Recent Trends in Globaland European Fisheries

Bio-Resources from the OceansBerlin, 28-29 Nov 2011

Rainer Froese, IFM-GEOMAR

Overview

• Status and trends in global fish stocks• Status and trends in European fish stocks• Comments on the reform of the Common

Fisheries Policy• Summary

Status and Trendsin Global Fish Stocks

Fish Used to Be Big..

.. and numerous

Development of the fishery

1376 First bottom trawls

1880 – Steam engine replaces sailsand men

Modern fishery: huge trawls can be operated anywhere

The Atlantic Dawn (now Annelies Ilena), built with European subsidies and operated from Ireland and the Netherlands, is the largest trawler of the World, with 144 m length, 14,000 HP, and 63 crew members, operating off West-Africa. She may catch during one trip as much as 7000 African fishers in one year.

Destruction of the Seafloor

Photos: Dr. K. Sainsbury, CSIRO

before

after

The trails of otter boards

courtesy F. Grassle

Shrimp Fishers off China

QuickBird satellite on 20 February 2003, off the coast of Jiangsu province near the mouth of the Yangtze River

In the Gulf of Mexico

Photo courtesy of Dr. Kyle van Houten (Duke University)

(t/km2)

Biomass of commercial fish1900 Christensen et al. 2003

and in 2000…. Christensen et al. 2003

Catch per 100 Hooks1952 - 1980

Blue MarlinSwordfish

Bluefin Tuna

Mahi mahi

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Source: Myers and Worm 2003. Nature 423: 280-283

Trends in Global Fish Stocks

Froese & Kesner-Reyes 2002, Worm et al. 2006, Froese et al. 2008, Froese et al. submitted

About 1/3 of global catches are reduced to fish meal and fish oil

Status and Trendsin European Fish Stocks

Ray Beverton and Sidney Holt 1957Founders of modern fisheries science

Three Terms • Biomass (B) is the body weight of the fish in

the water

• MSY is the Maximum Sustainable Yield that can be taken from a population (=stock) of fish indefinitely

• Bmsy is the biomass that a fish stock must have,

so that it can deliver the maximum sustainable yield MSY

Legal Background

• The Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), in force since 1994, requires countries to maintain stocks in their EEZ such that they can produce MSY

• The precautionary principle is contained in the EU-Contract. It requires that in case of uncertainty, the less dangerous margin of error has to be used as target. This is explicitly applicable to the use of natural resources.

• So far, UNCLOS has been implemented only by New Zealand, Australia and the USA.

• And Europe?50

How does European Fisheries Management work (until 2009)?

• Scientists advise catch levels that just prevent the collapse of the stocks

• The European Commission—after interventions of ‘stake holders’—proposes slightly higher catches

• The 27 European Ministers of Agriculture decide catches that are on average 48% above the scientific advice

• Fishers exceed the allowed catches by up to 40% (through discards)

Biomass Reference PointsCod, Eastern Baltic

Froese & Proelß Fish & Fisheries 2010

Biomass and Yield ofEastern Baltic Cod

Froese & Proelß Fish & Fisheries 2010

Status of European Fish Stocks

54Landings from ICES 2010, MSY from Froese and Proelß 2010

Fishing Mortality of European Fish Stocks

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Year

Fis

hin

g p

ress

ure

(F/Fmsy

)

TargetPrecautionary

Overfishing

TrendThreatening the stock

Average fishing pressure on European fish stocks. The lower arrow indicates the path if 75% of the stocks were to be fished at the maximum sustainable rate in 2015. However, with the trend since 2000, that target will be missed by more than 30 years.

Froese and Proelß Fish & Fisheries 2010

UNCLOS CFP FAO/UNFSA JPOI Damanaki

Why Should Europe Care about Global Fisheries?

