sea around us project fisheries centre, ubc · other landed fishes and invertebrates discarded...
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The State of the Ocean and the impact of subsidies
Daniel PaulySea Around Us projectFisheries Centre, UBC
World Trade OrganizationGeneva, September 30, 2010
Fisheries landings, despite (or because of ) increasing fishing effort, have been declining since the late 1980s, a fact long hidden by massive over-reporting by China:
Watson and Pauly (Nature), 2001.
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
Glo
bal c
atch
(t ·1
06 )
Uncorrected
Corrected
Corrected, no anchoveta
El Niño event
(a)El Niño events
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
Year
With
draw
als (
mill
ion
t)
A
E
D
C
B
In fact, the decline is even stronger if one considers discarded fish. This was generally overlooked when FAO’s last estimate of discards (dot E; 7-8 million t) was released.
Zeller and Pauly (Fish & Fisheries, 2005)
Peruvian anchoveta
Other landed fishes and invertebrates
Discarded fishes and invertebrates
It is our overfishing which is the cause for these catch declines...
Fishing effort (2000)
Fuel (2000)
Yellow: 0.0-3.0 log hpdays km-2
Red: 3.1-15.7 log hpdays km-2
Yellow: 1.0-2.4 log liters km -2Red: 2.5-7.6 log liters km -2.
Effort data from Gelchu (2006); fuel data adapted from Tyedmers et al. (2005)
General trends
Ecosystem biomass left in 2000: 87.7%
Predator biomass left: 55.9%
Biom
ass left (%
) Predators only: Predators in EEZs:
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
100% 0%Predator biomass
remaining (%):
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
100% 0%Predator biomass
remaining (%):
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
100% 0%Predator biomass
remaining (%):
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
100% 0%Predator biomass
remaining (%):
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
100% 0%Predator biomass
remaining (%):
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
100% 0%Predator biomass
remaining (%):
Historically, the answer to depletions was moving on, e.g., to West Africa, which has long attracted distant water fleets from other continents …
Number of ‘country access years’by area, 1960-1969
… which increased over the years, finally reaching the present, staggering levels.
Number of ‘country access years’by area, 1990-1999
t/km2
An example: catch intensity by Spain, 1950s
t/km2
Catch intensity by Spain, 2000-2004
Top: catch by EU fleets in 2000-2005; center: areas from which seafood is imported into the EU (same period); below: fraction of the total catch that goes to the EU.
>60%
0%
Top: catch by the US in 2000-2005; center: areas from which seafood is imported into the US (same period); below: fraction of the total catch per area that goes to the US.
>60%
0%
>60%
0%
Top: catch by Japan in 2000-2005; center: areas from which seafood is imported into Japan (same period); below: fraction of the total catch per area that goes to Japan.
Result: in the 2000s, three markets (the EU, US and Japan) access much of the marine resources of the world ocean (scale is % of catch destined for one of these three markets; with red=100% and blue= 0%)
Sustainable?
Back to basics: ecosystem fluxes move up ‘trophic pyramids’…
Tro
phic
leve
l
Phytoplankton
Top predators
Prey fish
Zooplankton
. . .. . . . . . . . *. . ... . .*.*.*.
*. *.*.*.
. . . . . . 10%
10%
10%
*.
4
3
2
1
and each species tends to have its own trophic level…
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995Year
Trop
hic
leve
l
Global coastal
North Atlantic
2000
Another ominous trend emerges when we compute the mean trophic level of world catches. This shows a global decline…
Pauly et al. (Science, 1998)
For example in India…
Bhathal & Pauly (Fisheries Research, 2008)
In fact, ‘fishing down’ is so widespread that the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) now uses mean trophic levels as an index of biodiversity, the “Marine Trophic Index”.
