Fished out

26 November 2009

If you buy a fish sandwich in Britain today you can be fairly sure it will not contain Thunnus thynnus, otherwise known as the Atlantic bluefin tuna. Overfishing means these zeppelin-shaped leviathans – they can grow to a length of four metres – are severely threatened, so serving them up has become taboo, writes Stephen Gardner. But there is a different attitude in Japan, where the bluefin is prized for sushi and sashimi, despite its endangered status. Up to 80 percent of the Mediterranean bluefin catch travels thousands of miles to the east, says Julie Cator of marine campaign group Oceana. For the Japanese, continued consumption of Thunnus thynnus is a "cultural issue." The bluefin catch should be regulated by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). But ICCAT's own figures show that 61,000 tonnes of bluefin were taken from the east Atlantic and Mediterranean in 2007. This is more than double the 29,500 tonnes agreed by ICCAT as the "total allowable catch", which is itself double the 15,000 tonnes or less recommended as a "sustainable yield" by ICCAT's own scientists. Raül Romeva, a Spanish Green Member of the European Parliament, says the tuna management policy makes no sense. "When you are doing something that is obviously wrong, that is stupidity. This is what happens with the tuna." But in Britain at least, the bluefin rarely appears on the menu, although there are high profile hold-outs, such as posh sushi house Nobu. The British boycott is largely thanks to a high profile and very successful campaign, led by Greenpeace and WWF, formerly the World Wildlife Fund, to persuade supermarkets to source their tuna sustainably. The campaigners' message has been rammed home by the documentary film The End of the Line, which graphically illustrates the damage done by tuna fishing practices. As a result, the tuna you will most likely find in your sandwich is skipjack, which is not considered endangered and makes up more than half of the global tuna catch. Nicki Fisher of sandwich chain Pret A Manger says the company only uses "sustainable" skipjack caught in the Maldives by individual fishermen using a pole and line. A Greenpeace "tuna league table" shows that Sainsbury's pursues a similar policy, and others, such as the Co-op, are increasingly following suit. But campaigners cannot yet claim total victory. Some in the tuna business, including Britain's biggest tinned brands, John West and Princes, still source tuna caught by purse seiners – vessels that trap fish in giant drawstring bags. This is insufficiently selective, campaigners argue, and has a disastrous impact on endangered species such as sharks, rays and turtles, which are also caught up in the huge nets. Oceans under pressure The tuna is a high profile case but its plight is representative. The problem is simple: "too many boats chasing too few fish," says Oceana's Julie Cator. According to European Commission figures, the global fish catch peaked at 96.7 million tonnes in 2000, up from 85 million tonnes a decade earlier. But by 2005, as a result of declining stocks, it had fallen back to 93.8 million tonnes. The European Environment Agency's latest assessment of fish stocks, published in February, shows that around a third of assessed commercial stocks in the north east Atlantic, and half of stocks in the Mediterranean, are "outside safe biological limits." In particular, all demersal stocks – fish that live in or near the bottom of the ocean – "have declined and are currently not sustainable." The problem is compounded by the wastefulness of fisheries, to which management failings contribute. The European Union's Court of Auditors, in a 2007 report, said the failure of EU countries to reduce the size of their fishing fleets was an incitement to illegal fishing. The EU's system of variable quotas for each species has led to an immense problem of discards – unwanted fish being thrown back into the sea, usually dead. This can reach 60 percent of the catch in some areas. The EU's top fisheries official, European Commissioner Joe Borg, in a speech in May, admitted in a rather understated way that "some discards result from the implementation of the current regulatory system." The need for a thorough overhaul of fisheries management is a constant theme of those in the ocean protection business. Oceana's Julie Cator says that "ecological sustainability is the key factor," rather than social or economic concerns, because the latter depend on the former. Too often, fisheries managers see scientific advice as something "to be taken into consideration, rather than [being] at the core of decision making." Green MEP Raül Romeva says it is not too late. "We still have room for manoeuvre and the possibility of correcting big mistakes." He emphasises the effectiveness of consumer action to control demand, as has happened in Britain with the bluefin. His home country of Spain has also seen bluefin removed from some menus, but more needs to be done and politicians should "try to explain that there is a problem." Romeva adds that the voice of big industrial fishing conglomerates needs to be curtailed in forums such as ICCAT. These firms, he says, are backed by investors who "see the seas as a way to short-term