Internationally, the large scale industry is a diverse group of both shore based and at sea harvesting and processing operations. As with all elements of the fishing industry, the performance of large scale fisheries is controlled by various degrees of governmental and institutional constraints. The record shows that the degree of responsible fisheries practised in any sector of the fishing industry largely depends upon the level of responsibility within government and regulatory institutions, and a commitment to responsible fisheries by the fishing industry.
There are a number of reasons why some fisheries have attracted larger vessels, such as remote fishing grounds, the large size of the resource, the perishable nature of the fish, the need for capital intensive production equipment, and the harsh and dangerous fishing conditions. In this production environment, only large scale fisheries are able to deliver seafood at cost effective prices. Without the economies of scale of the large scale seafood industry, this healthy source of protein would either be left in the water or affordable only to the wealthy.
Greenpeace and other NGOs have repeatedly attacked the large scale sector as unsustainable and “strip mining” the seas. However, in the North Pacific under USA jurisdiction, the facts dispute this notion. Fisheries in this region are widely regarded as some of the most responsibly and conservatively managed fisheries anywhere in the world. With a track record of nearly 30 years of commercial fishing activities, none of the 63 species of groundfish in the USA North Pacific are classified as overfished or even approaching the overfishing level. Bering Sea pollock, the largest fishery in the USA, is currently at a high biomass level, 10 million metric tons. The allowable harvest rate of Bering Sea pollock in 2001 is well below the acceptable biological catch of 1.85 million tons, and about half of the MSY harvest rate.
The primary reason that these fisheries are healthy and sustainable is due to the responsible application of the precautionary approach in the calculation of quotas and in the overall management of the fishery since the inception of the 200-mile EEZ in the late 1970s. In addition to precautionary levels of allowable catch, harvests are monitored closely and reported on an ongoing basis. In the Alaskan pollock and Pacific whiting fisheries, the large-scale fleets are required to have two federal fishery observers aboard at all times, who collect fishery data on 99% of all hauls. One hundred percent of all fish caught are weighed on flow scales and catch data is reported daily to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the agency responsible for in-season monitoring of the fishery. Both regulatory and voluntary by catch controls are important tools that have been employed for over 20 years. The large-scale fleet in the North Pacific has the ability to respond rapidly to changes in by-catch and is able to relocate to areas of lower by-catch. This is demonstrated by an overall by-catch rate of 0.6% in the pollock fishery, the lowest of the world’s major fisheries.
Management in the USA North Pacific has implemented marine protected areas to protect habitat. In an effort to protect fish and crab habitat in the eastern Bering Sea, areas closed to bottom trawling encompass 30 000 square miles, or about 25% of the available fishing area. Other ecosystem principles employed include prohibitions on fishing for forage fish stocks in the North Pacific, to protect these important prey species for seabirds and marine mammals. Further, NMFS conducts research on and manages not only targeted fish stocks but also non-targeted species of fish, seabirds, and marine mammals, and takes into consideration the interrelationships between these species and the physical and chemical forces of the marine environment.
The large-scale fleets in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska have been supportive of conservative ecosystem-based management. They are all aware that their economic viability is dependent on sustainable resources, and hence they share a long-term commitment to healthy resources.
Recent changes in USA law have allowed the large scale sector to pursue new avenues, such as harvesting cooperatives, in which quotas are assigned to vessels, thus ending the race for fish. In an era when most fisheries throughout the world are heavily overcapitalized, managing harvesting effort with Olympic style quotas, where vessels must compete against each other as frantically as possible, waste and inefficiency are all too common. In certain fisheries, harvesting coops have proven to be far superior to Olympic quotas as a management tool. Coops have led to reductions in by-catch while at the same time providing increased recovery of processed seafood product: an impressive 36% increase in the pollock fishery. Harvesting cooperatives also result in spreading catch effort more evenly over space and time, decreasing the potential for localized depletion of resources. Because coops allow for individual accountability, and hence a meaningful role in managing the resource, co-op members are willing to support, both logistically and financially, scientific research to improve resource assessments, increased monitoring, and testing of innovative fishing practices. For instance, the Pollock Conservation Cooperative contributes US$ 1.4 million annually to fisheries research.
In the USA North Pacific, the large-scale fishing industry, and American Seafoods, are very supportive of good scientific information and understand that sustainable fisheries, such as the eastern Bering Sea pollock fishery, are only possible with good data on stock status and fishery removals. Integrating additional ecosystem data into existing fishery management plans is an ongoing process and will require careful and comprehensive analysis. However, in many parts of the world, this is already being done and these efforts should continue as long as clear, measurable benefits to the environment and stakeholders can be demonstrated. With the right incentives, the fishing industry can provide positive, creative energy for responsible management practices and fishery research.
