The Rising Number of Signatures in Hughs Fish Fight Campaign - Research Paper Example

Overfishing has become a major problem in the present world (Hansson 2001). It is not a new phenomenon. It had started with the excessive decimation of whales started in the early period of the 19th century. “By the late 20th century” (Overfishing 2013) the regional depletions have spilled over the rest of the world and have assumed the feature of a global catastrophe. It is affecting the ecological balance as well as affects the pattern of lives and economies of different countries. The destructive methods of fishing are responsible for this situation. In simple words, overfishing implies catching too much fish such that it leads to a degradation of the eco-system. The practice of extensive “commercial and non commercial fishing” (Fishing – A global Disaster n.d.) within a short period of time creates a lack of adult fish in the fisheries. Since enough adult fish is not left to breed the population of fish is not replenished and compensated for the quantity of fish that has been caught. The number of fish gets fewer with passage of time and if unregulated the fisheries are not left with enough fish to support fishing sport or commercial harvesting. The severe strain created upon the ecosystem has led to a prediction by the scientists that in the next fifty years most of the fish stock of the world is going to collapse. The European Union has enforced a law that requires a portion of the fish caught to be thrown out into the ocean. This law is named discarding and is aimed at discard the unwanted by-catch fish or target fish that are perceived to be of poor quality or are of lesser value compared to the other fish that are caught or in cases where the landing of the fish or their retention is prohibited by law. The current discarding rate in the European fisheries is more than 8 percent of the total quantity of fish caught per year (Impact Assessment of Discard Reducing Policies 2011). In the European Union, the fish and shell fish which are thrown back in to seas after rejection are mostly dead. These fish, since dead, cannot push up the number of fishes in the waters; rather pose a cause of pollution in the seas. These fish are also not counted under the quotas mentioned for fishing of each of the Member Nations of the European Union. This paper is intended to delve deep into the issue of overfishing and the kind of problems it brings along with it. The first part of the paper provides explanation of the terms related to quotas in fishing and the meaning of discarding. In later parts of the paper the relation between overfishing and environmental degradation has been investigated. The study made for this paper gives a strong hint towards the impending danger that awaits mankind and interpretations of the findings are presented to show the depth of the problem. Discarding of fish: Ambiguity in the total amount of fish caught A portion of the fish after being caught are not kept on board or landed. These fish are thrown back into the ocean, most of the times as dead (Hugh’s Fish Fight 2013). The term ‘discards’ is particularly used to refer to those fish. The discards sometimes are constituted of unwanted fish, such as immature or undersize fish, that have been caught unintentionally. There might also be other organisms besides fish that get caught while fishing. However, the discards also contain huge volumes of target fish that are thrown away due to unsatisfactory quality or prohibition of landing by regulation. The ‘discards’ are not included under the quota set for catching of fishes and hence remains unaccounted for. This creates a situation of ambiguity in the measurement of the total amount of fish caught and assessment of the current stock levels (Impact Assessment of Discard Reducing Policies 2011). Literature Review Fish and fish products are an important part of many economies and play a large role in their import and export industries. When access to the fisheries is costless, unlimited and relentless fishing continues. This leads to depleting of the resources of the fish. As Clover has said, “overfishing affects the largest, least plentiful slow-reproducing creatures first” (Clover 2008). When these fishes are caught at a continuous rate the adult fish population in the fisheries decreases rapidly and after a certain point of time there is not enough adult fish to breed and bring back the level of stock. Besides reducing the stocks of targeted as well as non targeted species of fish, overfishing also causes the number of other aquatic organisms to deplete. According to Somma, from the Department of Commerce’s National Marine Fisheries Service, overfishing wreaks havoc in the marine eco system (Overfishing: A Global Challenge n.d.). The government needs to subsidize the gigantic fishing fleets that cost more than billions of dollars. The money involved in this account could have been invested in to some other developmental activities for the benefit of the society. Quotas