Wild fisheries have a lot more to offer in terms of harvest yield, food security and profitability, according to the findings of a new collaborative study between UC Santa Barbara, the University of Washington and the Environmental Defense Fund.
Speaking at plenary session “Investing in Sustainable Fishing Can Spark Global Fisheries Recovery,” at the SeaWeb Seafood Summit 2016 (SWSS16) in Malta, Ray Hilborn, professor of aquatic and fishery sciences at the University of Washington said there would be a “triple bottom line” effect if sustainable fishing were established throughout all global fisheries.
Combined, the global harvest could be increased by a further 20 million metric tons (MT), the biomass could be increased by 792 million MT and profitability could be boosted by USD 68 billion (EUR 62.3 billion) per year, said Hilborn.
These benefits could be seen within a “remarkably short” 10 years, “just by doing fisheries management right and on a global scale,” he said.
“This can happen very rapidly. Just by doing fisheries management right and removing the competitive nature of fisheries – getting fishermen to cooperate rather than compete.
“Some parts of the world have already undergone fisheries reform and are on a rebuilding track, while other parts have yet to see those benefits.”
Yet those countries and types of fisheries that have not yet reformed their fisheries have the most to gain, particularly Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, he said.
“With the exception of Japan, most countries in this region currently have very ineffective or non-existent fisheries management systems in place.”
