Viewpoint: Back to the future for fisheries, where will we choose to go?

Abstract

We present a view on global marine fisheries that emphasizes mitigating the conflict between sustainability and the scale of industrial exploitation driven by the demand of continuous economic growth. We then summarize the current state of global fisheries. Finally, we advocate strongly for scaling back industrial fisheries, most of which are non-sustainable. This can be achieved through eliminating the harmful, capacity-enhancing subsidies that prop up industrial fisheries to continue operating despite declining fish stocks. Instead, we propose to support well-managed, locally owned and operated small-scale fisheries, which generally contribute more to local employment and food security. We stress that contrary to deep-seated opinion in the fishing industry and among politicians, reducing overfishing by eliminating overcapacity in fishing fleets will actually lead to greater, not reduced catches. This would address part of the increased global seafood demand over the coming decades, which is driven by population and wealth growth. This seems counterintuitive, but is supported by fisheries science, data and experiences. Thankfully, we are beginning to see that some of these changes are being pursued by a growing number of countries and international institutions.

A Baseline for the Blue Economy: Catch and Effort History in the Republic of Seychelles’ Domestic Fisheries

“…Despite the relatively low economic value when compared to the foreign-owned and operated industrial fishery for highvalue tuna, the artisanal fishery is arguably the most important fishery component for the Seychelles' blue bonds initiative to focus on when developing management strategies. The artisanal fishery plays a vital role in Seychelles' domestic food security and local livelihoods, whilst being less wasteful in terms of negligible discards and having lower fuel use and lower CO 2 emission intensity (Zeller and Pauly, 2019). In addition, the linkage between resources and economy suggests that economic growth measured via market-based GDP alone (Jerven, 2013), such as from large industrial fisheries does not reflect the strong dependency on limited natural resources that massively contribute to local food security and human well-being (Costanza et al, 1997;Robinson et al, 2004;Costanza et al, 2014;Zeller and Pauly, 2019;Kalimeris et al, 2020).…”

“…The artisanal fishery plays a vital role in Seychelles' domestic food security and local livelihoods, whilst being less wasteful in terms of negligible discards and having lower fuel use and lower CO 2 emission intensity (Zeller and Pauly, 2019). In addition, the linkage between resources and economy suggests that economic growth measured via market-based GDP alone (Jerven, 2013), such as from large industrial fisheries does not reflect the strong dependency on limited natural resources that massively contribute to local food security and human well-being (Costanza et al, 1997;Robinson et al, 2004;Costanza et al, 2014;Zeller and Pauly, 2019;Kalimeris et al, 2020). Seafood represents the primary source of protein for Seychellois, resulting in a high rate of marine fish consumption of 57 kg•person −1…”

“…This reaffirms that the food-security provided by the domestic small-scale artisanal and accompanying take-home catch as well as "true" subsistence fisheries are an integral health, livelihood and food security component in these communities (FAO, 2015;Pauly and Charles, 2015;Pauly and Zeller, 2016a). With careful consideration, the Seychelles' blue bond initiative could provide a unique example for small island countries and emerging economies on how to improve and enhance a sustainable and profitable resource relationship (Ghina, 2003), and could be viewed as a crucial step in the right direction for fisheries policy and management (Zeller and Pauly, 2019).…”

“…Both environmental and social challenges are often created through the development of the fishing industry, as technological advancements lead to increased fishing effort, i.e., associated with economic gains, and a reduction in employment opportunities, e.g., mechanized longlines which require fewer fishers, leading to increased social inequality (Kent, 1986;Bailey and Jentoft, 1990;Miyake, 2005;Dunn et al, 2010;Zeller and Pauly, 2019). In addition, long-term sustainable practices and truly effective management has been recognized as a global necessity, due to widespread overfishing in an ultimately limited ecosystem (Jennings et al, 1996a;Robinson et al, 2004;Pauly, 2006;Payet and Agricole, 2006;Chang-Seng, 2007;Daw et al, 2012;Khan and Amelie, 2015;Pauly and Zeller, 2016a,b;Zeller and Pauly, 2019). In the Seychelles, reducing fishing pressure on marine resources has been of national interest since the 1980s (Wakeford, 2001), when concerns arose due to rapid fleet expansion and technological development, i.e., larger motorized vessels primarily focused on the traditional and vulnerable inshore fishing grounds (Grandcourt, 2002).…”

“…Among attempts to reduce the exploitation of coastal resources, the government issued lowinterest loans to encourage the acquisition of larger vessels with the intention of relocating fishing effort to offshore fishing areas that were thought to be more lightly exploited (Carroll, 1991). However, over time such subsidized loans led to an overall increased fishing pressure in both offshore and inshore regions and an overall higher fishing effort (Zeller and Pauly, 2019).…”