Surpêche

The surpêche indicates the overfishing practiced by the man on certain fish or shellfish. One speaks about surpêche when the increase in the capacities of capture involves a reduction in the number of catches, i.e. the species is fished more quickly than it does not reproduce, but it is not always easy to determine the respective roles of fishing and the environmental factors (especially climatic or related to pollution) in the fall of fish stocks.

World situation

Surpêche is not a completely new phenomenon, but it seems to be really started with planetary scales only at the 20th century. Installation of nets to fish salmonidés in the required passages which are the estuaries, or the intensive fishing of Bay sardine of Douarnenez (France) is old examples of methods which made regress a resource. Are currently concerned with surpêche the Sardine in California, the Anchois in Peru, the Morue in Newfoundland or the Hareng in the North Sea. The populations of Halibut and blue fin Tuna decreased by 90%. The Eel in Europe is now classified like threatened and protected species, continuation in particular with the poaching of the Civelle S.

FAO (United Nations for agriculture and the food) estimates at 77% the proportion of fish species impacted with various degrees. 8% would be exhausted, 17% overexploited and 52% exploited with their maximum.

The fish catches reached a maximum of 100 million tons in the year 2000 but the production stagnates since 1990 whereas the capacities of fishing do not cease increasing. The captured individuals are less and less large and more and more young people. The proportion of the trophic catches of levels low increased.

The factory ships exploit zones more and more (western of Africa, Indian Ocean, Pacifique of south-east…) and fish increasingly deeper, capturing many species damaging of the ecosystems. Technological fishing involved a fast increase in the by-catches. 25% of the fish (27 million tons) which are sins are rejected died with the sea because they do not belong to the desired species. Dolphins, tortoises and birds marine (100.000 albatross per annum) are also captured and killed by the nets. The nets given up at sea are traps which kill also many animals.

The preferentially sinned species are apical carnivores (which occupy the top of the food chains) which have a strong added value on the markets of the developed countries. This specialization of fishing has serious consequences on the trophic networks, to the marine mammals and with the birds.

With broad of Newfoundland, the rarefaction of fish involved a reduction in the intermediate size of the humpback whales which attend this water.

One saw famished migrations of Phoque S from Greenland towards the coasts of Canada.

The disappearance of the Cod and the other predatory ones off the United States involved a proliferation of the herbivores which caused a strong decline of the forests of algae.

One observes a modification of the structure of the communities and genetic diversity by the selection of species or classes of size. This pressure on the habitat S makes them more sensitive to the invasions, the disturbances and the Pollution S.

Socio-economic causes and consequences

The fish accounts for 16% of proteins absorptive by the Man. It is a source of very important food for the food of 1 billion people, especially in the countries of the South. Fishing is a capital activity for the saving and the food safety of much in poor countries, particularly in Southeast Asia. The consumers with strong purchasing power ask especially for fish with white flesh, fresh or frozen. The species with low added-value are consumed on the spot, primarily small pelagic species in salted form. Part of these species (30% of the total catches) is transformed into flour or oil. In 2010 the demand for fish must-being between 100 and 120 million tons what will cause an increase in the costs.

200 million people works in the fisheries sector which counts 3,5 million boats. But only 1% of the boats fish 50% of fish.

the uncontrolled growth of fishing and the fleets comes from an over-capitalization of the industry whose performances exceeded the optimum indicates a report/ratio of FAO. Thus, although the European commission fights with certain Member States like France to impose quotas and tries to reduce the number of boats, the European Union expenditure each Seventy billion euros to subsidize the construction of superchalutiers. The Ireland has just made build Atlantic Dawn, which accounts for 15% of its capacity of fishing and can treat 700 tons of fish per day.

The rarefaction of the resources pushes the large firms with going to fish in water of the countries of the South. FAO distinguishes 3 stages in the evolution from the fisheries sector:

Indigenous: exploitation of coastal survival with rudimentary boats and tools
Colonial: systematic exploitation of the coasts and territorial water by foreign assets. The resource is sent on a market of developed economy.
Total: more intense and generalized exploitation of the coasts, territorial water and international into total patterns off resources consumption, with more frequent exhaustion and substitution off fisheries.

The arrival of large fleets close to the coasts deprives the autochtones of an important resource and pushes the fishermen to go to fish at sea further for a less profitability and greater risks. The conflicts are frequent when find themselves on the same zone of the craftsman-fishermen autochtones obeying traditions of exploitation and installation of the fisheries and fishermen industrial acting at ends of generation of incomes, which do not trouble about the local traditions. The conflicts also exist between the autochtones groups and the defense organization of the animals, the companies aquicultural, tourist and the agricultural or industrial pollutants.

