Scientists: Protect One-Third of World's Oceans
Takver | 14.01.2005 06:43 | Analysis | Ecology
A scientific report released in Britain 0n 7 December 2004 said that one-third of the world's oceans should be declared protected areas to stop the wholesale slaughter of fish species. Such an extreme measure is necessary because whole ecosystems are on the verge of collapse, the report argues.
"Turning the Tide" is a report on the marine environment by The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, which has spent the past 18 months researching the issue.
http://www.rcep.org.uk/fishreport.htm
Sir Tom Blundell, Chair of the Royal Commission, said: "Currently, fishing is allowed unless there is clear evidence of damage. This needs to change. Fishing should first be assessed for its effect on marine ecosystems and be brought under a framework of environmental protection."
The Royal Commission found that fisheries policies had failed and radical change is needed to shift focus from commercial over-exploitation to long-term protection of the marine environment.
"We need to take positive steps to allow the environment to recover. Marine reserves should be created to protect 30% of the UK's seas from fishing. Intervention on this scale is necessary to preserve important ecosystems, and to break the present cycle of unrealistic quotas and diminishing fish populations. Similar measures are also needed across Europe."
"Around the world there's evidence that creating marine reserves -- areas where fishing is not allowed -- leads to a several fold increase in the size and number of fish, shellfish and other animals," commission chairman Tom Blundell said.
"A third of the Great Barrier Reef is closed to fishing and countries like New Zealand and South Africa have plans to designate between 10 and 20 percent of their marine environment as reserves," he added.
The commission cited figures that suggested closing 30 percent of the world's oceans would cost up to 7.5 billion pounds ($14.5 billion) a year compared to the 16 billion pounds spent subsidising commercial fishing.
The report urged Britain to lead the way by declaring 30 percent of its coastal waters no-go areas for fishing, and hoped the 25-nation European Union would follow suit. It proposed massive protected zones, banning all fishing in parts of the North Sea, Irish Sea and west of Scotland.
"We are suggesting that the 30 percent protected areas should be spread globally. There is a growing number of international bodies moving in this direction," economist and commission member Paul Ekins told a news conference.
Single-species conservation programmes were no longer enough, argued the report. Instead, it argued for a comprehensive, ecosystem approach that extended to the world's seas the kind of protection given to nature reserves and wildlife parks on land.
"We are facing probably the greatest challenge after climate change," said scientist Ian Graham-Bryce. "Less than 0.5 percent of the world's oceans are protected compared with 12 percent of land," he said.
A key scientific body, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, has recommended that no cod should be caught in the North Sea in 2005. In a 2003 report, ICES advised that a total of 41% of commercial fish populations were outside safe biological limits, the status of 42% was unknown and 16% were within safe biological limits in the area of the north-east Atlantic, and adjacent areas such as the North and Baltic seas.
http://www.ices.dk/reports/germanqsr/23222_ICES_Report_samme.pdf
The report also called for a ban on the practice of dragging nets along the sea bed that lays waste vast areas. Tom Bundell said "there are some particularly damaging fishing practices which we believe should be strictly controlled. One of these is deep-sea fishing, which can damage the sea-bed and result in the capture and death of other animals. Indeed, the sector appears inherently unsustainable because many deep-sea species are so slow growing, late to mature and easily fished out. We recommend that the UK government should prohibit deep-sea fishing in UK waters, or by UK vessels, and press for similar restrictions at the European level."
The crisis in the North Sea, the Baltic and the North Atlantic has been building up for some time. Greenpeace International has campaigned for conservation and sustainable fisheries management over several years. See their The North Sea: Fisheries Crisis Hot Spot! (1997) archived website
http://archive.greenpeace.org/comms/cbio/nsea.html
Richard Sadler and Geoffrey Lean, writing in the Independent in October 2003, said "Fish stocks and sea bird numbers plummet as soaring water temperatures kill off vital plankton"
"The North Sea is undergoing 'ecological meltdown' as a result of global warming, according to startling new research. Scientists say that they are witnessing 'a collapse in the system', with devastating implications for fisheries and wildlife."
--------------------------------------------
More Information:
* Turning the Tide - Addressing the impact of Fisheries on the Marine Environment - Launched 7 December 2004
http://www.rcep.org.uk/fishreport.htm
* International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)
http://www.ices.dk/
* Australian Marine Conservation Society: Orange roughy: Down and out
An unsustainable seafood choice from a destructive trawl fishery
http://www.amcs.org.au/campaigns/fisheries_unhooked/ss_orange_roughy.html
Other Sources:
* Planetark UK: December 8, 2004 - Ban Fishing In One-Third Of Oceans - UK Scientists
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/28468/story.htm
* Zmag - 04 Apr 2004 - Global Warming As A WMD
http://www.countercurrents.org/en-johansen040404.htm
* Visit the Ocean Futures Society established by Jacques Cousteau
Sustainable Fisheries News - Ocean Futures Society
http://www.oceanfutures.org/news/sustainable_fisheries.asp
http://www.rcep.org.uk/fishreport.htm Sir Tom Blundell, Chair of the Royal Commission, said: "Currently, fishing is allowed unless there is clear evidence of damage. This needs to change. Fishing should first be assessed for its effect on marine ecosystems and be brought under a framework of environmental protection."
