So What is The Issue?
The following essay takes
a deep look into the major
environmental crisis of overfishing that we as a society are facing today. It
provides a multifaceted approach to the issue, looking at the history, the
effects, both environmental and social, the organisations involved in rectifying the problem, a media campaign,
a local Cape Town case study, as well to analyse the researched communication. Finally,
I provide my personal insight and assumptions on the issue of overfishing.
A brief description of the problem, the history and the consequences of overfishing
Overfishing, a global
problem we as a society are facing today can simply be defined as the
following: “Catching too many fish; fishing so much that the fish cannot
sustain their population. The fish get fewer and fewer, until finally there are
none to catch.” (reefED, n.d.) The issue of overfishing, although a major concern
of many environmentalists today, has; however, been an issue for many years.
The exploitation of
fisheries can be dated all the way back to the 11th Century where
fishermen would, after depleting one ecosystem, move on to other, more
prosperous areas, leaving lasting damage behind. (Greenpeace, 2011)
A significant increase in
the overfishing dilemma; however, came in the mid-20thcentury, when increasing
the availability and affordability of protein rich foods was of international
concern. This led to certain governments increasing their fishing capacity
and creating favourable policies for fishermen, as well as providing loans and
subsidies where needed. Through this, came the rapid rise of large-scale
industrial fishing operations. These profit-driven, commercial fishing fleets
were highly aggressive in their approach and were constantly developing new
methods and technologies to find and extract their target species. This
increase in supply meant that consumers were now accustomed to having access to
a large variety of fish at affordable prices. (National Geographic, 2011)
By 1989; however, the
consequences of this increase in the global fishing capacity were brutal. With
90 million metric tons of catch being removed from the ocean, the industry had
reached its pinnacle, and ever since, the yields have declined or stagnated.
This affected, not only the commercial fishing industry, but also the
ecosystems within our oceans, as well as society as whole. (National
Geographic, 2011)
At present, the rapid
growth in population and; therefore, increased demand in fish, has further
perpetuated the problem of overfishing and the depletion of oceanic ecosystems.
Furthermore, technological advances, subsidies, unfair fisheries partnership
agreements, pirate fishers and a lack of fisheries conservation and management
have also worsened the problem of overfishing. (WWF, n.d.) The consequences or
repercussions of overfishing have had negative effects on the environments as
well as society as a whole.
The following Youtube
video by Green Forum Oceans breaks down overfishing and its consequences:
How it is affecting the environment
With regards to the
environment, the consequences of overfishing include: depletion of certain
species as well as “excessive unintentional harvest of non-targeted, undersized
or protected species, and ecosystems changes.” (Somma, 2003) Certain species
such as Haddock, Atlantic Cod and Bluefin Tuna in particular, have been severely
affected by overfishing and have been classified, as per the United Nations
Food and Agricultural Organisation (2004), as depleted or overfished.
The harvest of non-target
species, which constitutes about a quarter of global fish catch, consists of
the unwanted or unused animals that are caught during the fishing process.
These animals consist of protected or endangered species or species that have
no commercial or recreational value. They often found dead but otherwise are
discarded by management officials. (Somma, 2003)
Finally, the changes to
ecosystems that overfishing is causing is also detrimental to the environment.
Natural resource specialist, Angela Somma (2003) explains: “Top predatory
species tend to be fished for first. Once depleted, fishing moves down the food
chain and can simplify the marine ecosystem.” She further states, “This, along
with environmental changes to important habitat areas, can affect future fish
production levels.”
The following diagram
illustrates how fishing directly and indirectly alters the ecosystem structure
and function:
How it is affecting society
Despite the fact that
overfishing and the depletion of fisheries means that humans will have a
decreased supply of an important protein source, there are other implications
that overfishing has on society as a whole.
