More than a third of small pelagics taken in the Atlantic and South American waters come from stocks that aren’t managed well, according to a new report from the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP).
The report, the group’s annual assessment of the state of stocks taken for the fishmeal and fish oil industries, said that 66.5 percent of the catch supply comes from stocks “that are reasonably well managed (or better).”
In addition, the report said 55 percent of the fish will meet feed requirements of leading aquaculture certification groups. Despite the good news, the report also noted that 33 percent of the fish caught came from stocks that required “significant improvements,” and a total of 17.8 percent came from fisheries that were considered depleted.
“This report brings both good news for the fishmeal and oil industry and a strong note of caution about the future,” said Jim Cannon, SFP’s CEO. “Many of these fisheries are well managed and it’s a credit to the industry that more than half the fish can meet the current feed requirements of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council. However, there is an increasing body of scientific knowledge that suggests we need to adopt a more precautionary approach when managing some stocks of small pelagic fish and this may well have implications for the fishmeal and oil industry in the future.”
The report covers 28 fisheries around the Atlantic Ocean and South America, and includes data as recent as April 2014.
