Living Oceans
April 2010
Banner photo: Orange Anthias and Coral, Egypt [© David Doubilet]
Fishing for the Future
Author and marine biologist Carl Safina has been described as an "ecologist with the soul of a poet." His advocacy helped bring the conservation of ocean fish to public attention long before recent alarm bells began to be sounded on this issue--it is estimated that today 80 percent of fisheries worldwide are fully exploited or overexploited, and an international group of ecologists and economists warned in 2006 that the world will run out of seafood by 2048 if declines in marine species continue at current rates.
Safina's several books include Song for the Blue Ocean (1998, New York Times Editors' Choice) and Voyage of the Turtle (2006, New York Times Editors' Choice). The View From Lazy Point: A Natural Year in an Unnatural World will be published this year. He is president and cofounder of the Blue Ocean Institute (www.blueocean.org) which uses science, art and literature to inspire a closer relationship with the sea. He is a MacArthur Fellow and a professor at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University in New York, USA, where the Blue Ocean Institute's science office is based.
Frozen bluefin tuna en route to the market are transferred to a cargo boat [© National Geographic/Getty Images]
SGI Quarterly: How did you first become aware of the peril the ocean was in?
Carl Safina: I have enjoyed recreational fishing since I was a child. I grew up and stayed in the same area, and because of my fishing I noticed broad, long-term declines in many desirable species. I became aware of it because I saw it. When there were a lot of tuna, I was thrilled to catch them, and to eat them. We can respect these creatures at different levels, but the ultimate disrespect is to kill them faster than they can replace themselves. All I ask is that we limit our use just enough so that we can keep using. That is so little to ask, and so inclusive of any legitimate desire; we can and must all demand it. It's true that some fishing methods are inherently destructive--such as blasting reefs to stun fish: those methods are mostly banned, but are widely used illegally because of poor enforcement.
Dragnets that harm the bottom should be restricted to certain areas and banned in many areas. Another way of thinking about this is that what matters most is not how an animal like a fish is caught and killed; what matters most is the rate at which they are killed.
SGIQ: How can scientists, fishermen, the food industry and government work together to sustain endangered and valuable species?
CS: It's no problem for scientists, fishermen, government and the food industry to work together. Look how easy it is whenever the scientists and government are trying to help find more fish or give subsidies. That is the history of fisheries management, people working hand in glove. The problem begins when people's objectives diverge, which is a recent development. Government exists, in my opinion, to protect broad public interests from narrow personal interests; the future of many versus the greed of a few. However, greed does not like being restrained. It's the short-term desires of a small number versus the long-term needs of a large number of people.
Humanity is taking too many resources at the expense of the next generation. The answer is both ethical and regulatory. Somehow the next generation must be able to speak up and prevail. The more crowded the world and the more that corporations influence politicians, the more difficult this is.
SGIQ: How can we preserve species and habitats more effectively?
CS: People tend to wish to protect species most similar to ourselves, though there is a lot of cultural variability. In the U.S., eating dogs is unthinkable while in parts of Asia, it is not unusual. Mammals such as dolphins, with their lungs, babies and voices, are more like us than fish, even such magnificent fish as bluefin tuna. These fish are superb animals at the pinnacle of their own lines of evolution, making astonishing migrations and performing amazing feats of survival. Most people never see images of them or hear of them. It is hard to film fish; their element is harder to experience and access.
The once abundant southern bluefin tuna are now threatened with extinction [© David Fleetham/Visuals Unlimited, Inc.]
They must be brought to us through cameras and scientific discovery and the words of writers, and we must all have the time, attention and sufficiently open minds to broaden our understanding of the importance and majesty of all living things--and how we are all interdependent. This understanding takes quality time and a sense of appreciation.
The public and governments could do more to maintain wild populations at viable levels, ensure proper catch quotas, support closed areas to maintain habitats and populations. However, this also takes money for adequate monitoring and enforcement, as well as for public education. It gets harder when people are poor and economies are struggling. The more crowded the world is, the more difficult it is to break out of poverty, and the more difficult all these things become.
SGIQ: Do you see any signs of changes in fishing policy toward sustainable fishing following your and other people's efforts to raise public awareness on this issue?
CS: There is a lot more discussion and policy activity than before. Certainly, there are improved fishing policies in the United States compared to 20 years ago. Many populations of whales are increasing from near-extinction, and in the Atlantic, sea turtles are recovering too. But in many places around the world, fishing pressure is still much too high, and fish populations are declining.
SGIQ: How could we fish more sustainably and ensure sustainable livelihoods for people whose lives rely on fisheries?
CS: Where there is enforcement, laws can limit catch and regulate the landings of individual boats. Where enforcement is scarcer, closing areas may be easier because it is easier to tell if a boat is in a closed area than it is to check catches and engage in complicated monitoring, but those areas still need monitoring and enforcement. In poor areas, communities can police areas they've set aside to produce more fish. In poor, crowded areas with little enforcement, the combination makes sustainability difficult, as too much poverty brings too much pressure. Bringing in local communities and educating them can help, and in a few places these efforts are succeeding to different degrees. As with many things, the poor are most trapped in a worsening situation. Even in developed areas, that tension between short-term demands and long-term viability makes this difficult in practice.
SGIQ: What can we as ordinary people do to keep seas and oceans healthy?
CS: At the Blue Ocean Institute we advocate learning about and moving to more sustainable forms of seafood. We are connected to the ocean in many different ways, but one obvious way we affect the ocean is through the sea creatures we eat. We can all try to make our choices help by choosing sustainable seafood. We can make it a topic of conversation. We can write letters to editors, or comment on blogs when news stories about fisheries appear. We can join conservation groups and help support the effort to move toward more sustainable use of the world.