The Royal Commission found that fisheries policies had failed and radical change is needed to shift focus from commercial over-exploitation to long-term protection of the marine environment.
"We need to take positive steps to allow the environment to recover. Marine reserves should be created to protect 30% of the UK's seas from fishing. Intervention on this scale is necessary to preserve important ecosystems, and to break the present cycle of unrealistic quotas and diminishing fish populations. Similar measures are also needed across Europe."
"Around the world there's evidence that creating marine reserves -- areas where fishing is not allowed -- leads to a several fold increase in the size and number of fish, shellfish and other animals," commission chairman Tom Blundell said.
"A third of the Great Barrier Reef is closed to fishing and countries like New Zealand and South Africa have plans to designate between 10 and 20 percent of their marine environment as reserves," he added.
The commission cited figures that suggested closing 30 percent of the world's oceans would cost up to 7.5 billion pounds ($14.5 billion) a year compared to the 16 billion pounds spent subsidising commercial fishing.
The report urged Britain to lead the way by declaring 30 percent of its coastal waters no-go areas for fishing, and hoped the 25-nation European Union would follow suit. It proposed massive protected zones, banning all fishing in parts of the North Sea, Irish Sea and west of Scotland.
"We are suggesting that the 30 percent protected areas should be spread globally. There is a growing number of international bodies moving in this direction," economist and commission member Paul Ekins told a news conference.
Single-species conservation programmes were no longer enough, argued the report. Instead, it argued for a comprehensive, ecosystem approach that extended to the world's seas the kind of protection given to nature reserves and wildlife parks on land.
"We are facing probably the greatest challenge after climate change," said scientist Ian Graham-Bryce. "Less than 0.5 percent of the world's oceans are protected compared with 12 percent of land," he said.
A key scientific body, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, has recommended that no cod should be caught in the North Sea in 2005. In a 2003 report, ICES advised that a total of 41% of commercial fish populations were outside safe biological limits, the status of 42% was unknown and 16% were within safe biological limits in the area of the north-east Atlantic, and adjacent areas such as the North and Baltic seas.
http://www.ices.dk/reports/germanqsr/23222_ICES_Report_samme.pdf The report also called for a ban on the practice of dragging nets along the sea bed that lays waste vast areas. Tom Bundell said "there are some particularly damaging fishing practices which we believe should be strictly controlled. One of these is deep-sea fishing, which can damage the sea-bed and result in the capture and death of other animals. Indeed, the sector appears inherently unsustainable because many deep-sea species are so slow growing, late to mature and easily fished out. We recommend that the UK government should prohibit deep-sea fishing in UK waters, or by UK vessels, and press for similar restrictions at the European level."
The crisis in the North Sea, the Baltic and the North Atlantic has been building up for some time. Greenpeace International has campaigned for conservation and sustainable fisheries management over several years. See their The North Sea: Fisheries Crisis Hot Spot! (1997) archived website
http://archive.greenpeace.org/comms/cbio/nsea.html Richard Sadler and Geoffrey Lean, writing in the Independent in October 2003, said "Fish stocks and sea bird numbers plummet as soaring water temperatures kill off vital plankton"
"The North Sea is undergoing 'ecological meltdown' as a result of global warming, according to startling new research. Scientists say that they are witnessing 'a collapse in the system', with devastating implications for fisheries and wildlife."
--------------------------------------------
More Information:
* Turning the Tide - Addressing the impact of Fisheries on the Marine Environment - Launched 7 December 2004
http://www.rcep.org.uk/fishreport.htm * International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)
http://www.ices.dk/ * Australian Marine Conservation Society: Orange roughy: Down and out
An unsustainable seafood choice from a destructive trawl fishery
http://www.amcs.org.au/campaigns/fisheries_unhooked/ss_orange_roughy.html Other Sources:
* Planetark UK: December 8, 2004 - Ban Fishing In One-Third Of Oceans - UK Scientists
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/28468/story.htm * Zmag - 04 Apr 2004 - Global Warming As A WMD
http://www.countercurrents.org/en-johansen040404.htm * Visit the Ocean Futures Society established by Jacques Cousteau
Sustainable Fisheries News - Ocean Futures Society
http://www.oceanfutures.org/news/sustainable_fisheries.asp
Takver