Sustainable Fishing

When it comes to the fishing industry there are a lot of issues of sustainability. Whether it is in the catch size, techniques used, areas fished in, or bycatch. Bycatch is the accidental catching of the not target species. In most cases, these marine life forms are often killed before they can be released back into the ocean. Bycatch poses another major issue within the already difficult overfishing problem.

This graph is based on data from the FOA regarding catch sizes between the years 1950 and 2018. This graph shows the growth trend of the fishing industry and as more sustainable attitudes developed a slower decrease in catch size in the more recent years. The lowest catch was in 1950 with about 250,000, the highest being in 2002 with catch sizes around 850,000. The size eventually drops down to about 680,000 in 2018. Based on this larger drop in 2018 and information from the NOAA and FOA this number aims to be lowered even more. Protecting marine populations will increase the likelihood that these populations can survive and repopulate in order to sustain future generations.

.https://www.fao.org/fishery/en/collection/capture

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/bulletin/noaa-fisheries-announces-changes-catch-levels-sector-allocations-accountability

Sustainable Fishing

There are many issues attached to the fishing industry: overfishing, bycatch, pollution, fish farming, and economics. This is why it is so vital to protect the fish and other marine life populations in the ocean. If the IPCC can determine and enforce sustainable fishing quotas the ocean will be well protected. But since the ocean is a global commons and there is no full authority over it regulations are difficult to make. Additionally, since the ocean covers the majority of our planet there is no way to actually enforce these regulations and ensure people/fishing companies are following them. There is one company called Seashepard that acts like a vigilante group which boards boats that are engaging in suspicious activity. Since the ocean is so vast it is also difficult to determine quotas since it is hard to figure out exact population numbers. Scientists often are estimating the population sizes of species and even then fishing companies still push for higher quotas. Even with bycatch and fish farming quotas have to be set. Bycatch because it is the unnecessary catching and killing of marine life while fishing. Fish farming because often fish caught from the ocean are used as feed for the farm bred fish. Additonally, the usage of sustainable fishing methods in terms of techniques used like long lines, and trollers. So in terms of mathematics there is a lot of estimating involved with fishing to establish effective quota levels that protect populations and encourage sustainable economic activity. There is an interesting documentary on Netflix called Seaspiracy that explains all the dynamics of the fishing industry. When buying fish look to see if it was locally sourced or fished sustainably and consumption is the driving force for the fishing industry so it’s important to support environmentally conscious brands.