Wild fish

Edible fish is a popular and important food resource in many regions of the world. A seventy percent majority of the overall supply is obtained from wild stocks frequenting oceans, coastal estuaries, and inland rivers.

Since the beginning of the industrial age, the natural habitats of wild fish stocks have suffered from various forms of pollution and ecological degradation. Recent surveys of wild fish populations have confirmed the negative impact of commercial fishing. Well publicised depletions include the orange roughy, bluefin tuna, swordfish, and toothfish. With the technologies currently available to large scale commercial fishing enterprises, it is not surprising that wild fish stocks are decreasing. Migratory ocean fish like tuna are routinely tracked with sophisticated satellite and sonar equipment. Factory fleets contain entire seagoing workforces trained to process vast quantities of frozen seafood for the supermarket chillers.

Quota restrictions

Most attempts to regulate and control overfishing are based on establishing quota restrictions within national maritime boundaries (exclusive economic zones) and bans on fishing endangered species in international waters.

Regional quotas and other restrictions have altered the commercial fishing industry by favouring well-established organisations at the expense of small or seasonal operators. While economic rationalists might appreciate the inherent efficiency of eliminating weaker competitors, the impact upon most fish stocks has been largely negative. Consider the scenario of a bad fishing season with numerous small operators competing for limited supplies of fish.

Under financial necessity, some of the operators may choose to reduce or suspend their fishing activities until stocks improve. The unfilled quota can be sold on to competitors but may not be an attractive proposition unless the competitors own quota can be easily filled. This situation often results in unfilled quota which will then assist the short term recovery of fish populations. When large and well-established operators dominate the fishing industry, there is an increased catch efficiency which tends to override the impact of declining fish populations. This creates fewer opportunities for unfilled quotas and short-term recovery.

At present, there is limited consensus regarding the methods which should be applied to determine effective quotas and restrictions on various endangered fish species. Sceptics of the current system claim that many of the statistical methods used to estimate population densities are flawed, resulting in substantial errors.

Even when there is widespread acknowledgement of serious species decline, there is always the opportunity for significant economic interests to prevail. This is clearly evident in the case of orange roughie which has recently been exposed to an Australian government approved quota in excess of five hundred tonnes each year. While this is modest in comparison to the unrestricted hauls of earlier decades, there is little doubt that current populations are less than ten percent of those existing prior to commercial exploitation in the seventies and eighties.

Orange roughie is an extremely popular table fish which inhabits deeper waters and requires many decades to mature. Adult specimens engage in large spawning aggregations, leaving themselves exposed to easy capture. At the height of their seasonal exploitation in the early eighties, up to five tonnes were being removed every hour off the coast of New Zealand.

Illegal fishing

As many wild fish populations continue to decline, those remaining are increasingly vulnerable to the illegal fishing trade. The economic value of seafood has resulted in a sophisticated network of recalcitrants who risk serious penalties and widespread condemnation to generate illicit profits. Unlike the earlier stereotype of small and desperate outfits, most of the illegal operations are now efficient and well resourced. They are financed by international criminals, dubious corporations, and in some instances they operate under the tacit consent of sovereign states and territories.

Eco-labelling

In view of these problems, it is helpful when consumers of seafood can clearly identify those fish which are legally captured in healthy environments under ecologically sustainable guidelines. This approach has been taken in several countries which use eco friendly labelling schemes to encourage long term sustainability within the fishing industry. There are also encouraging efforts to apply similar labelling on an international basis. Ultimately, the success of these initiatives will depend upon developing new collaborative research networks and the uniform approach to practical issues like standardised naming of individual fish species.