The governments of involved in debt countries are tempted to sell fishing permits to foreign investors and several countries of the South develop them also modern fleets. Moreover, the reduction in the catches will involve an unfavourable raising of prices to the poor consumer. A fall of consumption was already observed in South Asia.

In the years 1960, the Mauritania, with very full of fish water was the country whose greatest part of consumed proteins came from the sea. Following the sale of the fishing rights by the government, the fish Mauritanians are sold on the Western markets and are not accessible any more to the local consumer.

It is also necessary to take account of piracy, either by the violation of the national legislation in territorial water, or by fishings in open sea carried out without the authorization of the regional organization of fishings, the CCAMLR.

One of the most known examples of poaching is fishing with the southern Légine (Dissostichus eleginoides). A légine sold on two is fished illegally. The population should be extinct commercially from here at 3 years. The turntable of this trade is Port-Louis in Mauritius where many boats under flag of convenience accost (Honduras, Sierra-Leone, Coast-D' Ivory, Libya…)

Vis-a-vis the generalized exploitation of the seas to the profit of the capital, it is important to preserve the saving in subsistence of the local populations to ensure food safety, economic survival and the safeguarding of the cultures.

Durable solutions

Aquiculture

The aquiculture could be a solution to answer at the request of fish while improving the habitat (artificial reefs) but currently the majority of fish of breeding of the developed countries are carnivores. 2kg should be fished fish to raise of it 1kg and the products of the aquiculture have an high price what does not improve food safety. It only makes it possible to develop fish not very required by the consumers (small pelagic). The aquiculture can involve an eutrophication and an anoxia of water, even a proliferation of toxic planktons (red tide).

China and India practice breedings of cyprinidés and tilapias omnivorous which makes it possible to produce great quantity of fish (10 million tons of carps, 1.5 million ton of Tilapia) without using great quantities of fish meals. These breedings often integrated into systems of poultry breeding where by pig, the ponds are enriched with the effluents by the breeding (which can as well be very modern and very intensive that family).

The farmed salmon escape puts in danger the wild populations by transmitting infections contracted in captivity and by moving eggs deposited on the bottom by the salmons autochtones because they frayent later. Each year, 500000 fish escape from the breedings according to WWF. FAO recommends the triploidisation of fish of breeding to prevent the " évadés" to reproduce and invade the natural environment.

In the tropical zones, the massive construction of aquicultural farms involved a destruction of the Mangrove S and wetlands.

Littoral fishing

Proposed measures by FAO for a sustainable development of fishing in the coastal areas and on the continental shelf:

Taking away of rights for the exploitation of the resources, together with penalties and elimination of the subsidies incentive to over-capitalization.
Zones or seasons of closed fishing.
To incorporate in marine parks the zones of stocking with fish.
To encourage the installation aquicultural in the environments being able to support them.
Creation of mechanisms of resolution of the conflicts between users.
To reduce the getting mixed up remains rejection.
To improve the selectivity of the fishing machines.
To define objectives of management by-report/ratio in referents and to specify the state of the fisheries.
Control of the matter eutrophisantes rejections.

Examples of management successful with the fishermen exist as in roads of Brest where the restrictions on fishing with scallop and the annual sowing of the roads by young shells born in eclosery made it possible to multiply by 5 the catches which had fallen because of surpêche.

High-sea fishing

Of more and thorough research on the role of the marine mammals and predatory apical in the ecosystem S.
Reducing to accidental captures of birds, of tortoises, marine mammals and maintaining the by-catches on levels allowing the renewal of the populations.
To take account of the low level of renewal and the sensitivity of the marine mammals.
To support management by regional organizations.
To apply new technologies to the control of stocks.
To fight the Flag of convenience.

Choice of the consumer

In addition to the problem of surpêche the consumer must pay attention to the contamination by pollutants. The tuna not degreased accumulates mercury and salmon the pesticides. The fish of durable fishing are the bonito with striped belly, the albacore, the corpulent tuna of line, the bar of breeding, the white bar, the Cabillaud of the Pacific, the plate, the halibut of the Pacific, the red mullet of rock, the tilapia, the turbot ansi that the cool water shrimps and the moulds.

External bond

Vidéos on Channel IRD (Research institute for the Development): Unforeseeable collapses of exploited fish stocks

Random links: