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No more than 50 years ago, most of the oceans were pristine wilderness,
with seemingly inexhaustible resources. Modern fishing methods changed all
that. Radar, sonar, electronic navigation and satellite positioning
systems made locating fish increasingly precise. Giant nets, trawls,
traps, lines and other indiscriminate fishing gear targeted marine life
with scant consideration for species, age, gender, season, or location.
Something considered unimaginable just a few decades ago has happened: man
has stretched the limit of the seas to breaking point.
Over a million large "industrial'' fishing vessels - literally floating factories, equipped with facilities for cleaning and refrigeration, and support vessels serving as fuel tankers, repair shops, supply ships, research and scouting boats - and some two million smaller ones scour the world's oceans today, depleting one fish colony after the next. According to a UN Food and Agriculture Organisation report, 70 per cent of the world's commercially-important marine fish stocks are either fully fished, over-exploited, depleted, or slowly recovering. Even worse, as much as one-third of the annual global fish catch is wasted because it comprises unwanted species caught accidentally. Sea birds, turtles, mammals, inedible fish and other ocean life fall prey and are callously thrown overboard. Dead.
The deep seas are a war zone... Scallop dredges bulldoze the sea floor, destroying sea grasses, coral reefs and seabed organisms. Shrimp and prawn trawlers devastate non-targeted species. Driftnets, longer than 2.5 km, are deployed in defiance of a UN moratorium on their use. Reef fishes are stunned with cyanide and captured for the trade in live coral reefs. Explosives are also used, annihilating entire marine communities. Where, then, does hope lie? International laws and treaties, such as the 1994 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); or the 1995 UN Agreement on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks? Aquaculture and mariculture to ease pressure on marine fish resources? Political will? Certainly, YES. But, if one ,looks back at the more successful conservation efforts, they have worked largely on account of people's sentiments. The threat of consumer boycotts forced tuna-canning companies to import dolphin-safe tuna. It was primarily public opinion that outlawed commercial whaling almost the world over. Consumer pressure in the West is now growing for shrimp trawling that doesn't hurt turtles. Environmental considerations are becoming increasingly important for consumers in making purchasing decisions. This is why eco-labelling for marine products through the Marine Stewardship Council is such a significant move. The MSC will, for the first time, make it easier for consumers to choose.
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