3.7-Million Fishing Vessels Now Plying the World’s Oceans
If you walk into any rural community or fisheries-related museum anywhere in Atlantic Canada, chances are you will see old, faded photographs of busy harbours hanging on the walls.
Harbours that were not only bustling with people and commerce but were absolutely filled with boats — in many cases hundreds of small fishing vessels, backed with impressive looking schooners at anchor.
There were so many small boats back then, that stories still abound that you could literally circumvent an entire harbour by jumping from boat to boat — without touching land or getting your feet wet.
The fishery of today is of course much different than that of our forefathers. Fishing vessels today are fewer, but larger, more powerful and have the ability to catch larger quantities of fish over shorter periods of time. Our grandfathers and great-grandfathers would have had to take a seat on one of their wooden trawl tubs if they witnessed the modern fishery of today.
But how does this historic trend in Atlantic Canada compare to what is going on in other fisheries around the world? You might be surprised.
Similar to this region, studies around the globe have shown that overall, fishing vessels are getting larger, are being equipped with more powerful engines, while expanding their range and ability to bring more fish to port.
But the similarity in trends seems to end there. In fact, unlike Atlantic Canada, fishing fleets have doubled worldwide since 1950.
A new research paper entitled Evolution of Global Marine Fishing Fleets and the Response of Fished Resources, reported that the number of fishing vessels more than doubled to 3.7 million between 1950 and 2015 — with the biggest increase taking place in Asia, where the number quadrupled.
The paper, that was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also said this increase has been driven by substantial expansion of the motorized fleet, particularly, of the powered-artisanal fleet.
“By 2015, 68 per cent of the global fishing fleet was motorized. Although the global fleet is dominated by small powered vessels under 50 kW, they contribute only 27 per cent of the global engine power, which has increased from 25 to 145 GW (combined powered-artisanal and industrial fleets).”
In the 1950s, by comparison, only about 20 per cent of fishing vessels around the world had motors.
Previous studies of global fishing fleets have typically relied on intergovernmental agencies, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which do not have complete records. For the new paper, Yannick Rousseau, a fisheries ecologist at the University of Tasmania in Battery Point, Australia, gathered additional data from about 100 countries, examining local reports, national registries and scientific papers. Rousseau was able to analyze trends for three groups of vessels: both motorized and unmotorized small-scale fishing boats, often called artisanal and industrial fishing boats, which are typically longer than 12 metres and can go farther offshore.
But probably the most startling conclusion to come from this new research is that despite the tremendous expansion of the fishing fleets, the effective catch per unit of effort (CPUE) has consistently decreased since 1950, showing the increasing pressure of fisheries on ocean resources.
“The effective CPUE of most countries in 2015 was a fifth of its 1950s value, which was compared with a global decline in abundance. There are signs, however, of stabilization and more effective management in recent years, with a reduction in fleet sizes in developed countries,” the report stated.
As previously mentioned, in those parts of the world that have stepped up conservation measures and more responsible fisheries management, namely North America, Western Europe and Australia, fish stocks have somewhat stabilized over the last two decades. Government regulators in these regions have tightened the rules and subsidies and have made it more attractive to retire older vessels.
However, the same trend does not apply in Southeast Asia, the Mediterranean and Latin America where the fishing fleets continue to increase year over year and there is no sign this will be slowing in the coming decades, putting more pressure on already depleted fish stocks.
At current rates, the researchers expect a million more fishing vessels to become motorized by 2050, and engine power will increase on others “as developing countries continue to transition away from subsistence fisheries, challenging sustainable use of fisheries’ resources.”
Fleets of larger vessels will continue moving into territorial waters of other countries and also into the high seas. These trends will make it harder to sustainably exploit fish stocks.
One researcher warned that “We haven’t reached the peak of intensive fishing.”
The numerous fisheries in this region have certainly benefitted from the growing number of worldwide, fish-hungry consumers, particularly in Asia. However, this exponential demand has also led these countries to increase their domestic fishing fleets in an attempt to meet the demand for seafood.
Many of these developing nations will need help to improve their fisheries management, but that is easier said than done, with the growth of the middle class and customers demanding more and more appetizing fish options. The new data on vessels could help. In places where biologists have not assessed the size of fish populations, they could use information about the fleets to estimate the pressure on local stocks.
So, it is more important now than ever that more research, such as the type outlined here, be adequately funded, conducted and results shared around the world.