on the catching of fish The European Union has committed itself to manage its fish stocks to ensure a maximum sustainable yield of fish. The Member States of the European Union have made this commitment together which is designed to not catch fish “at a rate which will lead to a reduced productive potential for the stock in the future” (TACs and quotas 2012). A limit is set on the total catch of fish under the policy of Total Allowable Catch (TAC). The total allowable catches set a catch limit for the fishing of most of the “significant commercial fish stocks” (EU fishing rules 2012). These limits are put forth by the European Commission “on the basis of scientific advice” (EU fishing rules 2012) provided by the “Council of Fisheries Ministers” (EU fishing rules 2012) on the status of the reserve of fish. Currently the mandate of the Common Fisheries Policy is to “‘ensure exploitation of living aquatic resources that provides sustainable economic, environmental and social conditions” (TACs and quotas 2012). The TACs are revised every two years and are set to comply with the multi-annual plans of the Member States. Each nation has a quota of this total allowable catch up to which it can fish. These quotas are fixed keeping stability among the nations. The total quantity of catchable fish varies from year to year depending upon the productivity and reserve of the fish stocks. Methodology This paper is designed to study the current issue overfishing and investigates the effects of the phenomenon upon the environment and the economic and social conditions of the countries around the world. Both quantitative as well as qualitative data have been deployed in the process of study. Quantitative studies help in gathering raw data that can be analyzed and assessed to draw the inference. In the study of this paper, primary data has been gathered by distributing questionnaires and conducting interviews with the personnel of a harbor in a fishing port of England. Twenty fishermen and the workers working on shore, who prepare for the storage of fish after they return, have been interviewed. The questions were both open ended as well as close ended. They have been asked about the types of fish that are fished by their fleets. They were asked about the methodology they use for fishing and the total storage capacity of the harbor and pattern in which the fish is stored. The fishermen were asked about their likes and dislikes about their duties. They were also asked to describe their way of livelihood in short. The method of qualitative research is presented in the paper through three case studies. These have been chosen from the current day scenario as well as form the past in order to understand the context of occurrence of overfishing and the consequences it has brought in the past. This helps in better understanding of the graveness of the situation at present. The selection of methodology is important in obtaining relevant outcome from a research work. Case Studies Iceland: Ban on discarding In Iceland, the cod fish is of special importance in the trade in fish. Recognizing the importance of the cod in the national economy efforts have been made to bring a halt to the decreasing stock of cod. Introduction of the quota system has set a limit to the trend of catch and this is aimed at aligning the fishing capacity with the resource opportunities. All the major fisheries in the country are multi-species. Hence addressing of the by-catches and the ‘discards‘ is very important; since fishing in this fisheries cannot be limited to any target species. The Icelanders have experienced the “dire consequences of over fishing” (Gissurarson 2000) in the late 1960s. The stock of herring collapsed after a boom in the early period of the decade. Initially the discard ban was started keeping in mind the problem of depleting cod and haddock numbers. Gradually the policy has been amended to mention only those species that do not hold much economic value and can be discarded. George Harbor: The extinction of halibuts In the last century there was a huge market for halibut fish. The fish were of very big size, almost the length of a human being. In the 1830s a huge halibut fishery was developed on the Georges Bank. The oversupply of the fish inspired the Glouster Fishing Company to catch large number of fish, but this same reason acted as a reason behind the failure of the company. The company could not sell the total amount of fish that it had caught. Alongside the population of large halibut fish declined significantly. After the brief period of excessive fishing got over, the large size fish of this species has not been noticed ever. Smaller halibuts still continued to be caught for some time for some time as by-catches. At present it is a rare chance if one can spot a halibut in the market. Over fishing of this species led to its complete disappearance from the waters (Clover 2008). Britain: Ban on discarding “The practice of discarding” (Novell 2012) large amounts of fish every year is wasteful and