• 42% of the global trade in fish and fish products is imported by Europe

• A CFP reform that correctly implements the Law of the Sea, such as done by USA, NZ and AUS, will force others to follow

• A failed CFP reform will encourage continued overfishing, in Europe and globally

• US$ 1.2 billion European fish exports into the USA will be endangered

56

Comments on the Reform ofthe Common Fisheries Policy

• The Commission has published in 2009 a Green Book that correctly names most of the problems and issues to be dealt with

• The Commission has published in 2011 a reform proposal that tackles many, but not all of the issues

Two ‚Make-or-Break‘ Issues in the EC Reform Proposal

Positive: Stocks are to be maintained ABOVE levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield MSY

Status of European Stocks

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

0 0.5 1 1.5 2

Biomass / BMSY

Lan

din

gs

/ MSY

B MSY 1.3 B MSY

MSY

0.9 MSY

Froese et al. 2010 Fish and Fisheries

Below MSY Level

• Stressed ecosystems• Small fish• Small stock size• High fluctuations• Low, uncertain catch• High effort /cost• Low / no profit• Low impact impossible• Subsidies necessary• Social status low (exploiters)

Above MSY Level

• Healthy ecosystems• Large fish• Large stock sizes• Low fluctuations• High, certain catch• Low effort /cost• High profit• Low impact possible• Subsidies not necessary• Social status high

(custodians)

60

Two ‚Make-or-Break‘ Issues in the EC Reform Proposal

Positive: Stocks are to be maintained ABOVE levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield MSY.

Negative: The Council of Ministers continues to fix annual fishing opportunities.Rather, the Councils should only fix long-term mangement plans.

Summary• Despite positive developments in NZ, Australia, USA,

and some EU stocks, the number of collapsed stocks continues to rise globally

• In Europe, overfishing continues in many stocks, even if these are outside of safe biological limits

• The CFP reform proposal of the Commission is a major step in the right direction: its positive elements need to be defended, its major shortcoming (micro-management) needs to be fixed

Refs and Acknowledgements• Froese, R., D. Zeller, K. Kleisner and D. Pauly. Submitted. What catch data can tell us about the status of global

fisheries. • Pauly, D. and R. Froese. In press. Comments on FAO's State of Fisheries and Aquaculture, or 'SOFIA 2010'.

Marine Policy. • Froese, R. and M. Quaas. 2011. Three options for rebuilding the cod stock in the eastern Baltic Sea. Marine

Ecology Progress Series 434:197-2011.• Froese, R. 2011. Fishery reform slips through the net. Nature 475:7• Froese, R., T.A. Branch, A. Proelß, M. Quaas, K. Sainsbury and C. Zimmermann. 2011. Generic harvest control

rules for European fisheries. Fish and Fisheries 12:340-351• Khalilian, S., R. Froese, A. Proelss, T. Requate. 2010. Designed for Failure: A Critique of the Common Fisheries

Policy of the European Union. Marine Policy 34:1178-1182• Froese, R. and A. Proelß. 2010. Rebuilding fish stocks no later than 2015: will Europe meet the deadline? Fish

and Fisheries 11:194-202• Froese, R., A. Stern-Pirlot and K. Kesner-Reyes. 2008. Out of new stocks in 2020: a comment on “Not all

fisheries will be collapsed in 2048”. Marine Policy 33:180-181• Froese, R., A. Stern-Pirlot, H. Winker and D. Gascuel. 2008. Size Matters: How Single-Species Management

Can Contribute To Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management. Fisheries Research 92:231-241• Froese, R. 2004. Keep it simple: three indicators to deal with overfishing. Fish and Fisheries 5:86-91• Froese, R. and S. Luna. 2004. No Relationship between Fecundity and Annual Reproductive Rate in Bony Fish.

Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria 34(1):11-20• Froese, R. and K. Kesner-Reyes. 2002. Impact of fishing on the abundance of marine species. ICES CM

2002/L:12, 15 p.

Thank You

Rainer Froeserfroese@ifm-geomar.de

www.fishbase.de/rfroeseIFM-GEOMAR, Kiel