Trophic level change (1950-2000)
>1 0.5 to 1.0 no change /no data
And this means that ‘fishing down’ is
everywhere
We can see from space how trawlers stir up sediment…
Photo courtesy of Dr. Kyle van Houten (Duke University)
Here: shrimp trawlers off the Texas Coast, Gulf of Mexico
FisheriesFisheries--inducedinducedrelease from release from predation on the predation on the adult (pelagic) formadult (pelagic) form
FisheriesFisheries--inducedinduceddecline of competition fordecline of competition forand predation on the and predation on the benthic (sessile) formbenthic (sessile) form
FisheriesFisheries--inducedinducedrelease from release from predation on the predation on the adult (pelagic) formadult (pelagic) form
FisheriesFisheries--inducedinduceddecline of competition fordecline of competition forand predation on the and predation on the benthic (sessile) formbenthic (sessile) form
The effect of all this is that jellyfish appear to increase almost everywhere...
IncreaseStable/VariableDecrease
An indeed, jellyfish are increasing almost everywhere…
… and since trawling and fishing down are likely to continue, enjoy your JBLT !
Grenadier, snoek,seabream
Hake
HakeHake
FlatfishPollockFlounder
Cod
Cod, saithe, plaice, redfish, haddockDemeral Fishes
Consumers in the ‘North’ have not noticed this, nor similar trends: while most seafood is traded between the EU, the USA and Northeast Asia, the ‘South’ has so far met the shortfall in the ‘North’….
Tuna and other large pelagic fishes (62% of exports)
EEZ fishedImporting country
The vicious circle of contemporary
fisheries management is to
a large extent driven by
subsidies….
Now turning to subsidies
MEY
MSY Bionomic equilibrium
(BE)
Total cost of fishing effort
(TC)
Total Revenue
(TR)
Fishing effort (E)
TR &
TC ( $)
E1 E2 E3
Max.rent
TC1
TC2BE2
BE1
TR
TR&
TC($)
E3 E4 Fishing effort (E)
Cost-reducing subsidies
Let’s assume a Gordon-Schaefer bioeconomic model How subsidies induce overfishing
Non fuel
Fuel
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
World Bank This study
Subs
idy
amou
nts
in b
illion
USD
Global subsidy comparisons
Sumaila and Pauly (2006)
Subsidies come in different flavors…
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Asia
Europe
Lat. America & Caribbean
North America
Sub Saharan Africa
North Africa & Mediterranean
Oceania
Subsidy amount (billion USD)
Good subsidies Bad subsidies Ugly subsidies
Sumaila and Pauly (2006)
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0
Fishing port develop.
Fisheries projects
Fuel subsidies
Rural f isher communities
Fisheries mngt.
Boat construct. & renov.
Fisheries R & D
Market. & storage infrast.
Tax exemption
Fig 4: Developing country subsidies (billion USD)
External public funds Internal public funds
Developing country subsidies (billion USD)
Fuel subsidies are very important to certain fisheries (e.g., trawlers). Fuel prices are likely to increase, however (remember Summer 2008?), and cause big problems to industrial and distant-water fishing...
Pauly et al. (Science, 2003)
This all lead, overall to a globally declining catch per person…
Sources: Watson & Pauly (2001, Nature 414:534 – 536) & U.S. Bureau of the Census (International database).
FISHERY
BENEFITS LARGE SCALE
SMALL SCALE
Number of fishers employed
about ½ million
over 12 millions
Annual catch of marine fish for human consumption
about 29 million tonnes
about 24 million tonnes
Capital cost of each job on fishing vessels
$30,000 - $300,000
$250 - $2,500
Annual catch of marine fish for industrial reduction to meal and oil, etc.
about 22 million tonnes
Almost none
Annual fuel oil consumption
14 – 19 million tonnes
1 – 3 million tonnes
Fish caught per tonne of fuel consumed =
2 – 5 tonnes =
10 – 20 tonnes
Fishers employed for each $1 million invested in fishing vessels
5 - 30 500 – 4,000
Fish and invertebrates discarded at sea
10-20 million tonnes
Little
Summarizing: This graph, which compares small-scale with large-scale fisheries on a global basis, probably underestimates the role of small-scale fisheries, because official statistics underestimate their catch. We would achieve most stated aims of fisheries management plans (particularly with regards to jobs and sustainability) by getting rid of subsidies, which are directed mainly at industrial fisheries.
Acknowledgements…• Thanks to the Pew Charitable Trusts,
Philadelphia;
• Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia;
• Members of the Sea Around Us project,and many others...
visit us at www.seaaroundus.org