Imagine a world without fish

08-06-2009

Today, on world Oceans Day, a powerful new film - The End of the Line - highlights the problems of over-fishing, and predicts that many important stocks will be in a state of collapse by 2050. However, 17 Pacific island nations recently set a global precedent by ensuring that over 50 million square kms of ocean will be closed to tuna purse-seine fishing.

World Oceans Day is an opportunity for hundreds of communities around the globe to learn about our world ocean and our personal connection to the sea, to raise awareness about the crucial role the ocean plays in our lives, and the important ways people can help to protect our shared world ocean. This year’s theme is ‘one ocean, one climate, one future’.

Launched today, The End of the Line asks people to imagine an ocean without fish, and meals without seafood. "We must stop thinking of our oceans as a food factory and realize that they thrive as a huge and complex marine environment”, said, Charles Clover author of the book which led to the movie.

The End of the Line was filmed over two years across the world, and features top scientists, indigenous fishermen and fisheries enforcement officials. It examines the imminent extinction of Bluefin Tuna, brought on by increasing western demand for sushi; the impact on marine lif e resulting in huge overpopulation of jellyfish; and the profound implications of a future world without fish.

“Healthy oceans are win, win, win, for fishing and coastal communities, for the health of our planet, for our diet, for our future” —Rupert Murray, Director of The End of the Line

Overfishing was recognised as one of the world's greatest and most immediate environmental problems in 2002, when it was first demonstrated that global catches of wild fish had peaked around 1989 and have since been in decline.

Globally, some 75 % of wild marine fish are now said to be either fully-exploited or overfished, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (UN FAO). That means these species require conservation and management in order to survive in their present numbers - which they rarely receive. "We must act now to protect the sea from rampant overfishing so that there will be fish in the sea for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren", warned Charles Clover.

End of the Line also provides some solutions to the problems facing our world’s oceans. “Healthy oceans are win, win, win, for fishing and coastal communities, for the health of our planet, for our diet, for our future”, said Rupert Murray, Director of The End of the Line.

“If you look at how simple and universally agreed the solutions are, that the fishing industry is a relatively small industry to regulate properly, that a global network of marine reserves would cost the same as the amount we spend on ice cream, then I believe you can remain hopeful and positive”, added Rupert Murray.

“This resolution sets a global precedent” —Dr Ross Wanless, Africa Coordinator for the GSP and the head of BirdLife South Africa’s Seabird Division

Intergovernmental agencies, known as Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs), set quotas and make rules for the world’s commercial fishing fleets. BirdLife International’s Global Seabird Programme (GSP) has been working with RFMOs since 2004 to ensure that seabird bycatch, which is responsible for an estimated 300,000 accidental deaths globally each year, is addressed.

At a recent commission meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in Korea, 17 Pacific island nations brought forward an ambitious resolution – to close over 50 million square kms of ocean to tuna purse-seine fishing.

“This resolution sets a global precedent, and will help to reduce the impacts of tuna fishing on bycatch species such as seabirds”, said Dr Ross Wanless, Africa Coordinator for the GSP and the head of BirdLife South Africa’s Seabird Division. “BirdLife International will be encouraging other RFMOs to follow suit”.

"Tuna fishing is a really important industry across the Pacific, and yet it has potential to be very damaging to populations of Globally Threatened seabirds as a result of bycatch”, added Dr Susan Waugh, BirdLife Global Seabird Programme scientist, based in Wellington, New Zealand. “Much of the fishing effort occurs in areas also favoured by seabirds, with species such as Critically Endangered Beck's Petrel Pseudobulweria becki, Fiji Petrel Pseudobulweria macgillivrayi, Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata and Chatham Albatross Thalassarche eremita occurring in the midst of major fishing areas”.

“The Pacific Island nations have a huge contribution to make to maintaining biodiversity, and it is incredibly heartening to see them coming together as guardians of their special species," concluded Dr Waugh.

Credits: Global Seabird Programme