Law of unintended consequences: Piracy edition

Pirates off the coast of Somalia have apparently claimed that they are “coastguards” and that their ransom demands are more in the nature of “fines” on foreign fishing fleets come to steal Somalia’s marine resources. So far, so much fish soup. But according to a study reported by the Associated Press, fishing folk in Somalia have seen increased catches:

“I remember some days I used to go to the sea early to catch fish and would return with no fish, but nowadays there are plenty. You can catch it everywhere,” said fisherman Bakar Osman, 50. “I do not know the reason but I think the foreign fishing vessels, which used to loot our fish, were scared away by pirates.”

Not only that, but the effects are being felt way down the coast in Kenya, where sport fishing is enjoying a boom.

Angus Paul, whose family owns the Kingfisher sports fishing company, said that over the past season clients on his catch-and-release sports fishing outings averaged 12 or 13 sail fish a day. That compares with two or three in previous years.
Somali pirates, Paul said, are a group of terrorists, “but as long as they can keep the big commercial boats out, not fishing the waters, then it benefits a lot of other smaller people.”

Not that that justifies piracy, no sirree. But it does suggest that some countries should borrow a gunboat or two and kick the pescopirates out of their waters. h/t Resilience Science.

Sunken billions

A new World Bank publication puts dollar numbers on the world’s approach to fishing:

Economic losses in marine fisheries resulting from poor management, inefficiencies, and overfishing add up to US$50 billion per year.

The book argues that:

strengthened fishing rights can provide fishers and fishing communities with incentives to operate in an economically efficient and socially responsible manner.

I presume it would help conserve marine biodiversity as well.

Also just out is the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2008, from FAO. Part 1 is a very informative and data rich overview. FAO estimates that 80% of fisheries are fully or over-exploited, and that 47% of fish consumed is from aquaculture (which must become more sustainable, says the WWF).

Part 2 has a chapter on Marine genetic resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction as related to marine biodiversity and the sustainable use of living marine resources. It is about bio-prospecting in international waters, and benefit sharing. They are looking at the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture to help develop policy in this area.

Catch of the week

There has been an overwhelming response to my call to stop over-fishing. UNEP made a map. Rupert Murray contributed a film, The End of the Line, destined to become the next eco-blockbuster; if it can beat Flipper-flick The Cove.

Google Earth volunteered spectacular improvements of their sea maps. Meanwhile, in India, M.S. Swaminathan ((Coincidentally, he also appears in a BBC documentary about ‘forgotten crops’ that is being cable-casted as I write this; apparently a year later then in other places.)) called for integrated coastal management and legislation. Thanks to Greenpeace for ratcheting up its campaign against pirate fishing. And to you for all the donations; keep them coming.

On the downside, Japanese “researchers” use military grade weapons to shake off activists that won’t let them kill whales; and Brazil’s fish exports may double this year.

No more fish

The Economist had special report on the sea last week, aptly entitled “The tragedy of the sea.” It is a couple of pages long. Read it. After you read my summary and call for action.

The oceans are a common good. Hence we extract from it as much as we can, as quickly as we can, and then dump our trash in it. There is plastic floating everywhere. And we have all but wiped out the large predator fish (cod, tuna, sharks…) that we like to eat so much. We are the main predator now, and a voracious one at that. We have kept the catch from declining with much improved fishing technologies. But that is making things worse in the long run. The remaining fish, lower in the food chain, are getting smaller and smaller. We get more ‘dead zones’, which are quite alive actually, but with slimy and more simple organisms like jellyfish — this is called ‘reverse evolution’. And now we have started big time krill fishing to further undermine life in the oceans. Who knows what that will do. But it is quite likely that fisheries — and perhaps ocean life in general — will collapse.

Some species have already collapsed, but much worse is coming our way. There are many causes. And there are simple solutions. We have to stop dumping our garbage, quit certain fishing methods, we have to manage fish stock rationally, and we should simply eat less fish. Ok, there is fish farming to help. But that ain’t particularly great either (like catching mackerel to raise tuna). Farmed shell fish is probably best. Low in the food chain, and they feed on algae.

Some countries are actually trying to be responsible. For example Iceland and Norway, were fisheries are an important source of income. The European Union is perhaps worst of all. In the EU, the fish business appears to have — improbable as this may seem — an even more disproportionate political influence than the agricultural sector. So the quota are always set too high. And then everybody cheats and catches even more. All that heavily subsidized of course, with most money going to the worst offenders: the Spanish fishermen. ((It seems that the majority of the Spanish fishermen are Basque. I wonder if this these subsidies are an attempt to appease the Basques? Are we killing the oceans to undermine ETA?))

There is not much fish left in European waters, so now they are buying up fishing rights in Africa; and happily deploying illegal fishing methods, and killing massive amounts of ‘by-catch’ such as turtles.

Meanwhile, the EU funds development aid to teach local fisher folk about sustainable fishing. But when the fish is gone, what can they do? Fortunately, in Somalia the fishermen were rather inventive. But who are the real pirates?

Where is the Big Environmental Activism in all this? Greenpeace used to work against nuclear waste dumping and whale killing. They still talk about it, but it seems they have diversified. Perhaps it is not part of their business model to attempt to make their rich constituency change their own behavior. It is perhaps easier to work on scaring us about GMO crops, and the big bad multinationals behind it.

The impeding death of the oceans should be of much more concern.

We need aggressive action. I propose a EU-wide fish-fast. Can we all boycott the EU fishing industry for a year? That should slow things down. ((But don’t replace fish with meat, just with grains, beans and veggies.)) And let’s choose a specific target. Spanish fishers seem to be the worst in the world. So let’s boycott Spain. We can make it the new South Africa. Stop drinking sherry and rioja. Don’t go to the beach ((Sic. Ed.)) of Torremolinos this summer. If you must go to Spain, perhaps because you are a bullfighting aficionado, or to toss goats from a tower, do not eat calamares or other sea creatures. The Spanish are in a bad economic downturn, so we can force them to their knees if we act quickly and decisively. After Spain backs down we’ll take the next target. We have a long list.