In the early 1990’s, in
Newfoundland, Canada, the cod stocks of the Grand Banks seemed infinite for
centuries. This led to thousands of people being employed in the fishing and
fish processing industry. However, in 1992, the cod fishery had finally
collapsed, leaving over 40 000 people jobless. Using this example to explain
the effects of overfishing on society, we can see that, unless something is
done, the effects of overfishing on society will continue to get worse. (WWF,
n.d.)Furthermore, for those coastal communities, where fishing is their main
source of income and food supply, the implications of overfishing will have a
much greater impact. The lack of income, employment and food that is
caused by overfishing will hinder these communities’ possibilities of growth as
well as worsen their standards of living.
Looking at these effects,
it can be said that overfishing is definitely a global issue that is effecting
the environment extensively as well as communities, large and small. If
something is not done, and if sustainable fishing practices are not implemented
on a global scale, the negative effects of overfishing will worsen and we will
see the depletion of many more species of fish.
John Bruno (2012) observes
the changing perceptions of our impact on the sea over time:
The global thoughts and actions on overfishing
Being a global issue,
overfishing has caught the attention of many global organisatioins, activists,
conservationists and of course the United Nations Food and Agricultural
Organisation. All these parties have devised strategies and solutions to better
the overfishing crisis; however, highlighting the approaches of two major
organisations, WWF and Greenpeace, and the most recent study conducted by the Wildlife
Conservation Society, I will sum up the overall global effort with regards to
overfishing.
The World Wide Fund
(WWF)
The World Wide Fund for
Nature (WWF), as expected, is highly involved in the issue of overfishing.
Within the WWF’s Global Marine Programme, that aims to correct the damage that
overfishing has caused and create sustainable, healthy marine ecosystems are; Marine
Protected Areas (MPAs) and Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) (WWF, n.d)
The WWF defines
their Marine Protected Area as: “An area designated to protect marine
ecosystems, processes, habitats, and species, which can contribute to the
restoration and replenishment of resources for social, economic, and cultural
enrichment.” (WWF, n.d) For the success of these protected areas in terms of
conservation, the WWF aims to establish and implement well-managed MPAs,
improve the management of existing MPA’s and reduce external threats, such as
human involvement and climate change. The benefits, they propose, offered by
MPA’s include, the maintenance of biodiversity, the protection of important
marine habitats and the provision of areas where fish can grow to their adult
size, to name a few.
Ecosystem-Based
Management is an attempt to find “new, innovative forms of management that
conserve fish populations, don’t harm other marine species, protect the
structure and function of marine ecosystems, and support sustainable fisheries
and the fishers that depend on them.” (WWF, n.d) This method of conservation
provides a holistic framework to rectify the overfishing crisis and it involves
all stakeholders concerned. Through incorporating all stakeholders of the
fishing industry, the WWF, believe that they will obtain better success in
creating sustainable fisheries and restoring marine ecosystems (WWF, n.d)
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is an organisation, also very well known for their efforts in nature conservation.
With regards to the problem of overfishing, Greenpeace, similarly to WWF, is
working to protect marine reserves; however, they provide two other solutions
that will assist the overfishing problem: sustainable fishing and sustainable
seafood.
Sustainable fishing, a
similar solution to the EBM, promotes the efficient management of fisheries as
well as the protection of other marine life and marine ecosystems. However,
Greenpeace has proposed sustainable fishing techniques as the method to promote
sustainable fishing practices. They believe that fishing methods play a huge
role in determining fisheries’ sustainability as well as the sustainability of
marine life. (Greenpeace, n.d.) The Greenpeace ship, the Esperanza, is at
present in the Pacific, defending the ocean from unsustainable and pirate
fishing. (Greenpeace, n.d.)
The video below explains
what the Esperanza is doing and serves as a visual example of Greenpeace’s
involvement in protecting the ocean.