and quick profit." When the seas are empty, the investors will simply seek profits elsewhere. "They are not talking in the name of the whole sector," he says, arguing that those working at the smaller-scale and more traditional end of the industry are conscious of the problems and want to address them, whereas the conglomerates "know that they are overfishing and overselling." Policies under review The EU's fisheries policy is under review, but at a slow pace. European Commission spokeswoman Nathalie Charbonneau says the Commission is "still collecting inputs" on what could be done, will "analyse all these inputs" in 2010, before publishing proposals in 2011. A reformed system could be in place by 2013. EU policy processes may be cumbersome and time-consuming, but there is a feeling that a make-or-break point has been reached. Kjartan Hoydal, Secretary of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission, the umbrella management body for the cold seas to the west of Europe and south of Iceland, says there is a "turning point now," and the "general impression that everything is going downhill all the time" is not a true picture. Management plans can work, Hoydal says. For the north east Atlantic, plans are in place for the herring, blue whiting and mackerel, and are broadly working. Redfish south of Iceland presents a management problem, Hoydal concedes, but this to a great extent is because of lack of scientific knowledge. He cites the case of the Norwegian spring-spawning herring as an example of what good management can achieve. Around the British coast, management measures such as restricting fishing in some areas, or limiting the fishing gear that boats can go out with, seem to be having an impact. Peter Hooley of the Marine and Fisheries Agency (MFA) says cod and sole have been overfished. Cod stocks dropped to a low point in 1998, but "recovery measures are many and have seen some improvement, although anecdotal at this stage." British fishermen, says Hooley, mostly try to stay within the rules because they recognise fisheries management "as a job to be done for the greater good." But the MFA will also wield a big stick when necessary, and the Agency's website is full of case reports of fishermen fined thousands of pounds for offences such as falsifying log books or fishing in areas set aside so that stocks can recover. A way out for the bluefin? To the south, the bluefin tuna crisis may be tackled in another way. Monaco wants to list the species in Annex I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), meaning that international trade in the bluefin would be banned. Monaco says it will go through the formal process of requesting the listing because of concern over the pillaging of stocks of this emblematic species. The plucky principality suffered a small setback in September when the EU decided not to co-sponsor the request, because it was not backed by Mediterranean member states. But Patrick Van Klaveren, Monegasque Minister Counsellor dealing with the environment, says the EU's failure to co-sponsor was for technical reasons, and Monaco remains "totally" committed to obtaining the listing. Van Klaveren says that when the issue comes up at the next CITES meeting, in Doha in March 2010, he will expect the broad backing of EU countries. However, the outcome is uncertain because "there may be a lot of countries lobbied by Japan," which will target the CITES members with no direct interest in the bluefin. Monaco has also acted because ICCAT is seen as failing in its duty to sustainably manage tuna stocks. Maria Cornax of the Oceana campaign group says ICCAT, due to decide in November on tuna quotas, is "feeling the pressure" of a possible CITES listing and "they realise now that they must take measures immediately." Fisheries management in general, says Cornax, should follow a simple three-stage approach. There should be no fishing without management measures; the global over-capacity of fishing fleets should be eliminated; and the situation in which "we have been systematically ignoring scientific advice" should be ended. Management should be based on science alone. It seems clear and straightforward, but the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission's Kjartan Hoydal cautions that it may be too simplistic. It is in the developing world where demand for fish is growing, and where management structures are weak or non-existent. Campaigners concentrate on the developed world but they should "start to look elsewhere," Hoydal says. MEP Raül Romeva agrees but says "responsibility coming from the north is crucial" because "we love to take their resources." The industrialised countries are also contributing to overfishing off the coasts of poor nations, he says. The bluefin is a test case and the possible CITES listing or greatly reduced ICCAT quotas might tell us something about whether the fishing industry in general can genuinely change its ways. But the outcome hangs in the balance, shortsightedness may prevail and, despite warnings and scientific understanding, bluefin and other fish stocks may continue on the road to ruin. A version of this article was published in Ethical Corporation magazine.

 

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