How does this affect us?
To keep up with world appetites, the global fish-farming industry will have to increase its growth. The reason is simple; current projections suggest that by 2030 the world’s population will have exceeded 8 billion people. Maintaining today’s consumption rates, of around 17 kilograms per person per year would require an extra 29 million tonnes of fish. Meanwhile, around half of all fish stocks have been deemed “fully exploited” by the FAO, with those deemed “overexploited, depleted or recovering” now around 30%.
Studies by the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre show that globally we have run out of room to expand our fisheries, due to past systematic expansion by industrialized fisheries. The study showed that since 1950, fisheries expanded at the rate of 1 million sq. kilometers per year from 1950-1970, and tripled in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. Reduction in the growth rates during and after the 1990’s reflects a lack of space to grow in, rather than a greater awareness of the ecological impact.
One example of lack of regulation occurred in Chile in the 1970, with the loco sea-snail. A popular delicacy in Chile and Asia the opening of the market nearly wiped out the entire population. It fetched $15000 a tonne at export. In 1980, they exported 25000 tonnes. In 1989 when the fishery was officially closed, the stock had collapsed. Chris Costello and Steve Gaines of the University of California, Santa Barbara have developed a method to gauge the health of fish stocks and applied it to more than 7000 fisheries. They estimate that the fisheries are gravely depleted and have less than half the biomass they need to maintain their maximum annual yield. They also estimate 2% of fisheries have fully collapsed, with less than a 10th of the historical levels of biomass, and that incidents of collapse are rising.
Studies by the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre show that globally we have run out of room to expand our fisheries, due to past systematic expansion by industrialized fisheries. The study showed that since 1950, fisheries expanded at the rate of 1 million sq. kilometers per year from 1950-1970, and tripled in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. Reduction in the growth rates during and after the 1990’s reflects a lack of space to grow in, rather than a greater awareness of the ecological impact.
One example of lack of regulation occurred in Chile in the 1970, with the loco sea-snail. A popular delicacy in Chile and Asia the opening of the market nearly wiped out the entire population. It fetched $15000 a tonne at export. In 1980, they exported 25000 tonnes. In 1989 when the fishery was officially closed, the stock had collapsed. Chris Costello and Steve Gaines of the University of California, Santa Barbara have developed a method to gauge the health of fish stocks and applied it to more than 7000 fisheries. They estimate that the fisheries are gravely depleted and have less than half the biomass they need to maintain their maximum annual yield. They also estimate 2% of fisheries have fully collapsed, with less than a 10th of the historical levels of biomass, and that incidents of collapse are rising.