Fisheries and environmentalism

DEFINITION: Locations where one or more species of fish are caught by human fishers

The status of the world’s fisheries is a chief concern of many environmental nonprofit organizations, governmental agencies, and international entities such as the United Nations and multinational trade organizations because of fisheries’ crucial importance in protecting marine environments. The collapse of fisheries poses serious threats to biodiversity, local and global economies, food security, and the ecological health of the oceans and smaller fresh and saltwater bodies.

Fisheries, in the most basic way, signify the relationship between humans and fish. Since the dawn of civilization, humans have taken fish for consumption from all accessible bodies of water, traditionally without much concern about depleting resident populations. In modern times, however, overfishing has led to the collapse of major consumed fish species from stocks that once seemed ever-replenishing. Perhaps the most poignant example is the Northern Atlantic cod fishery collapse during the early 1990s. Although measures were taken to limit catch size some thirty years previously, and most of the fishers in the region obeyed the new rules, the fishery still collapsed. This event was seen as a warning signal to the world; it caused policymakers to take greater notice of the epidemic of overfishing and sparked worldwide efforts to take more effective measures to protect fisheries as important resources.

Overfishing is a serious threat to biodiversity, local and global economies, food security, and the ecological health of the oceans and of small fresh and saltwater bodies. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), at least 34.2 percent of the world’s fisheries had been completely exploited—that is, overfished—by 2020, and approximately 90 percent were fully fished. Overfished means the population of a species is depleted faster than it can replenish. Human-induced climate change and pollution further exacerbate the environmental pressure on fisheries. It has been predicted that stocks of all fished species will collapse near the middle of the twenty-first century if trends continue. The proper management of fisheries is essential to the maintenance of sustainable populations of commercial species of fish for both ecosystem integrity and the use of future generations.

Sustaining edible fish populations has benefits for both the environment and those who rely upon fish-derived nutrients for sustenance. According to the FAO, fish and shellfish provide essential nutrition for 3.3 billion people who rely on them for 20 percent of their protein sources. At least 50 percent of total animal protein and minerals for people in some of the world’s poorest countries comes from fish and shellfish. Aquatic foods provide almost 20 percent of animal protein for the global population in 2021. Aside from the economic returns of the fishing industry, many rely on fish as a major food source, and further fisheries collapses could result in food crises within reliant communities. This means that responsible management of fisheries is also an environmental justice issue, as mismanagement caused by the desire for higher monetary returns in the short term could deprive the world’s hungry of an important source of nutrition.

In addition, many of the most overfished species are high on the food chain, meaning they prey upon smaller species of fish and play crucial roles in maintaining the equilibria of other fish populations and the larger marine ecosystem. The collapse of further fisheries would, therefore, not only spell disaster for communities that depend on a continuous supply of fish but also cause the degradation of marine ecosystems through a trickle-down effect in the food web.

Ecological Importance

Traditionally, the relationship between humans and the fish they catch and consume has been similar to any predator-prey relationship. It is dissimilar to the relationship between humans and domesticated food animals, which are bred in captivity, kept in managed numbers, and are in no threat of extinction. The latter relationship most closely resembles a form of mutualism, in which both populations are maintained, although one partner, in this case, is exploited by the other. Regardless of any ethical issues raised by the practice, domesticated animals live in populations sustained by humans. Fish, in contrast, have historically been taken wild from nature, a practice that in itself does nothing to sustain hunted populations.

Issues of regulation also plague the capture fisheries industry. Many targeted species are located in remote marine areas without national ties, where excessive fishing occurs frequently and is mostly undocumented. Species under the threat of extinction can be taken without repercussion, and many are sold under the monikers of more common fish. Also, unlike the case of domesticated animals, the harvesting of fish compromises many different species. While a certain species may be targeted, various others may be taken as bycatch. Even if bycatch is released according to laws and regulations, many die in the process. Once one hunted species has collapsed, commercial fishing can shift to another species, usually without major recognition from global consumers. Commercial fishing, therefore, poses a threat to multiple fish species at once.

A good example of the multilevel ecosystem effects of irresponsible fishing is through a case study of the tuna, a carnivorous fish; a number of related species of tuna are found around the world. Tuna have a propensity to swim close to dolphin pods, presumably because the dolphins afford protection from sharks and other predators. Fishers have traditionally relied on dolphin pods to lead them to schools of tuna, and dolphins have often been caught and strangled in the fishers’ nets. When the public at large became aware of this practice, the resulting outcry led to the adoption of technology designed to reduce dolphin catch. Also important ecologically, a widespread decline of tuna species could potentially cause unnatural explosions in tuna prey populations. Certainly as well, if dolphin deaths were to approach a large number, dolphin populations would also be in danger, and species that are connected with them in the food web would likewise be subject to change. More often than not, the decline of many commercial fish species could result in similar top-down trophic (nutrition-related) effects.

