A new study by marine scientists around the world confirms the poor management of global fisheries.
The core results of the analysis were:
1) Only 7% of all coastal states in the world carried out rigorous assessments of the stocks and ecosystem effects of fishing, 1.2% also have transparent and participatory political processes to convert scientific recommendations into policy and less than 1% of the coastal states in the world also provide for an efficient process for the enforcement of regulations.
2) Policy transparency was the prime factor determining fisheries sustainability while in non-transparent systems subsidies also had an additional significant toll on sustainability.
3) In 33% of the poorest countries in the world, mostly countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific most of their commercial fishing is carried out by the fleets of the European Union, Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States.
The paper is free and can be located at:
http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1000131
A youTube video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwG3whtgn64
On the plus side, New Zealand fairs well. We have a good science system (albeit laregly underpinned by big question marks) and we have a relatively transparent policy making system. What is key to good fisheries management however is that policy reflects the good science.
Orange roughy, hoki, eels, to name but a few, then there's the associated ecosystem damage including corals, sea lions, dolphins..... - not quite as picture perfect as some would make out.
What we can do to make a difference is to choose our fish wisely:
- Buy local
- Use the Best Fish Guide (http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/what-we-do/publications/-best-fish-guide)
- Ask questions of our seafood retailers
- Demand better labelling of our seafood products
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