Saving Seafood

Researchers examine nations losing fish species due to climate change

February 25, 2020 — As ocean warming causes fish stocks to migrate toward cooler waters to maintain their preferred thermal environment, many of the nations that rely on commercial fish species as an integral part of their economy could suffer.

A new study published in Nature Sustainability from the University of Delaware, the University of California, Santa Barbara and Hokkaido University, shows that nations in the tropics—especially Northwest African nations—are especially vulnerable to this potential species loss due to . Not only are  at risk for the loss of  stocks, the study found there are not currently any adequate policy interventions to help mitigate affected countries’ potential losses.

Kimberly Oremus, assistant professor in the School of Marine Science and Policy in UD’s College of Earth, Ocean and Environment, explained that when the researchers looked at , including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, they found no specific text for what happens when fish leave a country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), a zone established to give a country national jurisdiction over a fishery resource.

That means countries could be vulnerable to economic losses, and those potential losses could make the fish populations themselves vulnerable as well.

“We realized there was an incentive for countries when they lose a fish or anticipate that loss to go ahead and overfish before it leaves because otherwise, they don’t get the monetary benefits of the resource,” said Oremus.

Read the full story at PHYS.org

Upcoming UN Report underlines huge stakes involved, achievable steps to realize 2030 goals and world’s 2050 vision for nature

February 21, 2020 — The following was released by the Convention on Biological Diversity:

The UN’s Global Biodiversity Outlook 5, to debut Mon. May 18, outlines a combination of achievable actions needed to protect nature, ecosystems and nature’s contributions to people, as it underlines the enormous stakes for humanity involved in the success of those efforts.

The report synthesizes comprehensive evidence of the urgent need for action as nations negotiate a 10-year global framework for biodiversity-related policy-making, and prescribes demonstrated pathways to reach new targets for nature to 2030, and the world’s previously-agreed vision for 2050: ‘Living in harmony with nature.’

The framework and targets will be considered at an historic UN Biodiversity Conference — the 15th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15), Kunming, China, Oct. 15-29.

GBO5 builds on a wide range of sources, including

  • Four previous GBO reports (2001, 2006, 2010, 2015)
  • Assessments by IPBES (the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services), including 2019’s landmark Global Assessment, which referenced nearly 15,000 information sources
  • Recent research and indicators updated since the IPBES GA
  • 6th National Reports to the CBD from the Convention’s member Parties
  • Reports from international bodies, including the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and others
  • Plant Conservation Report (Global Strategy For Plant Conservation targets, 2011-2020)
  • Local Biodiversity Outlook (relating to Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities)

GBO5 offers an integrated overview of the world’s achievements and shortfalls with respect to the Aichi Biodiversity Targets (2010-2020), and draws the essential links between biodiversity and other key international objectives, such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals), and the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.

It examines causes of biodiversity and ecosystem change, the implications for people, and policy options based on programs worldwide that demonstrate successful approaches.

Says Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Director of the CBD:

“Over the past several months, the public in general and especially our youth have demonstrated unprecedented levels of concern about biodiversity loss and the state of nature. Behind these rising calls to halt the degradation of ecosystems and the loss of species and genetic diversity is a growing understanding of the severe threat these challenges pose to human well-being.”

“To succeed in protecting nature, and ourselves, we need knowledge of both the problems and solutions to reach people at every level, and to inspire the resolve to act. In this ‘super year for biodiversity,’ GBO5 represents an important milestone on the fateful road to COP15 in Kunming, China, October 15-29.”

Structure of the GBO5:

Roughly 100-pages, three sections:

Introduction: Recaps conclusions of GBO3 and GBO4, places biodiversity conservation and protection in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals, Paris Climate Change Agreement

Biodiversity in 2020: Provides a ‘verdict’ on Aichi Biodiversity Targets, identifying shortcomings and areas of achievement and success; builds on the IPBES Global Assessment with recent research and updated indicators, illustrations from the 6th National Reports to the CBD, and a wide variety of additional sources

Transitions to a better future: Identifies a set of ambitious, interlinked and essential changes to reach sustainability; outlines key transitions required in land use, food systems, agriculture, fisheries, cities, climate action, and fresh water. Includes examples which, replicated, scaled up, and supported by economy-wide measures, would support progress toward the agreed vision: living in harmony with nature by 2050.

Expected impacts

GBO5 will:

  • Update the evidence-based knowledge base to inform policy making for the decade ahead
  • Demonstrate the close links and dependencies between meeting objectives for nature, climate change and other components of sustainable development.
  • Raise awareness of the importance of transformational multi-sectoral policies and governance structures, including the effects that policies and other indirect drivers have at a global scale and options to improve trans-regional policy-making

Audiences

GBO5 is presented with a wide audience of readers in mind, including government and business leaders, civil society groups, indigenous peoples and communities.

