Using data to better manage fisheries subsidies

Tim Cashion in Geneva.

Tim Cashion in Geneva.

Text and photos by Tim Cashion.

In early October, I had the opportunity to travel to Geneva to present on behalf of Sea Around Us and the Fisheries Economics Research Unit for a roundtable discussion on fisheries subsidies. The discussion was convened by the E15 Initiative and the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development. The ICTSD has been working closely with Rashid Sumaila of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit for several years on the topic of fisheries subsidies. They have used his research in partnership with Sea Around Us to inform countries of the amounts of fisheries subsidies and designated them as the good (beneficial), the bad (harmful), and the ugly (ambiguous).

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FishTracker

Shareholders in fishing companies at risk from fisheries over-exploitation: Research

FishTracker

 

Shareholders in the world’s major publically-listed fishing companies are exposed to risk from overfished fish stocks, with many of these stocks underperforming or at risk of collapse, a new study reveals.

The report, produced by the Fish Tracker Initiative in collaboration with the Sea Around Us, states that 32 per cent of the 97 stocks targeted by fishing giants such as South Korea’s Dongwon Industries and Silla Co., Norway’s Austevoll Seafood, and Canada’s Clearwater Seafoods are overfished.

“This is an important finding because it matches the global average. Globally, at least 31 per cent of fish stocks are overfished and we would have thought that large publicly listed fishing companies like the largest 19 identified here, whose combined annual revenues exceed $4 billion, as well as institutional investors would not be exposed to this, but they are,” says Tim Cashion, a scientist with the Sea Around Us who led the fisheries research in the report.

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Photo by Fred Sharples, Flickr.

Global insurers unite to cut financial lifeline to pirate fishing

Leading insurers from around the world have committed to take action on pirate fishing, an unlawful practice that costs the global economy tens of billions of dollars in losses every year and contributes to overfishing and the destruction of vital marine habitats and ecosystems.

According to a press release by Oceana, two dozen companies including Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty, AXA, Generali, Hanseatic Underwriters and The Shipowners’ Club have co-sponsored the world’s first insurance industry statement on sustainable marine insurance.

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Daniel Pauly’s shifting baselines in The New York Times Magazine

Daniel Pauly’s shifting baselines in The New York Times Magazine

Daniel Pauly’s shifting baselines in The New York Times Magazine

The piece was published earlier this year. However, writing a post about it on the Sea Around Us blog became a timely issue in the past days, given all the extreme weather events that have recently taken place across the world, from the devastation in Puerto Rico caused by hurricane María to the severe drought that has left millions of Ethiopians in need of emergency food assistance.

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Cape Town, Daniel Pauly and Rashid Sumaila. Photos by Vicky Lam.

Initiatives to strengthen climate change adaptation in Africa – Cape Town

Cape Town, Daniel Pauly and Rashid Sumaila. Photos by Vicky Lam.

Cape Town, Daniel Pauly and Rashid Sumaila. Photos by Vicky Lam.

By Vicky Lam – Research Associate & Program Manager, Nereus Program, University of British Columbia.

In late August, Professors Daniel Pauly, Rashid Sumaila and Dr. Vicky Lam, as representatives of the Global Fisheries Cluster in UBC’s Institute for Oceans and Fisheries, were invited by the World Bank to attend a technical consultation meeting in Cape Town, South Africa. The plan was to discuss a potential project that aims at understanding the likely impacts of climate change on fisheries in African countries.

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