Why is fishing unsustainable

Additional information on the complementary role of certifications and ratings programs can be found here. The global supply of seafood supplies nearly 20 percent of the average per capita animal protein intake for more than 3. The level of seafood dependence may also be underestimated for some communities given that official statistics tend to underreport subsistence fishing and informal trade.

The global development community is increasingly highlighting the role that capture fisheries and aquaculture can play in contributing to food security and nutrition, in support of the Agenda for Sustainable Development.

While the body of research on these linkages is growing, quantitative information on the connection between seafood supplies and food security is generally lacking. Quantifying the prevalence of modern slavery in fisheries at a global level has been challenging to date; however, a new modeling analysis suggests that modern slavery is at high- to medium-risk of occurring in countries which account for 70 percent of global seafood production. The analysis found that modern slavery in major fish-producing countries is driven primarily by a national fisheries policy i.

Stakeholders from government, industry, and civil society are increasingly working to collaborate on campaigns to address human rights abuses in the seafood supply chain. As a partnership between Thai Union, Chicken of the Sea, and Monterey Bay Aquarium, this initiative includes an initial USD 73 million commitment to advance improvements in the seafood supply chain, with a focus on Southeast Asia. As wild capture landings have plateaued since the mids, aquaculture has driven continued growth in global seafood production.

In , aquaculture accounted for 47 percent of total landings, an increase from 26 percent in The aquaculture sector reached a milestone in when, for the first time, it provided more fish for human consumption than capture fisheries contributed. Total aquaculture production in was million tons, which included 80 million tons of food fish and shellfish, and 30 million tons of aquatic plants.

Still, aquaculture remains the fastest-growing food sector in the world. By species group, freshwater fishes particularly carp accounted for 48 percent of aquaculture production in Seaweed represented 27 percent of production, and molluscs another 15 percent.

Saltwater fishes accounted for just 9 percent of global production. Steady growth in Asia has continued to spur the continued expansion of the sector. Since , China has produced more farmed food fish annually than the rest of the world combined.

Not all aquaculture production has the same environmental footprint. A handful of farmed species pose a greater threat to the environment in terms of dependency on feed inputs, freshwater use, disease introduction, biodiversity impacts, and other concerns.

These concerns are most concentrated in the production of marine finfish, diadromous fish e. These species of concern made up approximately 13 percent of global aquaculture production in From a trade perspective, shrimp, tilapia, salmon, and pangasius are the most internationally traded aquaculture species. The share of aquaculture exported to Western markets is relatively small, as many countries particularly China retain a large share of aquaculture products for internal consumption.

The portion of aquaculture which is traded to international markets tends to consist of high-value species. While the rapid growth of aquaculture has contributed to income generation and food security, it has also led to several discrete environmental impacts. The overarching challenge for the sector is to sustain growth while reducing environmental impacts—which range from habitat conversion and water pollution to disease outbreaks and dependency on wild fisheries as feed. Authoritative data on the trendline of impacts from global aquaculture production are generally lacking, particularly for water quality.

During the rapid expansion period of tropical coastal aquaculture between to , aquaculture accounted for roughly 54 percent of all mangrove deforestation in Southeast Asia.

Beyond aquaculture, the rapid expansion of rice agriculture particularly in Myanmar and the conversion of mangroves to palm oil plantations especially in Malaysia and Indonesia have also driven mangrove deforestation in the region. Temporal trends in the conversion of mangrove habitats to aquaculture A , rice agriculture B , and oil palm plantation C , between and Dark green lines indicate error-corrected estimates of the proportional coverage of each land use.

Light green shading indicates the standard error of the areal estimates. Adapted from: Richards, Daniel R. There is not definitive evidence indicating whether aquaculture is driving pressure on wild fisheries. However, inclusion rates of fishmeal and fish oil in aquafeeds have been declining steadily over the last few decades, partly due to the limited supply of raw materials.

