One of the biggest problems facing humanity in the 21st century is how society can continue supporting human population increase with economic growth and combine all of this whilst preserving the environment.
There are many ways in which destructive effects on the marine life and the environment are minimized.
Consumers are able to demand that supermarkets provide fish that come from sustainable fish stocks and not from an overexploited source.
There are many organisations that work with the government to ensure the planet’s natural resources are kept intact.
The Support Care Senior Coordinator of WWF, Mitch Richards said: “Proven solutions exist and many more are being developed and the most successful are developed by fisheries.
WWF is currently working with fisheries to develop, test and implement the use of new fishing gear because simple, inexpensive modifications can have huge benefits."
According to Mr Richard WWF is trying to strengthen legislation on bycatch including the development of "no take" zones, Marine Protected Areas and banning destructive bottom trawling in coral reef areas. The organisation places a lot of emphasis on raising consumer awareness about sustainably caught fish and awareness of local fishers in poorer countries by promoting sustainable fishing.
Therefore, organisations such as WWF are a vital aspect of creating sustainability in the fishing sector and ensuring environmental protection on a global level.
Furthermore, under the new Marine Act the government is required to designate a network of protected areas to conserve or improve the marine environment.
"The new Marine Management Organization helps to manage and champion the UK's seas and to set up a new marine planning system that will ensure activities at sea are planned strategically," Mr Richard added.
According to Fisheries Policy Officer of MCS Melissa Pritchard, fish farming may be another solution but it does not come without its own drawbacks.
Science shows serious decline of UK fish stocks.
Overfishing is causing UK trawlers to work 17 times harder than 120 years ago, a study shows.
The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) and researchers from the University of York used port records to assess the change in fish stocks since 1889.
Professor Callum Roberts, from the University of York’s Environment Department, said:
“We wanted to find out what was really the truth about how the fishing industry has changed in the last 120 years and we looked at the evidence for the bottom trawl fishery and were just astonished with the findings.
There was a big change in the catch size so that in 1889 we landed over four times as much fish into England and Wales than we do today.”
Ruth Thurstan, lead author of the study from the University of York’s Environment Department, said: “For all its technological sophistication and raw power, today’s trawl fishing fleet has far less success than its sail-powered equivalent of the late 19th century because of the sharp declines in fish abundance.”
In the Journal Nature of Communications, they say, the findings suggest that the damage to fisheries is greater than previously thought and occurred before developments such as the Common Fisheries Policy which is sometimes blamed for declining stocks.
Q: Why is the Common Fisheries Policy considered a bad method of managing fisheries?
Professor Callum Roberts (1/3) by Melanie Morides
Q: What are the environmental impacts of overfishing?
Professor Callum Roberts (2/3) by Melanie Morides
Q: What are the consequences of overexploitation of fishing stocks?
Proferssor Callum Roberts (3/3) by Melanie Morides
Chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation, Bertie Armstrong recognises that there is a problem but he says, the industry has acted responsibly and the situation is not half as bad as what people may superficially believe.
“There is a job to be done in maintaining sustainability. We are not there yet. Nobody would claim that we are. However we are fully aware of what needs to be done and fully engaged in doing it.”