Sustainable seafood, the
other solution Greenpeace proposes for overfishing, involves retailers and
consumers. They believe that “if retailers and consumers shift towards
purchasing sustainable seafood, then the demand for fish caught using
destructive and unsustainable practices will decline” (Greenpeace, n.d)
To assist this,
Greenpeace has created the Seafood Redlist, a guide that informs people which
fish are being overfished and therefore be avoided. With the use of this guide,
retailers can stop buying fish from unsustainable sources, increase the range
of seafood that is deemed sustainable and work with suppliers to promote
sustainable fishing practices. For consumers, the Seafood Redlist, can assist
their fish purchasing decisions and show them what fish not to buy. In
conjunction with the Seafood Redlist, consumers can and should interrogate
retailers as to where and how the fish was caught and from there, support
retailers that support sustainable seafood. (Greenpeace, n.d)
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
The WCS (2012) explains: “that ‘co-management’—a collaborative
arrangement between local communities, conservation groups, and governments—provides
a solution to a vexing global problem: overfishing.” This is the
outcome after the WCS conducted the largest, ever study of tropical coral reef fisheries
which aimed to find how government, local fisheries, and organizations can
protect livelihoods and fish.
The WCS found apparent evidence
that people were in fact capable of implementing their own rules to manage
fisheries. “This is particularly encouraging because of the perceived
failure of many open-access and top-down government-controlled attempts to
manage fisheries around the world.” (WCS, 2012)
When a comparison between co-managed reefs and other reefs
was made it showed that co-managed reefs were half as likely to be overfished,
however studies also found that “globalized food chains can undermine local,
democratic efforts to manage fisheries better.” When surveyed, only 9 percent of the fisheries
felt that co-management would have a negative impact on their livelihoods, and
an unexpected result showed that the main benefits of co-management tend to filter
up to the wealthier, rather than down to the poor, however it is not disadvantageous
or harmful to them. (WCS, 2012)
Above all this study confirmed that long-term investment in
co-management regimes is crucial for the sustained health and economy of
coastal populations and their supporting marine ecosystems. (WCS, 2012)
The following Youtube
video is a comedic public service announcement on the affects of overfishing
and the proposal of a solution:
A media campaign which relates to this theme
Unlike other
environmental issues that concern the endangerment of a particular species,
overfishing has not received as much media attention. Many advertising campaigns
(especially in the last year) are created to attract awareness to Rhino
poaching per say; however, for overfishing; only one campaign has resonated in
the media:
The WWF Bluefin Tuna Campaign
The WWF Bluefin Tuna
overfishing campaign was created by Ogilvy Paris, with the creative team
consisting of Chris Garbutt (creative director), Arnaud Vanhelle (copywriter),
Benot Raynert (art director) and Thomas Mangold (photographer). The print
advertisement displayed the face of a panda on the body of a Bluefin Tuna and
made use of the copy “Would you care more if I was a panda?” Two adaptations
were created using the faces of a rhino and a gorilla which including the same
copy, adapted appropriately. Below are the three different print ads.(Design
Scene, 2011)
The inspiration behind
the campaign stems from the fact that we, as a society, have not given the
critical issue of overfishing the attention and concern it deserves. The
question “Would you care more if I was a rhino, panda or gorilla?” is used not
to detract attention from other environmental issues that the WWF supports, but
to emphasise societies preferred interest of more publicised conservation
issues as apposed to that of overfishing.
The “sarcastic and
bitter” (Russo, 2011) tone of the campaign and the question “Would you care
more if I was a panda, rhino or gorilla?” are strategically used an emotional
method to raise awareness to the issue at hand. The campaign leaves viewers
feeling guilty or ashamed that they have not paid a sufficient amount of attention
to the problem of overfishing, and in this case, the overfishing of Bluefin
Tuna. With this in mind, it can be said that the campaign has succeed in its
objective of raising public awareness to the plight of Bluefin Tuna. The
campaign has also featured on many advertising websites and blogs, such as ads
of the world, which further demonstrates the success of the campaign.
A local Cape Town incident of overfishing
Overfishing is being
practiced in many places all over the world and the consequences cannot be
blamed on any particular fishery. In South Africa, overfishing can be seen
mainly through the illegal fishing practices, with regards to the poaching of
abalone or perlemoen, as it is locally known as. Abalone poaching is rife is
South Africa due to its economic value for gourmets, particularly in Asia.
