Jasmin Melvin, PlanetArk 10 Oct 08;
WASHINGTON - As more and more fishermen chase fewer and fewer fish, US$50 billion is lost each year in potential economic benefits to the fishing industry, a report released Wednesday said.
Released by the World Bank and the United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organization, the report blamed poor management, inefficiencies and overfishing for more than US$2 trillion of avoidable economic losses over the last three decades.
In a time of worldwide financial turmoil, the amount may seem like "small change," said Kieran Kelleher, the World Bank's fisheries team leader, but fisheries are in a global crisis and adding to lost opportunities for economic growth.
Better management and a move to more sustainable fishing practices could turn much of the billions of dollars lost each year into economic benefits for fishers and coastal communities, the report said.
"Fisheries are a tremendous source of income, employment and wealth creation if managed properly," said Daniel Gustafson, director of the liaison office for North America at the FAO.
Significant financial losses in marine fishing operations are the result of depleted fish stocks and fleet overcapacity.
Shrinking fish populations, a result of pollution and habitat loss, have kept annual global marine catches at around 85 million tons for the past decade despite advanced fishing technologies and larger fishing fleets.
Fewer fish cause productivity -- or the catch per fisher or per vessel -- to decline. So as fishing fleets grow in size, they add only to redundant investments and harvesting efforts.
The report said only half of the current global fishing effort would be needed to maintain current catch levels if fish stocks were rebuilt.
"Sustainable fisheries require political will to replace incentives for overfishing with incentives for responsible stewardship," Kelleher said, noting that any solution will have to be at the country level.
Michael Arbuckle, the World Bank's senior fisheries specialist, told Reuters reform is a growing global trend among fisheries.
"The problem is trying to find examples that are applicable in the particular countries we are trying to help," he said, explaining that aspects that work in the developed world do not always translate to poorer countries.
He noted fishing rights-based systems that have worked well in developed countries, and community management structures that are thriving in the developing world.
"We're trying to give a bit of security and access to the fishers," Arbuckle said. "Then you can create a framework where there's an opportunity for people to invest and capture some of the value of the fisheries and reinvest it locally or nationally."
Efforts to help fish stocks flourish once again to increase yields and in turn lower costs to fishermen; programs that cutback on fleet size and number to boost productivity and profitability would also help fisheries; and policies that reduce fuel subsidies in the fishing sector were also suggested as strategies for reform. (Editing by Christian Wiessner)
World fishing fleet reform could save $50bn
Paul Eccleston, The Telegraph 9 Oct 08;
The inefficiency, waste and poor management of the world's fishing fleets has been slammed in a new report.
Smaller more streamlined fleets operating sustainably and catching fewer fish could save $50bn per year, according to a new study by the World Bank.
It calls for wide-ranging reform involving the scrapping of subsidies and more responsible and equitable stewardship of the seas.
The report, The Sunken Billions: The Economic Justification for Fisheries Reform, says a comprehensive restructuring of fishing methods would involve political, social, and economic costs.
But a 'business as usual' attitude would result in fishing becoming an increasing drain on society with more subsidies needed to finance the build-up of redundant, high-tech capacity amid increasing pollution, habitat loss and depleted fish stocks worldwide.
The report was launched at the World Bank headquarters in New York and was discussed at the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Congress in Barcelona.
The report claims most of the of losses occur in two main ways:
* Depleted fish stocks mean there are fewer fish to catch, and therefore the cost of finding and catching them is greater.
* Fleet overcapacity means that the economic benefits of fishing are wasted due to redundant investment and operating costs.
It claims the world's marine fisheries were in decline long before the recent steep increases in fuel prices. Bigger, more powerful and better equipped fleets and over-fishing had resulted in depleted stocks worldwide.
Despite the increased fishing effort, the global marine catch had remained the same for over a decade, whereas the fish, which represented the wealth of the oceans, had declined.
At the same time, the margin between the cost of catching the fish and the value of the catch had narrowed. Subsidies had also helped distort the market.
But the study argues that marine fisheries reform can, through wholesale restructuring, become a driver of economic wealth rather than a drain.
Reform would mean a reduction in fishing effort and capacity but the wealth generated could help pay for fishermen to be retrained for new careers.
To be successful the reforms would require the strengthening of marine tenure systems, investment in good governance, measures to reduce illegal fishing and equitable sharing of benefits from fisheries alongside the scrapping of subsidies.
Kieran Kelleher, fisheries team leader, World Bank said: "Sustainable fisheries require political will to replace incentives for overfishing with incentives for responsible stewardship.
"It is not just about boats and fish. This report provides decision makers with the economic arguments for the reforms needed."
The report mentions some countries where good management had helped conserve stocks and produced a sustainable and profitable industry, including Iceland and New Zealand.
But it said the use of subsidies in wealthy developed countries such as Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, and the United Kingdom was distorting the true picture.
