The Mackerel stock in the north-east Atlantic have been so severely depleted that ICES advices a 70% cut in fishing quota [1]— it would be a miracle if EU fisheries ministers were to follow this advice… A study led by fisheries biologist Rainer Froese (University of Kiel) accuses the EU of ‚gross mismanagement‘ in the protection of fish stocks, particularly cod and herring. According to Froese, ‚whatever can be done wrong is done wrong‘ [2]. Urgent political action is also needed to prevent the collapse of British fish stocks, the NGO Oceana warns [3].
Not only fish stocks are pushed to the brink, but so are small-scale fishermen, whether e.g. in the Faroe Islands, where industrial trawlers are allowed to catch the lion’s share [4], or in Bangladesh, where half of small-scalers are exclued from state aids during the ban of fishing [5]. And as fish stocks dwindle, the conflicts over catches are intensifying, e.g. between China and the Philippines, with an increase in Chinese military patrols in disputed seas [6]. Furthermore, the exploitation of other marine resources tends to threaten fisheries, as in the case of a huge offshore gas project by BP in northern Senegal [7].
Farming the fish instead? It turns out that this ‚alternative‘ also has its limits. Fish meal and fish oil, two crucial ingredients of the feed for most fish species farmed today, are facing shortage, according to experts at the Dutch Rabobank, a leader in aquaculture financing [8]. Moreover, in salmon farming, one of the leading aquaculture sectors, mass infestation of sea lice [9] and six-figure mortality rates [10] seem to have become the rule rather than the exception, not to mention the regular mass escapes of farmed salmons, which are not the fault of tunas [11] but of unnatural farming conditions.
As long as humanity is unable to develop a different attitude towards marine life (and life in all its forms), this madness will continue until the bitter end…
Sources:
[2] https://taz.de/Studie-zur-Fischerei-in-EU-Gewaessern/!6100307/
[5] https://icsf.net/newss/bangladesh-fishing-ban-deals-impoverished-fishermen-a-devastating-blow/
[11] https://www.fishfarmermagazine.com/news/bluefin-tuna-blamed-for-salmon-escap
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