Sustainable fisheries

Historically, fisheries management equated sustainable fisheries with “sustainable yield,” where the target fish or shellfish is replaced at a rate equal to what is removed.

As our understanding of how we impact marine ecosystems improves, we need to adjust the scope of what is required to be sustainable. For example, 10 years ago few people worried about the amount of fossil fuel used to capture seafood. Today, however, growing concerns surrounding climate change have made this an important component in determining sustainable fisheries.

As you can imagine, the complexities of both the ecological system (i.e., the oceans) and the human system (i.e., government, communities) make isolating the priorities associated with unsustainable fishing extremely difficult. The David Suzuki Foundation’s Seas of Change report (pdf 712kb) outlines 10 principles to guide our efforts in promoting sustainable fisheries:

Principles of Sustainable Fishing

1. Manage the entire marine ecosystem, rather than individual stocks;
2. Adopt a precautionary approach to fisheries management;
3. Ensure that all relevant stakeholders have a meaningful say in fisheries management;
4. Decrease fishing-fleet capacity and plan for stock fluctuations;
5. Protect ecological and species diversity;
6. Protect critical ocean habitat;
7. Create marine reserves to protect representative marine habitats;
8. Manage for and minimizing by-catch and discards in commercial fisheries;
9. Ensure that aquaculture operates under sustainable standards; and,
10. Invest in monitoring, enforcement and data acquisition.

With several marine species at risk of disappearing, it’s important we manage our fisheries carefully, choose our seafood wisely, and fish sustainably.

Learn more about sustainable fisheries by clicking on the links, and take action today!