February 4, 2009

experts comment on a report in Nature showing that countries are not complying with the UN code of conduct for responsible fisheries

Prof Michel J. Kaiser D.Sc., Chair in Marine Conservation Ecology at Bangor University, said:

“This report clearly indicates that some countries have still failed to grasp the reality of fast-approaching food shortages. There has never been a more urgent need to ensure that fish stocks are managed in a way that maximises their productivity and sustainability, yet some countries seem to think you can ‘print fish and pay them back later’, whereas we know from many case-studies that there is no guarantee that collapsed stocks can be rebuilt.”

Doug Herdson, independent fisheries biologist, said:

“The United Kingdom comes out 14th below Namibia and South Africa and only just above Malaysia. What is most surprising is the spread of the European Union nations 10th to 31st when all are supposed to be following a “Common Fisheries Policy”. It can certainly be argued that things have been changing in the four years since the majority of this study was carried out; most notably the EU’s Maritime Strategy, its Discards Policy, and the UK’s Marine Bill, though none of these is yet in effect.

“The Marine Bill should, when enacted, bring the UK’s policy and, hopefully, management far more into line with the UN Code.

“The global problem is the mindset that economic necessity must override everything else, and consequent failure to recognise that no economic measure can succeed if it is not supported by a sustainable environment. Despite recent studies showing the degradation of marine ecosystems, we have not yet outgrown the nineteenth century concept that the seas are endlessly bountiful.

“This is coupled with a mistrust of the scientific arguments by the fishing industry because of the under-funding for fisheries science. This leads to the ‘livelihoods versus a few animals nobody ever sees’ confrontations.

“The EU should be taking a lead in this, both by supporting its own scientists and enforcing a precautionary management programme, and by assisting developing nations to manage their own fisheries through its aid programmes.”