What does ‘sustainable fisheries’ really mean?
Across the internet, debates are being undertaken regarding the definition of ‘sustainable fisheries’. Some argue that whilst there is still room for improvement, some fisheries are well managed and are seeing stock improvements. Others argue we aren’t currently going far enough to be sustainable truly. Others argue that sustainable fishing doesn’t exist at all and that it never will. Then you have some who will say it’s not sustainable fishing unless it leaves the fishery better than it started. This is regenerative fishing, and I am all for it. But it’s a separate type of fisheries management, which I’ll cover in another set of content.
It can be difficult to confirm the consensus, so I thought I would craft a post using my real-world experience of ‘sustainable fishing’ and what the phrase means to me as a marine biologist and commercial fisheries consultant.
So, what does ‘sustainable fishing’ mean to me?
To ‘sustain’ means to enable something to continue, to maintain it in a way that ensures it always exists. To continue without interruption.
That’s easy enough, but laying ‘sustain’ over fisheries can become more nuanced. A fishery managed to below its Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) and supported with management such as closed periods, closed nursery areas or restocking enables the stock to exist much as it does, forever. It can ‘sustain’ its health.
However, we cannot determine sustainability by looking at stock size alone. A fishery might have a healthy stock, able to sustain both a commercial fishery and its stock size, however the impact it is having on other fisheries might not be sustainable. Without forethought and eyes on the larger picture, interactions of one fishery with another could be detrimental.
To be truly ‘sustainable’ a fishery must look at not only its impact on stock numbers and health, but its impact on the environment and other species dependant on it, as well as its interactions with other fisheries, and its social importance to coastal communities.
So, no, it isn’t easy to define—and it isn’t easy to manage fisheries sustainably.
But it isn’t impossible – and it is happening already!
I will cover sustainable fisheries and fishing techniques more in the coming months, with UK examples of real-world sustainable fisheries management.
DEFINITIONS
A sustainable fishery is managed and maintained in various ways to ensure fish populations stay at a healthy level and avoid population decline.
Sustainable fisheries management ensures the stock is maintained for the health and balance of the ocean and can ‘sustain’ both its population size over time and a low-impact, artisanal fishing industry, providing a sustainable food source long into the future.
Sustainable fishing is the use of fishing methods that are able to limit or remove their impact on the marine ecosystem. These fishing methods should be able to sustain a commercial artisanal fishery, but not leave lasting impact on the marine ecosystem.
Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY): is defined as the maximum catch (in numbers or mass) that can be removed from a population over an indefinite period.
Artisanal: small-scale fishing practices, usually operated by individual fishermen from coastal communities operating with low capital and low technology.