results in degradation of the environment. The fish that are discarded are not always done because they are of inferior quality or because they have been damaged. The European Union has set quotas for each country, under the Common Fisheries Policy, beyond which the fleets of trawlers and boats cannot catch. Therefore if the fishermen catch fish in quantity excess than what is allowed, they throw the excess amount back into the water. But these fish are mostly dead and the outcome is nothing better than the loss of large amounts of edible fish. According to some reports, the approximately two-thirds of the capture is thrown back into the sea. Several reasons are responsible for this practice of discarding. Some of the fish are not of the standard size or are not of the target species. These would command too low price in the market and are a burden for the trawlers to take back to the harbor. Sometimes some of the fish have slime on their scales which might cause damage to “the rest of the fish in the haul” (Novell 2012). In other cases the fish are simply thrown back due to lack of accommodation space on board. The target species get higher priority than the non target species or the ones that are of comparatively of lower value. The fish that are discarded are not counted against the quotas. Due to these quotas the fishermen are not entitled to land the fish in excess amounts. They need to throw them back in to the water and these numbers remain unaccounted for. Results and findings The unavoidable truth is that insensible commercial fishing is plundering the world’s reserve of marine resources. The eco system of the earth is being disrupted and effort made towards sustainable management of the fisheries is offset by the greater loss. A report from a study made in 2003 has revealed that the population of large sized salt water fish has been reduced to only ten percent of their population that existed before the large scale industrial fishing has come into being (Overfishing 2013). Primary survey data reveals, in case of Ireland, the discard ban has been implemented to save the cod and haddocks from getting depleted. The other less valuable fishes are allowed to be thrown away back to the seas since they would not bring much profit from sale in the market. This is a serious problem that has to be addressed. The environment gets worse affected when some of its components are snatched away from it unwisely. This is a loss on both sides since the people are benefitted from such fishing and the environment is also degraded. Most of them answered that finishing is their hereditary profession and hence they cannot think of any other profession as comfortably as fishing. For some of them, they think it is the most advantageous and profitable profession for them in coastal region. The government subsidizes the gigantic fishing fleets, which cost more than billions of dollars. This is not only a loss to the environment but also a huge loss to the society since the expenses incurred on this account could have been diverted for some other developmental activities for the benefit of the society. One major finding from the quantitative research data is that the fishermen strongly hate the act of discarding. Eighteen people in the survey said yes to discard practice. Fishes are stored in chilled conditions and often in frozen form in iced boxes. Sometimes they are filleted and gutted before storing in order to make more space. They often go under processing before washing and storing them. They are “not the drivers of discards” (Damanaki 2011). They want to sell the fish they have caught at a fair price (Fearnley-Whittingstall 2011). It is under the strict rule of the CFP that they are forced to throw away a large chunk of the catch into the seas (Matthews  2007). Some fishermen use nets that reduce whitefish discards. As revealed in the survey, they do not have complaints regarding infrastructure but the big vessels with more advanced technology will obviously have more advantages. Analysis The probability of discarding rises as the catch level rises. From our study, it has been found that discarding is a major issue for fishermen who experience over fishing. As the level of catch rises above 250 tonnes almost 80 percent of the catch goes in discarding. This both due to the CFP laws and also due to damage of fish due to mismanagement (See figure 1 in supporting evidence). The maximum sustainable yield denotes that point up to which the fish can be caught without depleting the stock. These fish if not caught would die of age. But beyond the maximum sustainable yield, the fish are caught while they are yet to reach the size to impart the maximum yield per harvest, although capable of reproducing adequately. This is growth over fishing. When the rate of over fishing rises, there is a significant reduction in spawning stock and might lead to collapse of the stock (Meltzer & Fuller 2009) (See figure 2 in supporting evidence). PDP Summary “Overfishing is too complex a story to be told in a clean beginning-middle-and-end kind of narrative” (Hilborn 2012). The initial commercial fishing that took the form of overfishing was in the whale population. Later the phenomenon has become common and frequent, invading the stocks of richly populated edible fish. With time more sophisticated technologies have been deployed in the procedures of catching fish and the fishing fleets have been extremely aggressive in their profit seeking business. As Hilborn has described it, overfishing can be correlated with crimes like rape and plunder that leaves a deep scar upon the victims as well as the society at large. Fishermen, commoners and the government are now aroused to the severity of this issue. The plight of the fish stocks has drawn the concern of the common man and this is revealed by the rising number of signatures in Hugh’s Fish fight campaign (Esteban 2011). Supporting Evidence The Questionnaire 1. Name the types of fish that are caught by your fleet. Cods, Conger, Tope, Smoothhound, Mackerel, and haddocks are some of the catches. 2. What is it that you like best about fishing? Most of them answered that finishing is their hereditary profession and hence they cannot think of any other profession as comfortably as fishing. For some of them, they think it is the most advantageous and profitable profession for them in coastal region. 3. What is it that you do not like about fishing? The fact that a bunch of them needs to be thrown back after spending hard labour and also the fact that they need to be away from home for long hours every day. 4. Do practice discarding? Yes No Eighteen people said yes. Others whose catches are in small numbers said no. 5. Do you hate the idea of discarding? Yes No Fifteen people said yes and five said no. 6. Have you put signature for Hugh’s Fish Fight? Yes No Ten said yes and others no. 7. What extent of fish is discarded from board? Ones which do not give much profit. 8. What is the method of storage of fish in this dock? Fishes are stored in chilled conditions and often in frozen form in iced boxes. Sometimes they are filleted and gutted before storing in order to make more space. They often go under processing before washing and storing them. 9. Do you give importance to only the fish that have high market value? Yes, others are taken for personal consumption. 10. Why do you throw away the inferior fish? a. Lack of storage space on fleet b. Low market value c. Excessive amounts have been caught Ten people chose all three options depending on different instances. Three chose the first two options and seven said second option only. 11. Do you get enough access to public facilities, such as water, roads, etc.? They don’t have complaints regarding infrastructure but the big vessels with more advanced technology will obviously have more advantages. Figure 1: Probability of discarding Source: Hansson, S. 2001 Figure 2: Sustainable yield of fishing References 1. Impact Assessment of Discard Reducing Policies 2011, European Commission. Available from: . [25 January 2013]. 2. Overfishing 2013, National Geographic. Available from: . [25 January 2013]. 3. Fishing – A global Disaster n.d. Available from: < http://overfishing.org/pages/what_is_overfishing.php>. [25 January 2013]. 4. TACs and quotas 2012, European Commission. Available from: [25 January 2013]. 5. EU fishing rules 2012, European Commission. Available from: . [25 January 2013]. 6. Clover, C 2008, The End of the Line: How Overfishing Is Changing the World and What We Eat, University of California Press, California. 7. Novell, R 2012, British fishing crews welcome discard ban. Available from: http://www.dw.de/british-fishing-crews-welcome-discard-ban/a-16059961>. [25 January 2013]. 8. Overfishing: A Global Challenge n.d., DIANE Publishing. 9. Gissurarson, HH 2000, Overfishing: the Icelandic solution, Institute of Economic Affairs. 10. Hilborn, R 2012, Overfishing: What Everyone Needs to Know: What Everyone Needs to Know, Oxford University Press. 11. Damanaki, M 2011, Maria Damanaki European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Discards. Available from: . [25 January 2013]. 12. Esteban, A. 2011, We need to eat less fish – not more sustainable fish. Available from: . [25 January 2013]. 13. Hugh’s Fish Fight 2013, Available from: < http://www.fishfight.net/>. [25 January 2013]. 14. Fearnley-Whittingstall 2011, Available from: < http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/01/plan-end-discards-protects-fishermen >. [25 January 2013]. 15. Matthews, D. 2007, Hugh's taken his anti-discard Fish Fight to Brussels . . . Available from: < http://www.cs-ac.org/content/view/100/108/>. [25 January 2013]. 16. Hansson, S. 2001, Constant catch or constant harvest rate?: The Baltic Sea cod, Fisheries research, vol. 53, no. 1. 17. Meltzer, E, & Fuller, S 2009, The Quest for Sustainable International Fisheries: Regional Efforts to Implement the 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement : an Overview for the May 2006 Review Conference, NRC Research Press. Read More