Abstract
The current situation of many commercially-exploited fish species is worrying with nearly 30 % of all stocks around the globe qualifying as overfished. In particular, the biomass of big predatory species, such as tunas, is severely reduced. As for collapsed stocks, for instance the cod in the Northwest Atlantic, they will need several decades to recover from overexploitation. Overfishing, caused by excessive—and yet often disregarded—quotas, driven by fleet overcapacity and aggravated by illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, dangerously depletes stocks and threatens to drive some species to extinction. The resource management regimes in charge have consequently been widely criticized; the institutions involved, their interactions and balance sheets are questioned, but with no easy one-fits-all solution in sight.
“[T]he oceans of the world continue to suffer from the survival of the philosophy of the commons. Maritime nations still respond automatically to the shibboleth of the ‘freedom of the seas.’ Professing to believe in the ‘inexhaustible resources of the oceans,’ they bring species after species of fish and whales closer to extinction.” (G. Hardin, ‘The Tragedy of the Commons’ (1968) 3859 Science 1243, 1245)
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Notes
- 1.
FAO, ‘The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture’ (Rome 2012) 11; FAO, ‘The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture’ (Rome 2014) 7.
- 2.
On the cod disaster, see C. Clover, The end of the line (Ebury Press 2005) chapter 8 ‘After the gold rush’.
- 3.
B. K. Sovacool, ‘A Game of Cat and Fish: How to Restore the Balance in Sustainable Fisheries Management’ (2009) 40 Ocean Development and International Law 97, 98.
- 4.
In 2008, 44.9 million people’s livelihood directly depended upon fishing and 180 million people did so if the secondary – post-harvest – jobs are counted (FAO, ‘The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture’ (Rome 2010) 6, 26). In 2010, 54.8 million people were engaged directly in fish production while it was estimated that the livelihoods of 660 to 820 million people depended upon it indirectly (FAO, ‘The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2012’ (n 1) 10, 41). In 2012, 58.3 million people were engaged directly in capture fisheries and aquaculture and 10 to 12 percent of the world’s population depended on those sectors for their livelihood (FAO, ‘The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2014’ (n 1) 27, 31–32).
- 5.
T. Bostock and S. Walmsley, ‘Enough to Eat? Fisheries and Food Security’ in R. Bourne and M. Collins (eds), From Hook to Plate: The State of Marine Fisheries: A Commonwealth Perspective (2009) 105.
- 6.
FAO, ‘The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2012’ (n 1) 5; FAO, ‘The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2014’ (n 1) 66, 105.
- 7.
World Ocean Review, Living with the oceans (Maribus, Future Ocean 2010) 120.
- 8.
Bostock and Walmsley (n 5) 107; FAO, ‘The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2014’ (n 1) 7.
- 9.
N. Matz, Wege zur Koordinierung völkerrechtlicher Verträge: Völkervertragsrechtliche und institutionelle Ansätze (Springer 2005) 136. A well-known example is that of sea otters (see infra Chapter 4 A. II. 2.). Depletion can also lead to changes in the ecosystem balance (C. Mullon, P. Fréon and P. Curry ‘The dynamics of collapse in world fisheries’ (2006) 6 Fish and Fisheries 111, 112; J. B. C. Jackson and others, ‘Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems’ (2001) 293 Science 629; WWF, ‘On the Brink – Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna – The Consequences of Collapse’ http://assets.panda.org/downloads/onthebrinktunacollapse.pdf accessed 4 July 2015, 3–4). The heavily fished seas also become mostly populated by smaller fishes, jellyfish and microbes (K. M. Gjerde, ‘High Seas Fisheries Governance: Prospects and Challenges in the 21st Century’ in D. Vidas and P. J. Schei (eds), The World Ocean in Globalisation: Climate Change, Sustainable Fisheries, Biodiversity, Shipping, Regional Issues (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2011) 224; P. A. Larkin, ‘Concepts and issues in marine ecosystem management’ (1996) 6 Reviews of Fish Biology and Fisheries 139, 152).
- 10.
Nearly 46 % in 2008 as reported in FAO, ‘The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2010’ (n 4) 3, 18; 47 % in 2010 as reported in FAO, ‘The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2012’ (n 1) 26. Percentage reviewed down to 42.2 % for 2012 (FAO, ‘The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2014’ (n 1) 19).
- 11.
Sovacool (n 3) 98.
- 12.
The Future We Want – endorsed in UNGA Resolution A/RES/66/288 27 July 2012 (Document adopted at Rio + 20) §89.
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Guggisberg, S. (2016). Chapter 1 Introduction. In: The Use of CITES for Commercially-exploited Fish Species. Hamburg Studies on Maritime Affairs, vol 35. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23702-2_1
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