Following an influential study two years ago that warned of collapse in the world’s seafood stocks by 2048, an update by the researchers provides some hope.
The most recent study shows that steps taken to curb overfishing are beginning to succeed in five of the ten
large marine ecosystems examined.
The paper, which appears in the July 31 issue of
the journal Science, provides new hope for rebuilding troubled fisheries.
The study, led by Boris Worm of Dalhousie University and Ray
Hilborn of the University of Washington, had two goals: to examine current trends in fish abundance and exploitation rates
(the proportion of fish taken out of the sea) and to identify which tools managers have
applied in their efforts to rebuild depleted fish stocks.
The work is a significant leap forward
because it reveals that the rate of fishing has been reduced in several regions around the
world, resulting in some stock recovery. Moreover, it bolsters the case that sound
management can contribute to the rebuilding of fisheries elsewhere.
“These highly
managed ecosystems are improving” says Hilborn. “Yet there is still a long way to go: of all
fish stocks that we examined 63% remained below target and still needed to be
rebuilt.”
“Across all regions we are still seeing a troubling trend of increasing stock collapse,” adds
Worm. “But this paper shows that our oceans are not a lost cause. The encouraging result is
that exploitation rate–the ultimate driver of depletion and collapse–is decreasing in half of
the ten systems we examined in detail. This means that management in those areas is setting
the stage for ecological and economic recovery. It’s only a start–but it gives me hope that
we have the ability to bring overfishing under control.”
The authors caution that their analysis was mostly confined to intensively managed fisheries
in developed countries, where scientific data on fish abundance is collected. They also point
out that some excess fishing effort is simply displaced to countries with weaker laws and
enforcement capacity.
While most of the fisheries that showed improvement are managed by a few wealthy nations,
there are some notable exceptions. In Kenya, for example, scientists, managers, and local
communities have teamed up to close some key areas to fishing and restrict certain types of
fishing gear. This led to an increase in the size and amount of fish available, and a
consequent increase in fishers’ incomes.
“These successes are local–but they are inspiring
others to follow suit,” says Tim McClanahan of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Kenya.
The authors emphasize that a range of management solutions are available to help rebuild
fish stocks. They found that a combination of approaches, such as catch quotas and
community management coupled with strategically placed fishing closures, ocean zoning,
selective fishing gear and economic incentives, offer promise for restoring fisheries and
ecosystems.
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Read the Reuters report at the link below.
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