Tag: catch reconstructions

Alaska Pollock. Photo by NOAA FishWatch, Wikimedia Commons.

Ten million tonnes of fish wasted every year despite declining fish stocks

Alaska Pollock. Photo by NOAA FishWatch, Wikimedia Commons.

Alaska Pollock. Photo by NOAA FishWatch, Wikimedia Commons.

Industrial fishing fleets dump nearly 10 million tonnes of good fish back into the ocean every year, according to new research.

The study by researchers with the Sea Around Us – Indian Ocean at the University of Western Australia, and the Sea Around Us, an initiative at the University of British Columbia, reveals that almost 10 per cent of the world’s total catch in the last decade was discarded due to poor fishing practices and inadequate management. This is equivalent to throwing back enough fish to fill about 4,500 Olympic sized swimming pools every year.

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Photos from Wikimedia Commons.

Illegal foreign fishing and lack of reporting threaten Sierra Leone’s fisheries sector

Photos from Wikimedia Commons.

Photos from Wikimedia Commons.

Illegal fishing accounts for about 30 per cent of catches by industrial foreign fleets in Sierra Leone, says a new study published in Marine Policy.

The paper states that, in the past decade, industrial foreign vessels have increased their presence and illegal activities in Sierra Leonean waters either on their own or by enticing small-scale fishers into illicit partnerships, such as acting as transshipment vessels in nearshore areas.

Reduced monitoring, control, and surveillance, related to the withdrawal of development aid, is spurring unlicensed operations, researchers say. The study estimates that more than 42,000 tonnes of fish were caught illegally in 2015 alone.

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Dirk Zeller talks about the new Sea Around Us – Indian Ocean

Starting in the summer of 2017, Dr. Dirk Zeller will be leading the Sea Around Us – Indian Ocean as Professor of Marine Conservation at the University of Western Australia.

While continuing with the project’s global approach towards the study of the impact of fisheries on the marine ecosystems of the world, the Sea Around Us – Indian Ocean will focus on issues affecting this particular region and surrounding areas, and how those issues need to be taken into account when addressing global ocean conservation.