Nearly 30 percent of reduction fisheries landings from Europe to North America to South America has not been effectively managed and requires significant improvements, according to the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership’s (SFP) annual sustainability review of fisheries used for fishmeal and fish oil.
Previously known as the “Reduction Fisheries League Table,” the review covers the 28 principal reduction fisheries in the Atlantic from Europe to North America and in the Pacific off South America.
The review found that 62.4 percent of the catch comes from fisheries that score above 6 in all criteria and the score for biomass is 8 or above, meaning biomass is at or above target levels; these stocks are in very good shape, although may merit some improvements in management regime, according to SFP.
The review also found that 8.3 percent of the catch comes from fisheries that score 6 or above across all criteria but do not score above 8 for biomass; these fisheries are in good shape but would benefit from improvements in management regime, according to SFP.
However, 29.3 percent of the catch comes from fisheries that score below 6 on at least one of the criteria; these fisheries have not been effectively managed and require significant improvements. Only three fisheries, representing 6.7 percent of the catch, score below 6 on biomass and thus require urgent improvements — European pilchard-Iberian, anchoveta-Chilean regions v-x and Chilean jack mackerel.
“No reduction fishery is currently managed within an ecosystem-based fisheries management regime,” said the SFP. “This situation needs to improve significantly. Fisheries that have established a successful single species stock management regime should now be looking to evolve an ecosystem-based approach to ensure sustainability in the future.”
SFP CEO Jim Cannon added, “In releasing this information, we aim to encourage the world's fishmeal and fish oil suppliers and forage fisheries to engage in improvement efforts, with a priority on improving those fisheries that currently fall short of current single-species best practices and ensuring that all the fisheries move towards ecosystem-based management.”
