Our Peaceful Planet by Yasmin Davar

Author:Yasmin Davar [Yasmin Davar]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
Published: 2017-12-29T16:00:00+00:00

Sustainable Fishing

Most of us don’t think about our impact on the ocean, because we live on the land, and mostly travel by air when we go overseas. Our cumulative impact on it is significant however, and it is close to collapse.31 As we heal our separateness from the earth, we recognize the important role the ocean plays in our ecological systems and the need to improve its health and the well-being of its inhabitants.

The ocean is home to 50 percent of the earth’s species. At the moment, we overfish the world’s oceans so much that 87 percent of commercially viable fish species are depleted or overexploited. It is estimated that they will be completely decimated by 2048.32 Aquaculture contributes to this problem. Farmed fish are fed fishmeal made from ocean fish at a ratio of three kilograms of wild fish for each kilogram of farmed fish.33 This situation has been brought about in part by fisheries subsidies of up to $34 billion a year which provide an incentive to overfish.34

There are 4.6 million fishing vessels in the world today, but just 1 percent of these take 60 percent of the total catch of approximately ninety million tons per year.35 These super trawlers drag heavy rollers along the seabed and trail nets big enough to hold several jumbo jets. All the animals and fish that are not wanted are discarded, which amounts to approximately 25 percent of the total catch.36 These large-scale fishing operations cost ten times as much as small-scale fishing operations and employ 11.5 million fewer people.37

Drift nets were outlawed by the United Nations in 1992, because their use caused several marine species other than fish to become endangered. These have been replaced with longlines, which are ropes miles long with thousands of hooks attached. Attracted to the bait, longlines capture sharks, turtles, and birds as well as fish. Another fishing technique which causes enormous damage is bottom trawling, in which the seabed is ploughed up and crushed to stir up the fish. Add to this the drowning of small whales, dolphins, and turtles in nets, and our impact on the ocean environment suddenly seems huge.

To improve the well-being of the ocean’s inhabitants, we can address over-fishing and other poor fishing practices by removing all fisheries subsidies, introducing international fishing quotas, and banning super trawlers and longlines. We can also ensure that the fish we eat have been harvested under sustainable principles, such as those established through the Marine Stewardship Council certification scheme. Certification is based on:

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