Plenty more fish in the sea…?

What’s the problem?

Our appetite for fish has increased so rapidly over the past fifty years, matched by the increasing industrialisation of the fishing industry that we are seriously at risk of losing some species from our seas for ever. Over three quarters of the world’s fish stocks are currently either fully or over exploited,[1] and some scientists estimate that, at the current rates of depletion, most of the world’s fish stocks will collapse by 2048.[2] As millions of people depend on fish for food and for their livelihood, this would have dire social as well as ecological consequences.[3]

The environmental problems associated with fishing include:

Loss of marine biodiversity, not only from declining fish stocks but also from ‘bycatch’ – non-target (and often commercially useless) species such as whales, sharks, dolphins, sea-birds and young fish being accidentally killed by fishing gear;
Damage to sensitive areas of the sea bed and other marine environments by certain fishing methods, particularly bottom trawling.

Efforts to address these issues are being undermined by illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) or ‘pirate’ fishing, some of the spoils of which end up in the UK market. Pirate fishing is thought by some experts to pose the single greatest threat to the achievement of sustainable fish stocks.[4]

Fish farming, or aquaculture, can seem like a solution to many of these problems, and the aquaculture industry has boomed in recent years, with farmed species including salmon, trout, sea bass and prawns. However, aquaculture is often very intensive and is associated with a host of social and environmental problems, such as:

A poor ‘feed conversion ratio’ – many farmed species are carnivorous (they need to be fed other fish), and around 3kg of wild caught fish are needed to produce, for example, 1kg of farmed salmon;[5]
Diseases and parasites such as sea lice, resulting from the high concentration of fish in each pen, which can also spread to wild stocks;
Pollution – this can include fish faecal matter, antibiotics and toxic chemicals such as ‘anti-foulants’ used to keep cages and netting free of seaweed and barnacles;[6]
Animal welfare problems – this may be a particular issue with fish that would usually migrate, such as salmon;
The destruction of sensitive and ecologically important habitats – this problem is particularly associated with parts of Asia and Latin America, where huge tracts of mangrove swamp have been destroyed in the development of prawn farming;
Poor employment conditions, the loss of livelihoods and food security, and the displacement of coastal people – also particularly associated with prawn farming in poorer countries.[7]

Organic fish farming aims to reduce some of these problems, but opinions vary as to the extent to which it does so. In fact, some people believe that organic standards should not apply to salmon aquaculture – not least because the confined conditions in which farmed salmon are kept are so at odds with their natural, migratory habits.[8]

Fish and health

Oily fish such as mackerel, herring and sardines can be a valuable source of omega-3 fats, which are believed to have important benefits for heart health and mental development. However, there is clearly a problem with promoting increased consumption of fish for human health when fish are so under threat. More and more organisations are now promoting sustainable fishing, to ensure that health benefits of fish consumption can be enjoyed by future generations.

There are some health problems associated with increasing the amount of oily fish we eat. The same fatty tissues in fish that provide valuable omega-3 fats also tend to have high levels of pollutants such as mercury and synthetic chemicals called PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls). PCBs accumulate in the body and can damage the development of foetuses; for this reason, pregnant women are advised to limit the amount of fish they eat and avoid certain types of oily fish altogether.[9]

What can we do about it?

A very significant 77% of consumers are already concerned about seafood sustainability, according to a recent study,[10] and with the current state of fish stocks this concern is likely to grow. A consumer survey showed that purchases of sustainable fish rose by a massive 224% in 2007.[11] To play your part in conserving the marine environment:

Stop buying fish from overfished stocks or badly managed fisheries as listed on the Marine Conservation Society’s ‘fish to avoid’ list.[12]
Ask your local retailer, fishmonger or restaurant for assurances that the fish they supply has been legally and sustainably caught (and for evidence if you are not convinced by the answer). Most importantly, ask:

where the fish was caught – as the sustainability of some species varies according to location (again, see the ‘fish to avoid’ list) – don’t be fobbed off with “it’s from Billingsgate”!
how it was caught – bottom trawling is generally considered to be one of the most environmentally damaging fishing methods, but driftnets[13] and even longlines are also associated with high levels of wasteful bycatch.[14] More sustainable methods to look out for include handline (e.g. mackerel), diver caught (e.g. scallops), jigs (e.g. squid) and pots or creels (e.g. lobsters or crabs). Phrases such as ‘traditional methods’ are meaningless.