Timeline

2010: GBO3, evaluated progress against targets to 2010, informed a new decadal global framework and strategic plan

2014: GBO4, mid-term progress assessment

2020: GBO5, evaluates Aichi Targets (2010-2020), informs post-2020 global framework

Friday, 21 Feb., 09:30h US Eastern time: GBO5 “primer” released at outset of the 2nd meeting, Open-ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (OEWG2020), Rome, Feb. 24-29. http://bit.ly/CBDMediaBriefing21-02-20

Mon. 18 May, 09:00h US Eastern Time (13:00 GMT / 14:00 in UK, 15:00 CET):
GBO5 news conference launch, CBD Secretariat, Montreal

Webcast: www.cbd.int/live

Media off-site will be able to submit questions

GBO5 accreditation: Media, NGOs

By accrediting you are agreeing to accept and abide by the date and time of the embargo that will be placed on the respective materials. This means you agree to neither publish, air, nor circulate any of these materials in any form prior to the embargo being lifted. You may approach third parties for comment during the embargo period but only if they agree, in turn, to abide by the same restrictions.

To apply, please:

Email: GBO5Accreditation@gmail.com
Subject line: Accredit GBO5

Specify online or site accreditation

Online: advance access (from Tues. 12 May) to GBO5 news release, full report, other media resources. Requires consent to a strict embargo: 09:00h US Eastern Time, Mon. 18 May.

Site: grants ‘online’ accreditation and access to the news conference

Please include the following information:

  • Organization
  • First Name
  • Surname
  • Gender
  • Country
  • Twitter ID
  • Email address
  • Telephone number
  • Mobile number
  • Position

Media are asked to attach a scan of a valid press card or letter of assignment on company stationery. If you do not have a press card (e.g. a regular blogger but not a formal media employee), please instead submit a recent sample of your work in a subject area related to the work of the CBD

Fishing for fun takes a massive bite out of marine life

February 3, 2020 — The volume of fish caught recreationally more than tripled in the 60 years to 2014, and a recent uptick in recreational shark hunting is damaging fragile populations.

The United Nations agency that documents fishing statistics almost exclusively monitors commercial fisheries. To quantify the impact of pleasure fishing, Dirk Zeller at the University of Western Australia in Crawley and his colleagues reconstructed the amount of fish caught annually in 125 countries. The researchers analysed reports from events such as fishing jamborees and gathered data on factors such as the number of licensed recreational fishers per state to scale up to a global estimate.

Read the full story at Nature

New Study Finds Some Fisheries Management Is Actually Working

January 30, 2020 — Understanding how many fish are in the sea is crucial to creating effective policy and management strategies. One study out of the University of Washington in Seattle took a close look at how fishing pressures and stock abundance are correlated. How will management initiatives in countries with high fishing pressure affect the number of fish that are available to catch? Ray Hilborn and 23 contributing authors on the paper took a data-driven approach to this question with optimistic results that they hope will convince policymakers and the public that fish stocks are actually on the rise.

Hilborn has been labeled an “overfishing denier” for his divisive views on the status of overfishing and his pushback against marine protected areas (MPAs), but Hilborn argues that closing areas to fishing is not necessarily the answer; “fisheries are not well managed in many parts of the world (the ones primarily where we did not have data for our paper)…our paper shows that fisheries management does work when implemented”. The researchers assessed fish catch data from six continents (which comprised about 50% of total global catch) up until the year 2016 and found that where fish stocks were being managed properly, increased number of fish was the result. “Our hope for the use of the results is that the thousands of scientists, managers and technicians that have helped stop overfishing will be recognized for their contribution”, Hilborn says.

Fish stock assessments use data gathered from a number of sources including fisheries landings (the fish that are caught by fishers and reported), biological studies and scientific surveys. While there are uncertainties in the data due to environmental, financial and technological limitations, stock assessments provide the backbone of fisheries management and drive regulatory decisions.

Read the full story at Forbes

Big Brother is watching at Global Fishing Watch

January 2, 2020 — In 2016, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation joined with Google, Oceana and Environmental Defense, and other funding partners to create a mapping and data platform called, Global Fishing Watch. The system currently tracks over 65,000 fishing vessels worldwide. In November 2019, the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released the “Global Atlas of AIS-based Fishing Activity,” utilizing the data.

“With the data Global Fishing Watch provides, governments, fishery management organizations, researchers and the fishing industry can work together to rebuild fisheries and protect critical marine habitats,” De Caprio says, on the GFW website. It appears the FAO agrees.

Global Fishing Watch uses AIS and other tracking systems, such as government run vessels monitoring systems to follow the activities of large fishing vessels in near real time, and the UN is using that data in its report. At the start, the technology was intended to help nations to stop illegal fishing off their coasts, assist in certification of sustainably harvested seafood, and keep vessels out of marine protected areas.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

REP. CHELLIE PINGREE: Maine’s oceans affected by climate change

December 27, 2019 — The United Nation’s (UN) 25th annual Conference of the Parties (COP25) — a meeting of nearly 200 countries to discuss international action on climate change — took place in Madrid earlier this month. Around 25,000 people attended and focused, among other topics, their efforts on the role of oceans in the climate crisis.

