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Unsustainable Fishing Threatens Europe's Oceans
GLAND, Switzerland - The European Union needs to greatly improve its fisheries management or it risks losing some of its most popular seafood dishes, the international conservation group WWF warned Wednesday. Wasteful and illegal fishing is decimating Europe's oceans, WWF said in a new report, which called on consumers to think twice about the fish they buy.
"Not everything caught in a net makes it to the dinner table," said Justin Woolford, manager of WWF's European Fisheries Campaign. "The trail of destruction behind industrialized fishing must be stopped or our children will be left with a barren ocean."
The report said the basic problem is "that there are too many fishing boats," a situation encouraged by some $950 million in annual EU subsidies. It finds that for many of Europe's commercial stocks, numbers of adult fish are 10 percent of what they were three decades ago, and notes that EU fleets have depleted fisheries in the waters of other countries.
The new report specifically reviewed the status of six favored fish dishes in Europe - cod and chips, sushi, plaice, swordfish steak, langoustine linguine, and seafood paella.
Cod is the most overfished of the lot, WWF said. Global cod catches have dropped 70 per cent over the last 30 years, the report said, and if stocks continue to decline at the current rate, there will be no more Atlantic cod on the menu in less than 15 years.
Wild populations of Atlantic bluefin tuna - the world's most valuable fish - have plummeted in recent years as the demand for sushi and sashimi has increased. The report notes that nearly one-third of all catches of Atlantic bluefin tuna come from illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, most of which is carried out by EU fleets. WWF says loose EU regulations encourage overfishing.
Most of the plaice consumed by European consumers comes from Europe's "most wasteful fishery," WWF said, and up to 80 percent of some plaice catches in the North Sea are thrown overboard dead or dying, either too small or less valuable than the rest of the catch.
Bycatch is a major concern for swordfish - the report notes that an illegal Moroccan driftnet fishery, which targets swordfish for the European market, catches one swordfish for every two sharks, killing an estimated 100,000 sharks per year.
The review of Norwegian lobster - also known as scampi and langoustine - also exposed the harm of some fishing methods. Bottom trawling for langoustine is devastating the sea floor and its inhabitants, such as starfish, shellfish and other crustaceans, WWF said.
The report's review of paella, a Spanish dish that includes a range of fish, shrimp and squid, focused on the impacts of EU fishing fleets in West Africa. WWF said these are severely depleting marine resources in the region and threatening food and income security in African nations dependent on fish for food security.
Consumers have a major role to play in reversing these trends, the report said, as demand is encouraging unsustainable fishing practices.
The report urges consumers to only buy fish with a Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) label, which certifies the product has come from a sustainable fishery. Created in 1997 by seafood giant Unilever and WWF, the MSC now operates independently. Twenty-one fisheries have been certified, along with 400 retail products.
"Every European who buys fish - whether as a consumer, chef, retailer, processor, or restaurateur - has a huge role to play in securing the future of Europe's fish dishes and its fishing industry," said Simon Cripps, director of WWF global marine program. "By understanding the scale and urgency of the problem, and choosing the fish we buy accordingly, preferably MSC certified fish, all Europeans can encourage better seafood."
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