Currently, by-products from fish processing account for approximately 25 to 35 percent of the total volume of fishmeal and fish oil produced; this proportion is expected to increase in future years. Although considerable work remains, stakeholders have made notable progress in addressing sustainability concerns in the aquaculture sector in recent years. Just as certifications and ratings have grown steadily in the wild capture sector, the aquaculture sector has experienced even more rapid growth in product under responsible sourcing.

Certifications and ratings programs have a shared goal of encouraging aquaculture to pursue continuous improvement toward environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and economic vitality. The three countries that account for the highest certified ASC volume are Norway primarily salmon , Vietnam primarily pangasius , and Chile a combination of salmon and molluscs.

The three countries with the highest representation of certified volume by GAA are Chile primarily salmon , Canada mainly salmon , and China principally tilapia. Subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to learn about relevant ocean events, research digests, and expert insights.

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Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here. Twitter share link Linkedin share link Facebook share link Print. Email share link. Jump to:. Unsustainable Fishing Unsustainable fishing practices threaten marine wildlife as well as the livelihoods and food supply of many vulnerable populations.

Global Production Trends The Food and Agriculture Organization FAO reports that global marine landings were 93 million tons in , a roughly consistent level over the last twenty years. Comparison of global marine capture estimates. Back to top. Our Fishery Improvement Projects are step-by-step approaches that make fishing and seafood production more responsible, traceable and sustainable.

In East Africa, we're working with local, small-scale fisheries for octopus, lobster and shrimp to move them towards MSC standards, meaning they'll be more sustainable for the long term. We are also working closely with the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission to improve and agree the rules by which all foreign fleets will operate, as well as committing all Regional Fisheries Accord signatory counties to improved fisheries management and increased cooperation — this is vital for the effective management of oceans which have no obvious and clear borders, and which are open to all to access.

We also work with UK and EU authorities to ensure Europe leads the move towards sustainable and fair fisheries governance at home and at the international level. This will help marine ecosystems recover from overfishing helping oceans to play their beneficial role for climate, boost fish stocks on which so many people depend for food security and income, and make a key contribution to international ocean governance.

By choosing seafood from healthy, responsibly-managed sources, we can all help improve the sustainability of the fishing and seafood industries. Following our 10 year campaign for new marine legislation we had a successful result with the adoption of the UK Marine and Coastal Access Act in , followed by a Scottish Marine Act in and emerging legislation in Wales and Northern Ireland.

Our focus now is to make sure these Acts are properly implemented, and to plan the use of our seas to minimise the growing pressures.

We also contributed to the ambitious reform of the European Common Fisheries Policy, revised in Globally, one billion people rely on fish and seafood for their main source of protein. So fish stocks need to be looked after and managed sustainably. We've been instrumental in setting up the Celtic Seas Partnership, an ambitious project which aims to find new ways of managing the marine environment.

We were involved in the Common Fisheries Policy reform process and are now engaged in its implementation. Scotland's seas and coasts are home to an amazing range of marine species and habitats. To deliver the big changes we need to protect the planet and move to a sustainable future we need to change whole systems — like global commodity markets, agricultural production systems, energy generation and finance models.

Due to the long length of these nets often exceeding 2. They also often catch other marine wildlife that aren't part of the catch. As well as all these methods, often fishermen, catch fish, realise they are over their 'sustainable' quota therefore chuck the dead fish back into the sea.

This is extremely unsustainable as they often chuck small fish, that have not reached adulthood, in order to have more space for bigger fish. This in turn decreases the population even more and seriously slows down the regeneration cycle. Subpages 5 : 1. Lack of Fishing Regulations 2. Unsustainable Retailers 3. Pirate Fishers 4. Foreign Fleets 5. Unsustainable Fishing Practices Globally, so much fish is being taken out of our oceans and at such a fast rate, that the global fish population can not replenish itself naturally and therefore fish stocks are declining.

The 5 main unsustainable fishing practices are summarised below; 1. Purse seining - What is it? Demersal otter trawl - What is it? Dredging - What is it?