A research study has found that overfishing over the years has depleted fish stocks and has lead to both economic and food related problems. According to the series of studies authored by Canadian, U.S. and British researchers and published in the Journal of Bioeconomics, poorly planned governmental subsidies have contributed to overfishing. The food industry as a result has lost billions of dollars in revenues and the resultant loss in food value has left many poor populations undernourished.
The fallout of overfishing could have been prevented using more sustainable means. The fisheries industry is a $225 billion to $240 billion one worldwide. More sustainable productions could have helped to boost it up by $36 billion more.
Rashid Sumaila, an economist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and the research lead said,
“Maintaining healthy fisheries makes good economic sense, while overfishing is clearly bad business.”
From 1950 to 2004, 36 to 53 percent of the fish stocks in more than half the exclusive economic zones in the world’s oceans were overfished. The result – 10 million tons of fish catch lost.
Overfishing affects not only the fisheries industry directly, but the impact is felt downstream too by related interests. The researchers said governments miss out on the big picture when working on policies to deter overfishing. Instead, subsidies are lending a helping hand to promote overfishing.
Governments around the world dole out $27 billion in subsidies every year to the fishing industry. About 60 percent of that goes to supporting unsustainable fishing practices.
Rashid Sumaila says,
“Taxpayer money is directly contributing to the decline of worldwide fish stocks.”
Because of loss in fish stock, the poor are left without an important source of cheap protein. Undernourishment could have been avoided in many poor countries if fish stocks had been better managed. The researchers estimated that nearly 20 million undernourished people a year in poorer countries could have been fed.
The researchers used international data on ocean fish stocks in their studies, and left out data from aquaculture and fresh water fisheries. They hope to include that information in future studies.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
