Issue 108 - Fisheries in Trouble

fisheries in trouble

Fishing has traditionally been a major source of livelihoods for coastal communities around the world, and fish are the primary source of protein for hundreds of millions of people. Fishing is also a culturally important activity, as skills are passed down from generation to generation. Small-scale fisheries are also critical to many economies. In several countries in Africa , the Caribbean and the Pacific, for example, fish product exports, sourced primarily from small-scale fisheries, generate a higher income than exports of tea, coffee or cocoa. Small-scale fisheries also contribute to sustainability: around 99 per cent of fish catches have a commercial use or are consumed directly.

However, the livelihoods of small coastal fisherpeople are being jeopardized by the collapse of fish stocks, mainly due to largescale fishing by commercial trawlers for export markets. Industrial fishing is based on non-selective extraction; immature fish and other non-commercial species die and are thrown back into the sea. In the shrimp fisheries of the Gulf of Mexico , for example, this wasteful approach means that up to 90 percent of the total catch is discarded. Since 1982, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) has recognized that fragile marine ecosystems need to be protected and preserved from large-scale fishing in order to conserve the oceans' biodiversity.

In general, the trend towards economic globalization and market models, based on neoliberal policies, is leading to a drastic reduction in access rights for traditional fisherpeople. Coastal communities in Togo among other places ( see page 16 ) are unable to compete with high-tech rivals, and their local markets are being overwhelmed by cheap imports from Europe . The conversion of mangrove swamps into shrimp farms for export, as is happening in the Niger Delta ( see page 16 ) also places enormous pressure on the local communities dependent on these ecosystems.