Support organisations and businesses that promote sustainably caught fish on their menus using the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) logo, which is certified to come from well-managed fisheries and not from endangered stocks, see: http://www.msc.org.[15/]

Marine Stewardship Council Given the controversy about some farmed fish and shellfish, you might want to consider whether to avoid the problem and not stock them. Not all farmed seafood is problematic, however; tilapia, for example, is a non-carnivorous fish (i.e. it eats plant food, not other fish) that can be farmed sustainably, and farmed mussels are tasty and sustainable and may be available from local sources.

For further information

For details about the problems associated with overfishing, trawling and aquaculture, see:

Greenpeace’s ‘Defending Our Oceans’ campaign: http://oceans.greenpeace.org/en/our-oceans
The WorldWide Fund (WWF) for Nature’s marine programme: http://www.wwf.org.uk/researcher/issues/livingseas/0000000020.asp
The Environmental Justice Foundation’s campaigns and reports on bycatch, pirate fishing and prawn (shrimp) aquaculture: http://www.ejfoundation.org/
Sustain’s report, “Like Shooting Fish in a Barrel: the collapse of world fisheries in the 21st century and what we can do to prevent it happening”: http://www.sustainweb.org/publications/info/143/
Forum for the Future’s report ‘Fishing for Good’, see: http://www.forumforthefuture.org.uk/docs/publications/217/fishgood.pdf

Contact the Marine Stewardship Council for details of suppliers of MSC-certified fish: http://www.msc.org/.
For the Marine Conservation Society’s lists of ‘fish to eat’ and ‘fish to avoid’ see http://www.fishonline.org/.
Contact the Seafood Choices Alliance (http://www.seafoodchoices.com/) on 020 7811 3347 for details of their forthcoming Seafood Sourcing Directory, a guide to 50 of Britain’s top seafood species and their sustainability.

[1] 52% of the world’s fish stocks are currently fully exploited (i.e. being fished at their maximum biological capacity), and a further 24% are over exploited, depleted or recovering from depletion. Figures from the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), 2005 – see http://eng.msc.org/html/content_528.htm.
[2] Information from the Environmental Justice Foundation, see: http://www.ejfoundation.org/page357.html
[3] Figures from FAO, as above.
[4] In 2006 the Environmental Justice Foundation and Greenpeace carried out a joint investigation into the impact of IUU fishing off the coast of Guinea, linking illegal fishing operations to seafood on sale in the UK – see http://www.ejfoundation.org/page357.html.
[5] This is according to a study published in the scientific journal Nature – see: http://www.puresalmon.org/feed.html.
[6] Sustain (2005) Like Shooting Fish in a Barrel: the collapse of world fisheries in the 21st century and what we can do to prevent it happening: http://www.sustainweb.org/publications/info/143/
[7] The Environmental Justice Foundation has published a series of reports on the problems associated with shrimp aquaculture – see for example Farming the Sea, Costing the Earth: Why we must green the blue revolution: http://www.ejfoundation.org/pdf/farming_the_sea_costing_the_earth.pdf.
[8] See http://www.puresalmon.org/organic.html, and Joanna Blythman, “Why organic salmon is causing a nasty smell”, The Observer, 22nd October 2006: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/foodmonthly/story/0,,1925040,00.html.
[9] See advice on the Food Standards Agency for foods to avoid during pregnancy: http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/agesandstages/pregnancy/whenyrpregnant/#cat226049.
[10] Waitrose/YouGov survey, published August 2006, see ‘Waitrose to phase out fish caught by beam trawling’: http://www.fishupdate.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/5180/Waitrose_to_phase_out_fish_caught_by_beam_trawling_.html
[11] The Co-operative Bank's Ethical Consumerism Report 2007, see: http://www.cfs.co.uk/images/pdf/ethical_consumer_report_2007.pdf
[12] For the ‘fish to avoid’ list see http://www.fishonline.org/advice/avoid/; the Pocket Good Fish Guide is also available in hard copy from the Marine Conservation Society: http://www.mcsuk.org/
[13] Driftnets are now illegal in many national and international waters, including the Mediterranean and the Eastern Atlantic, but are still being used in IUU fishing operations in these areas – see http://www.ejfoundation.org/page171.html
[14] See the Marine Conservation Society’s league table identifying the most and least sustainable fishing methods: http://www.fishonline.org/caught_at_sea/methods/Fishing_Methods_League_Table.pdf.
[15] Note that some MSC-certified fish available in the UK is transported over long distances, sometimes by airfreight, though usually by sea; where possible, choose MSC-certified fish from the waters around the UK to support local, sustainable fisheries.