According to scientists, the current amount of catches is over three times the level that would provide optimum return in a sustainable way. Fleet overcapacity and lack of proper enforcement have been identified as the main factors… The raft of measures — proposed by the EU, Algeria, Croatia, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey — also strengthens control measures, including the setting up of an international inspection scheme on the high seas.
We don’t know accurately what the annual harvest actually is — in any of the world’s fisheries. We do know that fishing technology, fleet sizes, and illegal fishing [plainly: piracy] have vastly outstripped sustainable catch levels.
It costs a LOT of money just to gather the population data. It costs even more money to police the pirates, especially in the remote areas of the Pacific. So we’re not at all optimistic that the magnitude of required action will be taken in time to avoid crashes similar to the Atlantic cod fishery experience.
In its July report on the illegal fishing of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean, the environmental group WWF said that actual catches were more than 50 percent higher than the legal annual quota of 32,000 tons, set by the ICCAT.
That said, this ICCAT agreement is clearly a positive step — particularly the enforcement component of the deal:
- a global control system which covers every step of the process, from the catch to the market through to landing, transhipping and caging operations.
This post has links to the November 3, 2006 Science article that’s been making headlines.
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