0.19 Natural capital: fisheries  (Page 13/14)

Consider what happens in halibut fishing. A very valuable fish. In 2013 fresh Halibut sold for $22 lb or more at Whole Foods. Generally the Halibut fisheries in Alaska are well regulated. The problem lies in areas outside the designated Halibut fisheries. Salmon trawlers in the Gulf of Alaska are allowed to take 4.4 million lbs. of Halibut as by-catch.

But, there are about 14 million pounds of halibut by-catch in non-halibut fisheries (fisheries beyond the zones of regulation). In other words halibut catch outside of the halibut fisheries is about 3 times that of the regulated fishery. A sustainable fish stock cannot be maintained that way.

As we noted, by-catch waste constitutes needless waste. By-catch discards account for about 300 million tons or (20-25%) of total world catch. David Witherell et al., “An Ecosystem-based approach for Alaska groundfish fisheries”, ICES Journal of Marine Science, 2000, Vol.57, p.772. Such large figures signal that by-catch represents both a significant biological and economic loss to fisheries everywhere. Successful ITQ systems in New Zealand, Iceland and Alaska closely regulate by-catch within commercial fisheries, by requiring that by-catch be a part of the quota owner’s catch for the year. In New Zealand and Iceland in particular, discarding by-catch was deemed a serious violation of the rules of the ITQ system. There, fishermen exceeding their limit due to by-catch have to either pay a fine or buy up someone else’s ITQ. Alaska also significantly ameliorated the threat to its fisheries by allowing sablefish fisherman outside of Alaska’s economic zone to hold both halibut and sablefish quotas. This considerably decreased the discarding of halibut. With conventional licenses and weaker types of regulation, the problem of by-catch discards is pervasive across commercial fisheries. By implementing by-catch regulations. ITQ system can further contribute greatly to more sustainable fisheries.

Other very destructive fishing practices will need to be curbed if fishery resources are to be sensibly conserved. Illegal nets, such as purse seine nets that drag the bottom are used often in tuna fishing. Some of these purse-seine nets are up to one mile long. Heavy damage to the sea (floor) also results. Another destructive fishing practice is use of extremely long-line fishing. In some cases these nets are many kilometers long, with tens of thousands of hooks. Worldwide, long lines kill 400,000 dolphins (porpoises) year.

Trawling for fish has become a significant issue in Europe. The European Parliament has been trying to phase out deep-sea trawling. Bottom gill-netting is an especially serious issue in France and Spain, where by-catch has been 20%-40% of the total. Bottom gill-netting also involves serious damage to the sea floor. So far efforts to restrain this practice have gone nowhere in Europe.

Finally, sustainable fisheries can be promoted by prohibiting, or closing fishing during spawning season (Iceland had 180 such enclosures in 2009).