46 posts tagged with "Fisheries"

Distribution and associated concentration of access rights are critically important in assessing the functioning and benefits of a fishery, and understanding who controls access to fisheries is therefore of ever increasing importance. There is a growing dependence on market-based approaches that in turn rely on healthy, functioning markets to achieve economic outcomes. As well, social goals of equity and fairness in fisheries have re-emerged as priorities alongside the goals of ecological sustainability and economic efficiency. This study aims to address the past and present state of the concentration of fishing licenses in British Columbia’s salmon and herring fisheries. Fisheries administrative data from federal and provincial data sets were mined to develop a timeline of fisheries ownership and control over a twenty-year period. Hidden corporate ownership of licenses through subsidiaries was identified and comprehensive criteria were co-identified with industry representatives to characterize the various user groups of fisheries licenses. Our analysis suggests that from 1993 to 2012, there was a notable shift in the ownership profile of salmon and herring licenses, with a marked increase in concentration of licenses owned by fish processors.

We investigate how high seas closure will affect the availability of commonly consumed food fish in 46 fish reliant, and/or low income countries. Domestic consumption of straddling fish species (fish that would be affected by high seas closure) occurred in 54% of the assessed countries. The majority (70%) of countries were projected to experience net catch gains following high seas closure. However, countries with projected catch gains and that also consumed the straddling fish species domestically made up only 37% of the assessed countries. In contrast, much fewer countries (25%) were projected to incur net losses from high seas closure, and of these, straddling species were used domestically in less than half (45%) of the countries. Our findings suggest that, given the current consumption patterns of straddling species, high seas closure may only directly benefit the supply of domestically consumed food fish in a small number of fish reliant and/or low income countries. In particular, it may not have a substantial impact on improving domestic fish supply in countries with the greatest need for improved access to affordable fish, as only one third of this group used straddling fish species domestically. Also, food security in countries with projected net catch gains but where straddling fish species are not consumed domestically may still benefit indirectly via economic activities arising from the increased availability of non-domestically consumed straddling fish species following high seas closure. Consequently, this study suggests that high seas closure can potentially improve marine resource sustainability as well as contribute to human well-being in some of the poorest and most fish dependent countries worldwide. However, caution is required because high seas closure may also negatively affect fish availability in countries that are already impoverished and fish insecure.

Assessments of the combined ecological impacts of ocean acidification and warming (OAW) and their social and economic consequences can help develop adaptive and responsive management strategies in the most sensitive regions. Here, available observational and experimental data, theoretical, and modelling approaches are combined to project and quantify potential effects of OAW on the future fisheries catches and resulting revenues and employment in the UK under different CO2 emission scenarios. Across all scenarios, based on the limited available experimental results considered, the bivalve species investigated were more affected by OAW than the fish species considered, compared with ocean warming alone. Projected standing stock biomasses decrease between 10 and 60%. These impacts translate into an overall fish and shellfish catch decrease of between 10 and 30% by 2020 across all areas except for the Scotland >10 m fleet. This latter fleet shows average positive impacts until 2050, declining afterwards. The main driver of the projected decreases is temperature rise (0.5–3.3 °C), which exacerbate the impact of decreases in primary production (10–30%) in UK fishing waters. The inclusion of the effect of ocean acidification on the carbon uptake of primary producers had very little impact on the projections of potential fish and shellfish catches (<1%). The <10 m fleet is likely to be the most impacted by-catch decreases in the short term (2020–50), whereas the effects will be experienced more strongly by the >10 m fleet by the end of the century in all countries. Overall, losses in revenue are estimated to range between 1 and 21% in the short term (2020–50) with England and Scotland being the most negatively impacted in absolute terms, and Wales and North Ireland in relative terms. Losses in total employment (fisheries and associated industries) may reach approximately 3–20% during 2020–50 with the >10 m fleet and associated industries bearing the majority of the losses.

The global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015 include several targets related to the challenges facing the world’s fisheries. The targets make specific reference to improving small-scale fishers’ access to markets, combating IUU fishing, and reforming fisheries subsidies. Given that about 37% of fish and fish products are traded internationally, trade-related policies can play a significant role in helping the global community to meet many of the SDGs related to fisheries. This Special Issue brings together a range of new contributions on this critical interface. It focuses on trade in aquaculture products, fisheries subsidies, tariffs and non-tariff barriers, and trade measures used to address Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. Its objective is to explore how trade policies can be deployed to support the conservation and sustainable use of oceans and fisheries and thereby contribute to achieving the SDGs.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) states that climate change and ocean acidification are altering the oceans at a rate that is unprecedented compared with the recent past, leading to multifaceted impacts on marine ecosystems, associated goods and services, and human societies. AR5 underlined key uncertainties that remain regarding how synergistic changes in the ocean are likely to affect human systems, and how humans are likely to respond to these events. As climate change research has accelerated rapidly following AR5, an updated synthesis of available knowledge is necessary to identify emerging evidence, and to thereby better inform policy discussions. This paper reviews the literature to capture corroborating, conflicting, and novel findings published following the cut-off date for contribution to AR5. Specifically, we highlight key scientific developments on the impacts of climate-induced changes in the ocean on key socioeconomic sectors, including fisheries, aquaculture, and tourism. New evidence continues to support a climate-induced redistribution of benefits and losses at multiple scales and across coastal and marine socio-ecological systems, partly resulting from species and ecosystem range shifts and changes in primary productivity. New efforts have been made to characterize and value ecosystem services in the context of climate change, with specific relevance to ecosystem-based adaptation. Recent studies have also explored synergistic interactions between climatic drivers, and have found strong variability between impacts on species at different life stages. Although climate change may improve conditions for some types of freshwater aquaculture, potentially providing alternative opportunities to adapt to impacts on wild capture fisheries, ocean acidification poses a risk to shellfish fisheries and aquaculture. The risk of increased prevalence of disease under warmer temperatures is uncertain, and may detrimentally affect human health. Climate change may also induce changes in tourism flows, leading to substantial geospatial shifts in economic costs and benefits associated with tourism revenue and coastal infrastructure protection and repairs. While promising, ecosystem-based coastal adaptation approaches are still emerging, and require an improved understanding of key ecosystem services, and values for coastal communities in order to assess risk, aid coastal development planning, and build decision support systems.

Haley Milko, Masters of Resource Management student at Simon Fraser University has completed her thesis work identifying best practice in fisheries monitoring and stewardship training for First Nations Youth.

UBC Fisheries Economic Research Unit Doctoral student Anna Schuhbauer and OceanCanada Research Director Rashid Sumaila have published a paper in Ecological Economics. The authors report that globally, over 90% of all fishing vessels and about 22 million fishers are considered small-scale. Yet, small-scale fisheries are often understudied, economically and politically marginalized, and therefore vulnerable to large-scale threats.

OceanCanada Research Director Rashid Sumaila and his collaborators from the UBC Global Fisheries Cluster (Sea Around Us and NEREUS) have published an updated estimate of global fisheries subsidies in Marine Policy, the researchers found that the global fishing industry is being supported by $35 billion yearly in government subsidies of which upwards of $20 billion annually promote increased capacity that can lead to overfishing.

OceanCanada Research Director, Dr. Rashid Sumaila is the author of a new report titled “Trade Policy Options for Sustainable Oceans and Fisheries” presented at the 2016 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The paper is part of a larger package of policy recommendations by the E15Initiative focused on strengthening the global trade and investment system in the 21st century.

Media Release | January 13, 2016

First Nations fisheries’ catch could decline by nearly 50 per cent by 2050, according to a new study examining the threat of climate change to the food and economic security of indigenous communities along coastal British Columbia, Canada.