What are Wild Fisheries?
Worldwide, fishing boats haul in about 80 million metric tons of wild, or unfarmed, catch each year.
That's an annual average of 35 pounds of fish per person, with the catch totaling more than 78 billion
dollars. [FAO Fishstat+] The type of fish, the people who go after it, and the place that it is caught are
all together known as a fishery. A fishery is defined as [cite]:
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An area with an associated fish or aquatic population which is captured or harvested for its
commercial value.
An activity leading to the harvest, or capture, of fish.
The combination of fish and fishers in a region, where the fishers target a species using certain
types of gear.
Wild fisheries are also known as capture fisheries because the aquatic life they support is not farmed
and must be captured or fished. Sound management of these resources is critical for many reasons.
Wild fisheries management aims to
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Preserve natural habitat, including everything that surrounds and affects fish life, e.g.
water quality, bottom, vegetation, associated species.
Limit fishing intensity beyond an agreed upon optimum level, or overfishing.
Reduce fish caught incidental to the harvest of the primary target species, or bycatch.
Mitigate pollution.
Preserve biological diversity (biodiversity) in the oceans.
Wild fisheries regulation is pervasive and evolving
International, federal and even some state law regulates the commercial taking of fish.
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Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), ratified by 157 nations, and nearing full U.S. Senate support,
provides for regulation of marine scientific research, protection of the marine environment,
and protection for highly migratory species.
NOAA Fisheries (NMFS) promotes sustainable fisheries, recovery of protected species, and
the health of coastal marine habitats in the USA.
The Massachusetts Oceans Act of 2008 will require Massachusetts to develop a first-in-thenation plan to manage development in state waters, granting the Division of Marine
Fisheries sole responsibility for developing and implementing any fisheries management
plans or fisheries regulations [ M.G.L. Ch. 21A, Sec. 4C ]. [ 20081103 Ian Bowles on C&I
NPR link]
Why are Wild Fisheries and their Management Important?
The great oceans are exhaustible [ link ] (link doesn’t seem to be working – DF)
Catching fish is an uncertain proposition even at the best of times. Scientists are studying what
environmental conditions cause fish numbers to fluctuate. They're also cataloging which fish
stocks, like Atlantic bluefin tuna and cod, are critically overfished. Policy analysts are determining
how to reduce bycatch and encourage sustainable fishing. In 1871, President Ulysses S. Grant
signed a bill directing study of the “decrease of the food fishes of the seacoasts and lakes of the
United States, and to suggest remedial measures”. The bill established the Office of Commissioner
of Fish and Fisheries, the predecessor to NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, in Woods Hole,
Massachusetts. [link]
Wild fisheries management is as much about people as it is about fish
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Jobs - the recreational and commercial fishing industries depend on sound
management practices. Work opportunity declines with the fish stocks.
Food - fresh, local, and affordable seafood prices are climbing. Imported seafood,
while sometimes more affordable, arrives with less of a guarantee of safe food
handling [ link link link ]. Fish are also used inanimal feed, fertilizers for crops,
additives in foods (i.e., ice cream) and cosmetics (i.e., creams and lotions).
Recreation - coastal economies rely in part on 'fishing tourism.'
Survival of fish species is also at stake
Significant wild fisheries have collapsed, or are in danger of collapsing, due to overfishing
and pollution. Overall, production from the world's wild fisheries has leveled out, and may
be starting to decline. Biological diversity (or biodiversity), the variety and variability among
living organisms from all sources, may reflect ecosystem stresses such as those due to high
fishing intensity [CITE NMFS GLOSSARY]. Fish play a vital role in the health of marine
ecosystems [ link ]. Wild fisheries management policies play an important role in fighting for
their survival.