Follow the crew of the Arctic Sunrise on their campaign for Marine Reserves in our North Sea Tour blog
Marlin, swordfish, tuna, snapper, sea bass and cod. What have they all got in common, apart from the obvious? Well, they are all large predatory species which occupy the top spot (or close to it) in the food chain in their respective neigbourhoods. Or at least they used to. Last November, an international group of ecologists and economists, led by Boris Worm of Dalhousie University, published a study that made headlines around the world.
It showed that ocean food webs are breaking down as over-fishing has stripped 90 per cent of these large predatory fish from our seas. Without them to keep populations of other species in check, many of our oceans are experiencing severe ecosystem changes. Globally, this loss of marine biodiversity is drastically reducing the ocean’s ability to produce seafood, resist diseases, filter pollutants and rebound from stresses such as over-fishing and climate change. Shockingly, the study predicts the collapse of most commercial fisheries by mid-century, leaving us with little left to fish – except maybe jellyfish.
The study does provide some glimmers of hope, showing that where they’ve been tried, marine reserves work. Closing areas to fishing increases the abundance, productivity and diversity of species found in the reserves. In Europe, we need to act immediately to protect North Sea cod and Mediterranean tuna: if we take action now, their decimated stocks have the potential to rebound; if not they could be lost forever.
The best chance of success for the North Sea lies in managing the whole ecosystem. If you’ve been reading these blogs, you’ll know we need at least 40 per cent of the sea completely protected, off-limits to all fishing. But what about the rest? Well, it can't be business as usual, that's for sure. If the North Sea is to recover we need to sustainably manage the remaining 60 per cent, which means:
- catching less fish – at the moment this isn’t happening. In fact fishing capacity is still increasing;
- phasing out destructive fishing methods like beam-trawling and bottom-trawling in the North Sea, and driftnetting and tuna–ranching in the Mediterranean;
- eliminating pirate fishing. Laws must be enforced to end illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing;
- ending pollution - chemical pollution from industrial plants discharging into the sea from the land, oil from ships washing out their tanks, intentional dumping, mining and the throwing of litter into the sea – all need to be outlawed.
We know what needs to be done – we just need to summon the political will to do it. And the tide is turning in our favour. Marine reserves have been successfully established in New Zealand, across Micronesia and most recently in California and Hawaii. And now we’re lobbying to make them a centrepiece of the new EU Marine Strategy Directive.
European reserves have got to happen - they are an idea whose time has come. The only long-term alternative is jellyfish risotto. Anyone fancy that?
