can be sharing information and technology.
But the critical issue is actually ocean governance.
Today, fishing fleets around the world operate on the
high seas (those areas outside of national jurisdiction)
with a ‘free-for-all’ attitude, in which they have few
incentives to move towards sustainability. Fishermen can
have a tendency to think, “If my fishing boat does not get
the fish now, we may not be able to catch them later on,”
and, “If we invest in conservation now, somebody else,
not us, might benefit from our investment by catching
the fish we conserved.”
This “tragedy of the commons” was as true for the
northern cod as it is for international waters around the
world. High seas fisheries are a common resource, so means
it is our fish that are being mismanaged and depleted, and
it is the right of us all to see they are harvested sustainably.
Collaboration is key to solving this problem. At WWF, we
are pushing member governments and fishers involved in
fisheries to ensure that the network of Regional Fisheries
We are pushing for the
UN General Assembly to
adopt a resolution that will
require all areas of the oceans
to be subject to effective
fisheries management.
Management Organisations (RFMOs) is expanded both
geographically and with respect to competency. In this way,
we hope to ensure that all fisheries are subject to effective
management and that rules are effectively enforced. Of
particular concern to WWF is the regularity with which
governments, under pressure from competing national
fleets, agree to catch levels far above scientific advice.
It is not just about the “tragedy of the commons”,
though. Foreign vessels fish in Exclusive Economic
Zones (EEZs) within the national jurisdiction of coastal
African countries, for example, thanks to access rights
granted to them by the host country in return for a fee
paid by a foreign state. These fisheries are now feeding
the populations of Europe – unable to supply demand
from its own depleted fisheries – and, in so doing, are not
only taking away precious stock from the local fishing
communities but also undermining the development
opportunities and aspirations of some of the world’s
poorest countries.
Needless to say, monitoring of these management
regimes will also require extensive collaboration and
exchange of intelligence, especially in extensive regions
like the Indian Ocean where many countries such as
Mauritius and the Seychelles depend heavily on tuna.
“We are pushing for the UN General Assembly to
adopt a resolution that will require all areas of the oceans
to be subject to effective fisheries management.”
Second, the international community needs to pull
together to reduce the devastating impact of non-target
catch (typically termed ‘bycatch’) and the subsequent
discarding of these creatures, often dead or dying,
back to sea. Technology such as selective nets can play
an enormous role in reducing bycatch. Fishermen in
Scotland, for example, are now using cod avoidance
gear, while Mozambique is slowly making good on its
obligation to use turtle excluder devices in its shrimp
fisheries. However, we also need to look at the structure
of quotas and subsidies which encourage an enormous
amount of waste. Quotas on individual species, for
example, mean that fishermen catch a pile of fish but
must then discard those whose quota is exceeded.
Third, we must work together to increase the amount
of protected areas in the oceans. We know that effectively
enforced no-fishing zones can do wonders for recovering
fish stocks. For example, Australia’s Northern Prawn
Trawl fishery benefited from the establishment of nofishing
zones and a reduction in the size of the fleet,
among other measures.
Fourth, related to this, we need to tackle illegal,
unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, which occurs
in virtually all fisheries and may account for up to 30 per
cent of total catches in some important fisheries.
Technology such as selective nets can play an enormous role in reducing bycatch.
© Creative commons/flickr/ Joost J. Bakker IJmuiden
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