The growth in demand for seafood, along with the disruption to fish populations caused by traditional capture fisheries, has led to a major rise in fish farming and other forms of aquaculture. By 2024, aquaculture provided more than 50 percent of all seafood taken for human consumption, and that figure was expected to continue to increase. While such practices do represent a means of sustaining fish populations, they also bring their own set of environmental concerns. Fish farms can be considerable sources of pollution due to high concentrations of nutrients and waste in the water, and also can use high levels of energy. Additionally, scientists have noted that large populations of farmed fish could pose a threat to genetic diversity, especially if individuals escape into the wild.

Socioeconomic Importance

The negative effects of overfishing are felt most severely in developing countries where the populations depend on fishing for sustenance and nutrition. The populations of many traditionally fished species have declined because of unrestricted extraction, and aquatic ecosystems on which communities rely for good catches year after year have become increasingly degraded. Millions of people in developing countries depend on fish for sustenance, and these numbers are only expected to increase as populations increase.

Features of coastal lands such as estuaries, coral reefs, mangrove forests, and seagrass beds are essential for many fish to spawn and provide the fish with shelter and habitat as well. The health of such areas is an important element of productive fisheries, and maintaining healthy fisheries in turn ensures the perpetuity and value of these areas. Mangrove forests are natural barriers to destructive waves caused by storms, and they reduce coastal erosion by holding sediments within their roots. Coral reefs and seagrass beds harbor high levels of marine and host a variety of ecosystem functions. Estuaries help with nutrient cycling and provide spawning grounds for fish and habitat for migratory birds. Environmentalists seek to protect such ecosystems as an integral part of protecting fish stocks and, therefore, fisheries and all their interrelated economic activity.

However, efforts to preserve fish populations and sustain their vital socioeconomic role face complex challenges. It can be difficult to balance the long-term needs of the entire ecosystem against the immediate demands of the human population, especially when those demands relate to basic sustenance. A paradox arises in which economic factors make fishing vitally important, and yet fishing threatens the environmental basis and economic viability of the entire system. Similarly, the need to protect ecosystem components such as estuaries and reefs is often pressured by demand for development either directly related to the fishing industry or indirectly linked through the growing human population sustained to some degree by seafood.

All these issues face not only direct degradation due to human activities, but also broader complications brought about by climate change. For example, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game canceled the snow crab harvest season, which runs from July 1 to June 30, in 2022 and 2023 because the population was severely depleted. An estimated ten billion of the crabs--90 percent of the population--disappeared. In 2023, researchers announced the missing crabs likely died of starvation because of warmer ocean temperatures. The warmer waters likely increased the crabs' metabolism, but the creatures were unable to find enough food to meet their caloric needs. Their numbers were further reduced because Pacific cod, a warm-water species that normally is unable to reach the crabs' cold habitat, were able to go to the warmer Arctic waters and consume some of the surviving crabs. The canceled seasons severely impacted the snow crab fisheries industry in Alaska. In 2022, the Alaska snow crab harvest of 5.5 million pounds was valued at $24.5 million.

Solutions to Overfishing

Fish farming, or aquaculture, is one option for alleviating the damage done by commercial fishing. In contrast to the capture of wild fish, in aquaculture, commercial aquatic animals are raised under controlled conditions for maximum yield. Aquaculture is akin in many ways to agriculture in theory and practice. As some commercial species can be bred in captivity, aquaculture offers the possibility of relieving wild populations from overfishing, potentially allowing their numbers to recover.

Fish farming operations are generally designed with yield in mind, however, and the environmental impacts of aquaculture can often be similar to those for which industrial agriculture operations are criticized. The use of antibiotics and poor waste handling by aquaculture operations lead to the pollution of waterways and, in the case of marine operations, the oceans as well. Pharmaceutical pollution is known to cause a plethora of negative effects on marine organisms, and high waste loads lead to algal blooms and other devastating downstream problems.

The feed for carnivorous farmed fish must come from other fish, and although some breeds are being developed that tolerate grain feed, a large percentage will still be fish-based, thus making the whole process arguably energy-inefficient and failing to seal a more sustainable circle of inputs and outputs. Further, fish that escape from aquaculture operations pose threats to the native aquatic ecosystems in which they are raised, as they are more often than not invasive. Regardless of the potential hazards to the environment, aquaculture is one of the world’s fastest-growing food-production systems in the early twenty-first century.

Responsible consumerism in seafood is a growing movement, spearheaded in the United States by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program, which offers consumers information—through print pocket guides and the aquarium’s website—on the various kinds of fish available, noting which are sustainable choices and which are better avoided. The website offers consumer guides and recommendations and access to search features to help the public make responsible and sustainable seafood choices. The reasoning is that if consumers purchase mostly seafood that originates from well-managed fisheries, seafood from overfished areas will be subject to negative market pressures.

Some observers have argued that the most important change that can be made to protect the world’s fisheries is a shift to sustainable development in developing countries and increased food security for people who must rely on overfished resources to survive. Only when people are guaranteed adequate nutrition can they make choices about their diets. Even if continuing a destructive practice will ultimately mean an end to resource production altogether, communities that depend on seafood protein will fish where they must to survive.

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