JUST HOW BIG IS OUR GLOBAL FISHING FOOTPRINT?

Published on Feb 26 2018 

Just How Big is our Global Fishing Footprint?

Before you read this blog post, close your eyes and try to imagine an ocean teeming with life. Picture a diversity of marine fish, big and small, swimming through healthy ocean habitat. Unfortunately, there are very few places remaining on Earth where the ocean still looks like that. The ocean has been degraded and faces many threats, including from overfishing.

Mapping Global Fishing Efforts

Recently, researchers, including some from Dalhousie University, have revealed the massive global footprint of industrial fishing. Prior to this research the global footprint of fishing was poorly understood. This is largely due to the lack of transparency within the fishery sector. Fishing is a very competitive industry and often fishers will only share catch information when required. By using more advanced forms of data collection, including satellite information, researchers were able to map industrial fishing activity across the entire globe. Global Fishing Watch produced this interactive map in partnership with University of California Santa Barbara, National Geographic Pristine Seas, SkyTruth, Dalhousie University, Stanford University, and Google. For the first time, it depicts when and where fishing occurs at a global scale. The findings from this research suggest that industrial fishing activity is occurring in more than half of the ocean’s surface. According to the Global Fishing Watch, that is 4 times the area used for terrestrial agriculture production! Our too often “out of sight, out of mind” thinking has allowed fishing to progress to a point which is far from sustainable. Fortunately, this research also revealed that despite the widespread and extensive nature of global fishing efforts there are significant regions of the ocean that are not heavily fished. Without adequate protection and effective management, I imagine that it will not be long before these areas are exploited too.

A Closer Look at the Map

This map is an important tool for better understanding and managing our global fisheries and global ocean as a whole. While this map sheds light on the overwhelming amount of industrial fishing happening in the ocean, it does not share information on the type of fishing method being employed by each vessel. This is an important component of the environmental sustainability of a fishery. The degree of environmental impact of a fishery can vary between fisheries and even between vessels. To give you an example, BBC Earth released a video that showcases two different methods for harvesting scallops, dredging and handpicking. While both commercial fisheries, handpicking scallops has much less of an impact on the environment than dredging, a fishing method which completely devastates ocean life and habitat in its path. In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of fishing activity on a global scale and how to best manage it, knowing the type of fishing taking place is important. Luckily, a researcher at Dalhousie University highlighted that this software does have an algorithm that allows it to extrapolate what type of fishing a vessel is engaged in. You can request to download the data here. Finally, as with any research, there are gaps as a result of limitations in data availability. For example, this map does not include vessels that do not have tracking capabilities and areas where there is poor satellite data. This means that there is probably more fishing occurring across this globe than what this map reveals.

Small Actions Can Have a Big Impact

Let’s go back to the picture that you created in your mind at the beginning of this blog post. There are many ways that you can contribute to restoring fish stocks to the picture that you imagined. In order to do this it is important to “think global and act local”. After reading this blog and the embedded articles, you have acquired general knowledge surrounding the state of the world’s fisheries- it’s not bright. Allow this knowledge to inform your daily choices, like those you make at the seafood counter at the grocery store. At the grocery store you have the opportunity to vote for a brighter future for the ocean with your dollar. Try to select fish that were harvested sustainably and avoid seafood products that lack traceability information such as where and how it was caught. Navigating the seafood market can be extremely difficult, even for fishery experts but there are some resources such as OceanWise, SeaChoice and Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch that can help you to explore sustainable seafood options. Finally, by supporting the work that environmental organizations do to protect the ocean and its resources, you are helping to promote a healthy ocean that is viable for future generations. One way you can do so is by showing support for the creation of marine protected areas and better methods for managing the oceans. You can let politicians know that this matters to you by writing a letter.

Thank you for reading. Here’s to hoping for a brighter future for our fish friends.

Best fishes,

Meghan