August 24, 2005 - The World Bank and its partners are setting up a new global program for sustainable fishing, amid concern the world is on the brink of a global fish crisis. Called PROFISH, the new program aims to promote effective fisheries strategies and policies at the country, regional and global levels. Director of the Bank's Environment Department, Warren Evans, launched the program at the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Fish for All Summit in Abuja, Nigeria. "We are on the brink of a crisis now," Evans says. "The studies which have been released over the last year show that the marine fisheries are already heavily over-exploited. Coral reefs are damaged globally and unless we do something about the ecological dilemma, then we will not be able to have a sustained fishery for either the poor or rich countries." Evans says the crisis stems from a simple fact. "We are currently taking fish out of the sea much faster than our existing fish stocks can replenish themselves." "For example, seven of the top commercial species are being over-exploited and that means that we're losing access to these fisheries. These stocks cannot recover from the human pressure."
Fish is the most heavily traded food commodity and the fastest growing agricultural commodity on international markets. Quantity not Quality Evans says even though fish yields are about the same every year, the problem is the large commercially valuable species have been over-fished, and more and more smaller fish species are being captured, so the food chain is being disrupted. "So while we are getting the same quantity of fish caught, we aren't getting the same quality and this cannot be sustained over time," he says. According to a new report issued by the World Bank in Nigeria, titled Turning the Tide, over-fishing means far more than just an ecological loss. Impact on Developing Countries Turning the Tide says there is a direct link between over-fishing and poverty - a link which has dramatic implications for developing countries. "It's much more than an ecological loss," Evans says. "There are so many poor people worldwide who rely on fisheries for income, and even more importantly, as their primary source of protein. In places like Bangladesh and Cambodia, the depletion of fish stocks presents a real threat for the health of poor families in coastal and inland communities. So this is a development issue. It's about economic development and about pro-poor growth." Over-fishing also leads to fewer jobs, rises in the price of fish and can reduce an important source of revenue for developing countries.
The importance of fish in developing countries is shown by the numbers. - The fishing, aquaculture and fish production sector employs some 150 million people in developing countries.
- Growth in jobs in the fisheries sector has been mainly in small scale fisheries in the developing world.
Lack of Effective Strategies Evans says there's a clear need for an approach like PROFISH, as existing mechanisms to protect fisheries have not worked on the whole. "In many countries it basically doesn't exist. The poor governance, the lack of regulations, the lack of enforcement of regulations presents almost a barrier to effective fisheries management," he says. Limiting Access Only One of Many Parts of the Strategy "PROFISH is a partnership of the Bank and many other important development partners - and many of our developing country partners - to try and address the governance issues. It's also about addressing institutional capacity issues and encouraging countries to adopt fisheries management as a poverty reduction measure." Evans describes PROFISH as a global effort that "will be translated into actions on and in the water." "It's not an investment program but it's a support program for developing countries so they can identify and tackle the most critical issues so they can have a sustained fisheries yield." Evans says limiting access to fishing is only part of the solution. Another major factor to be addressed is the level of subsidies. "Currently subsidies are devastating for sustainable fisheries in the sense that fishing fleets are subsidized; this results in over fishing in critical ecosystems," he says. |
RSS