Rape of the Seas

This is the harsh editorial heading in today’s edition of The Independent following a news report based on the findings of leading American scientists.

“The madness of the over-fishing of our oceans shows no signs of abating. A research paper presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Francisco yesterday shows that, as fish stocks in coastal waters become more and more depleted, trawlers are moving further out to sea…

“What makes this rape of the seas even more outrageous is that our governments are subsidising the process to the tune of $150m (£80m) a year.

“Twelve states provide fuel subsidies for their fishermen to make the long voyages into unregulated international waters, including Japan, Spain, South Korea, Russia, Australia, Ukraine, France and Iceland. According to researchers at the University of British Columbia, without subsidies such expeditions would be uneconomical.

“The desire of governments to support their fishing communities is understandable. But it makes no sense to sponsor over-fishing. There is only one sane course of action: the subsidies should end, bottom trawling should be outlawed and a system of strict international regulation for high seas fisheries must be established.

“The warnings of what will happen otherwise are unequivocal. According to a major scientific study last year there will be virtually nothing left to fish from the seas by the middle of the century if current fishing trends continue. We are at risk of wiping out one of mankind’s oldest sources of food and doing untold damage to one of our planet’s fundamental ecosystems.”

Another report in the same newspaper says: “Robert Steneck, a fisheries expert at the University of Maine, said: ‘The unregulated catches of these roving bandits are utterly unsustainable. With globalised markets, the economic drivers of over-fishing are physically removed and so fishermen have no stake in the natural systems they affect.

” ‘While it may be a good short-term business practice to fish out stocks and move on, we now see global declines of targeted species,’ Dr Steneck told the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Francisco.

” ‘The solution is not going into the deep sea but better managing the shallow waters where fish live fast and die young, and ecosystems have a greater potential for resilience,’ he said.

“Fish that live for more than 100 years and cold-water coral reefs that have taken millennia to form are being destroyed by the ‘roving bandits’ of the high seas that could not survive without government aid.

“Selina Heppell of Oregon State University said deep-sea species such as the orange roughy and Chilean sea bass are very slow to grow and can take many years to reach sexual maturity. ‘When you buy orange roughy, you are probably purchasing a fillet that is at least 50 years old. Most people don’t think of the implications of that – perhaps we need a guideline that says we shouldn’t eat fish as old as our grandmother,’ she said.”

Two years ago Greenpeace discussed the United Nations’ attempt at finding a solution. “Late last year (2004), the United Nations General Assembly in its Fisheries Resolution expressed concern at the loss of sharks, albatross, fin-fish species and marine turtles as a result of incidental mortality, vulnerability of shark populations to over-exploitation, fishing overcapacity, illegal and unreported fishing, excessive bycatch, and the effects of destructive fishing activities on vulnerable marine ecosystems.

“It then tasked Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) with the responsibility of addressing these issues. Yet these issues have developed despite the existence of RFMOs, and the record of RFMOs in addressing these issues is far from reassuring, and there are structural and functional barriers to RFMOs addressing the issues in the future unless major reforms are implemented.”

Another report (year 2004) states: “The life of the oceans is being destroyed. Huge ecosystems, once thought to be resilient and inexhaustible, are collapsing. Populations of top predators, a key indication of ecosystem health are disappearing at a frightening rate, 90% of all large fish – both open ocean species such as tuna, swordfish and marlin and the large groundfish such as cod, halibut, skates and flounder – have been fished out since 1950.

“The depletion of these species can also cause massive shift in the entire ocean ecosystems where commercially valuable fish are replaced by simpler organisms feeding further down the food web. This century may even see bumper crops of jellyfish replacing cod. Such changes clearly jeopardise not only the structure and functioning of these ecosystems, but also the very future of those dependent on the oceans for their livelihoods.”

When you stand on the edge of the sea it seems endless. inexhaustible with never ending supply of fish. Unlike forests that are being plundered but recorded with the help of satellites, it may be difficult to get the ‘clinching evidence’ of the ‘rape of the seas’. And then there is the ever-increasing pollution of the seas further choking marine life – important source of food for mankind.