Identifying Opportunities to Address Issues of Marine Fisheries and Biodiversity Conservation

43.5; 86.4; 50

Fisheries are a vital source of food and income, supplying the main animal protein for more than one billion people around the world, jobs for estimated — million, and with an export value of US$— billion, —% of which comes from developing countries (FAO, 2009, Kelleher, 2008, World Bank 2008).

recovery; expansion

Virtually every fishery in the world is either over-exploited or recovering from past overexploitation; there are very few that are under-exploited. In most places, the challenge is —, rather than room for —

1. Overfishing

2. Habitat Destruction

3. Pollution

What are the three (3) main threats currently facing marine fisheries biodiversity and sustainability?

Overfishing

An extensive issue in every sub-region reviewed compounded by intense overcapacity and by-catch

Habitat destruction

Primarily by destructive fishing practices and gear, as well as coastal development and tourism

Pollution

current and future challenges, especially land-based pollution from urbanization and agriculture, but also marine-based pollution, which is amplified in shipping hotspot.

250,000; 10

Nearly three-quarters of the Earth’s surface is covered by oceans, hosting nearly — catalogued species, with possibly another — million still to be discovered

Marine; 90; 95

— fisheries employ more than 200 million people around the world; —% of fishers live in developing countries, —% of whom are small-scale fishers (Kelleher 2008).

fish; 15

More than 1 billion people get their main animal protein from —(Kelleher 2008); 2.8 billion people get at least —% of their average annual intake of protein from this source (FAO 2008).

50; half; quarter

Marine plants in the oceans fix about — million tons of carbon each year (roughly equivalent to the amount fixed by terrestrial plants) produce — the oxygen we breathe, and absorb a — of the carbon we emit (NRC 2008, IPCC 2007).

80; 63

According to the FAO (2009), —% of assessed fish stocks (mainly in developed countries) are either fully- or overexploited, or depleted and recovering from overfishing; —% are in need of rebuilding.

overcapitalized

Today’s widespread overfishing in the open ocean is due, in large part, to an — industrial-scale fishing fleet: large, mechanized vessels equipped with advanced technology, enabling them to find and catch fish.

2.5

Fishing capacity is now estimated to be as much as — times that needed to harvest the sustainable yield catch from the world’s fisheries

Trans-boundary; migratory stocks

— or — are most at risk from the industrial fleets that sweep the oceans of targeted species and by-catch, changing the age structure of fish populations, disrupting food webs, and threatening endangered species.

aquaculture; shrimp

The volumes of by-catch and discards are significant—sometimes consumed, and increasingly used to feed —, but nearly always representing an enormous loss of potential protein. The global — trawl fishery discards, on average, 1.6 pounds of by-catch for every pound that is landed. Global discards have been estimated to amount to more than seven million metric tons, equating to roughly eight percent of landings (Kelleher 2005).

inland fisheries

In contrast to the threat posed to the open ocean stocks by industrial-scale fishing fleets, coastal waters and the more accessible — are currently more at risk from small-scale artisanal fishers.

25; equivalent

According to Pauly (2010), there are more than 12 million small-scale fishers in the world, — times more than those working at the industrial scale (Chuenpagdee, 2006). Yet, the annual catch from each is roughly —: about 29 million tons from industrial sector, about 24 million tons from small-scale fishing (Pauly 2010).

reef bombing; trawl nets

In a feedback loop of overfishing pressures, as stocks decline artisanal fishers resort to more destructive fishing techniques such as — or the use of cyanide poison, or the use of — with a by-catch that is equally as destructive, if differently composed, as that taken in deeper waters.

Coastal land reclamation

— is potentially the greatest cause of marine habitat destruction or fragmentation. This destruction occurs when coastal areas are converted for urbanization, industrial and port development, tourism, or resource extraction, including sand mining for industry and construction

tens of thousands

In Southeast Asia,— of square kilometers of mangrove forests, which provide critical haven to nursery and spawning stocks, have been lost to the expansion of shrimp and prawn farms for regional and global markets. Mangrove forests have been sacrificed elsewhere to local demand for timber and firewood.

trawl nets; lime; dynamite fishing

In the sea, fisheries habitats are currently destroyed by dredging, — that scrape the seabed with the equivalent ecosystem effect of clear-cutting a forest, coral mining for — production, and the rising practice of —, a method that yields a catch suitable for sale in the live-food fish markets and aquarium trade, but also destroys coral reefs.

eutrophication; algal blooms

Urban sewage and solid wastes, as well as agriculture fertilizers increase the risk of — and expanded incidence of harmful —, even in open coastal waters.

deforestation

Suspended solids, sedimentation, and other sources of turbidity result from — and other large-scale land use changes, while agricultural and industrial activities generate malignant nutrient and chemical runoff.

Hypoxia; dead zone

— from nutrient loading in the Gulf of Mexico has resulted in an 8,000 square mile “—” that threatens the region’s US$500 million fishery (Science Daily 2009).

atmospheric temperatures; 80

Rising — are expected to change ocean temperatures, circulation patterns, the frequency and intensity of storms, ice cover, salinity, and oxygen levels, causing shifts in the range and abundance of marine life and fish migration patterns, and the probable demise of an estimated —% of the world’s coral reefs (Nellemann et al., 2008, Cochrane et al., 2009, FAO 2008).

ocean acidification; sea ice

Organisms that form the base of the food web are threatened by — (Jacobson 2005), and in the Antarctic, by the loss of —.

lucrative

The — live food markets in Asia, where species can command up to US$100 per kilogram, drive overfishing at the source.