Our oceans, including the Gulf of Maine, are already feeling the effects of climate change. Ocean acidification and sea level rise threaten Maine’s coastal communities and economy. A recent report by the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy shows that, without action on climate change, we could see a major decline in fish and irreversible harm to our coral reefs. And September’s U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report showed that the climate crisis could lead to sea level rise of more than three feet by the end of the century, coastal homes and islands becoming uninhabitable, and a collapse in fisheries.

Despite these threats, there is reason for hope. Oceans make up two-thirds of Earth’s surface and have the potential to absorb and store more carbon dioxide than land. Increasing the amounts of this “blue carbon” that we capture could help address the climate crisis. Waves, tides, and offshore wind could all also be harnessed to generate “blue” electricity and power our homes and businesses.

As countries around the world are working to develop ambitious policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the health of our oceans is taking center stage. Chile, which is leading the work of COP25, is launching a platform of ocean solutions, like creating marine protected areas, promoting sustainable fisheries, enhancing recycling capabilities, and banning single-use plastics.

Read the full opinion piece at the Portland Press Herald

WTO fishery subsidy negotiations stumble, drag into 2020

December 18, 2019 — The World Trade Organization’s negotiations to phase out fishery subsidies ended inconclusively before the holiday season.

The most recent round of negotiations, held behind closed doors at the WTO’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, ended without an agreement once again, after years of efforts. The talks have effectively been ongoing since 2001, but were scheduled to conclude by the end of 2019 to meet the United Nations’ 2020 Sustainable Development Goals.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Runaway warming could sink fishing and reef tourism, researchers warn

December 9, 2019 — Countries from Egypt to Mexico could lose 95% of their income from coral reef tourism, and parts of West Africa could see their ocean fisheries decline by 85% by the turn of the century if planet-warming emissions continue to rise, oceans experts warned Friday.

“Action in reducing emissions really needs to be taken, or we will be facing very important impacts” on oceans and people, said Elena Ojea, one of the authors of a new paper looking at the potential impacts of climate change on ocean economies.

The study, released at the U.N. climate negotiations in Madrid, was commissioned by the leaders of 14 countries with ocean-dependent economies, and looked at ocean fisheries and seafood cultivation industries, and coral reef tourism.

It found that reef tourism, a nearly $36-billion-a-year industry today, could see more than 90% losses globally by 2100 under a high-emissions scenario.

Countries particularly dependent on coral reef tourism – Egypt, Indonesia, Mexico, Thailand and Australia – could see income cut by 95%, the paper noted.

Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, an ocean expert at Australia’s University of Queensland and one of paper’s authors, said his country’s Great Barrier Reef tourism industry – worth billions a year a year – was already seeing losses as corals bleached and died.

Read the full story at Reuters

Global salmon production set to rise 6.5% in 2019, the highest increase since 2014

December 6, 2019 — Global production of farmed Atlantic salmon is expected to rise by around 6.5% this year, to approximately 2.6 million metric tons, which would be the highest year-on-year increase since 2014.

This was pointed out by a new report produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The bullish scenario could be offset, however, by a mounting challenge with sea lice in Chile, the report predicted.

For 2020, the FAO foresees Atlantic salmon supply to grow around 4–5% year-on-year, but it noted that the ability of the Chilean industry to bring the biological situation under control will be an important consideration.

In the longer-term, the inherent growth limitations of traditional open net-pen aquaculture will continue to drive the development of alternative regions and methods for salmon production, the FAO said.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

FAO Symposium Discusses the Future of Fisheries and Global Food Security

December 4, 2019 — Organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the International Symposium on Fisheries Sustainability discussed opportunities to reform the capture fisheries sector to contribute to global food security, eradicate hunger, promote gender equality, and achieve the SDGs. At the event, the High Level Panel on the Sustainable Ocean Economy released a blue paper that analyzes the current status and future potential of food production from the ocean.

The Symposium convened from 18-21 November 2019, in Rome, Italy. The Forum focused on the theme, ‘Strengthening the Science-Policy Nexus’ and aimed to identify pathways to strengthen the science-policy interface in fisheries production, management and trade based on sustainability principles. Panelists discussed opportunities for the fisheries sector to respond to challenges and support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030).

The High Level Panel released a paper titled ‘The Future of Food from the Sea,’ at the Symposium. The paper finds that the ocean could provide more than six times the food it does today with improved management and technological innovation. In comparison with current fishing projections, the report stresses that reforming the world’s capture fisheries by ending overfishing and improving global fisheries management could result in 20% more catch compared to today and 40% more fisheries catch than current projected future catch. This amount is over two-thirds of the animal protein needed to feed projected future global populations. In addition, the paper emphasizes “highly nutritious nature of seafood,” which contains essential vitamins, minerals, omega-3 fatty acids and other nutrients not contained in terrestrial animal proteins or plant-based foods. The report also highlights the potential of the sustainable expansion of marine aquaculture to enhance food security and help eradicate hunger, in line with the SDG 2 (zero hunger).

Read the full story at ISSD