Known for its aphrodisiac qualities, it is a delicacy that has spawned illegal
poaching and trade. This has led to the abalone population to diminish
severely. (Marshall, 2002)
In Cape Town especially,
the issue of abalone poaching is fierce. Leon Marshall, from National
Geographic News (2002), states, “Poaching is most intense along a rugged
coastline straddling the confluence of the Indian and the Atlantic Oceans at
the southern tip of Africa and along a 100-mile (160-kilometer) stretch of
South Africa's Western Cape coast.”
The various news articles
and reports about abalone poaching busts also show how the issue is very intense
in the Western Cape. One of the biggest cases related to abalone poaching
happened in 2010 when three Chinese men were arrested for the possession of
over $1,5 million dollars worth of abalone. The three men have recently been
sentenced and will serve severe jail time in South African prisons. (SADOCC,
2011) This is; however, only one case that has been heavily publicized in the
media. Many other poachers are in still in practice in the Western Cape. Malungelo Booi (2012)
reported: that “conservation group Feike recently
announced there was a steady increase in abalone poaching along South Africa’s
coastline.” In the same eye Witness News report it
revealed that last week Western Cape officials recently arrested a 19 year old suspect
after they recovered R1 million worth of abalone.
The environmental
consequences of abalone poaching are similar to any other case of over
exploitation with regards to marine life. The depletion of a particular marine
species will negatively affect the ecosystem in which it lives. The depletion
of the abalone species in this case will adversely affect other species that
may have a symbiotic relationship with the abalone.
The major effect that
abalone poaching has on the society of Cape Town; however, is that it promotes
gangsterism. The high asking price of abalone by foreign Asian countries promotes
locals to become involved in illegal fishing practices. Furthermore, these
illegal fishing gangs compete against one another for resources and contracts
and this leads to an increase in violent crimes amongst them.
Communicating and the construction of the environmental issue:
overfishing
“Any tendency to
over-fishing will meet with its natural check in the diminution of the supply...
this check will always come into operation long before anything like permanent
exhaustion has occurred.” (in Kurlansky,1998: 122) This extract from a speech
made by a prominent scientist over a century ago proves that both the
discussion and debate of overfishing is not a new one. Anders Hansen (2010) explains:
“environmental issues or problems – over time – fade in and out of public focus
in cycles that often seem to have little to do with whether they have been addressed,
resolved, averted or ameliorated.” Society has become increasingly fickle about
what they believe, and support despite that often they may not even completely
understand. As highlighted throughout this essay, overfishing is in fact a
serious environmental problem with vicious consequences; however it sadly has
not and does not get equal or sufficient attention from society. There are various
observations that may explain it – the constructionist argument is that
environmental issues only become recognized through the process of public
claims-making, so we need to examine what the media, communication and discourse
of overfishing has been. (Hansen, 2010)
Firstly we look at the misguided
perception that the sea is resilient to human activity Despite (or perhaps
because of) conflicting evidence from the fishing trade about fish stocks and
landings. Thomas Huxley’s widely reported belief that fishes were so prolific
and the sea in which they swam so large that the activities of fishermen could
have no real effect on stocks I’m sure is one of the claims that helped lead to
the rise of overfishing practices in the twentieth century, at a time when government
was wanting to increase the availability of protein rich food. This rise in the
exploitation of fisheries proves that overfishing stems from the Age of Reason
concept that nature should be used as an economic resource for human purposes
and consumption. (Dickens, 2004: 2) Fish is not an animal that humans can
identify with or get emotionally attached to as easily as rhino’s as per say so
it becomes hard to fathom why we should not desolate their natural habitat or exploit
their species to satisfy our own basic needs.
It is evident that
overfishing has primarily been part of political and scientific discourses up
to now. Governments and scientists have debated the policies regarding fishing
for centuries however as Anders Hansen (2010) explains: “While claims-making and
definition takes place in a number of arenas, the mass media are a particularly
important arena or hub, because it is through the media that we as publics
predominantly learn about what goes on in other key arenas.” When applying
Ibarra and Kitsuse core foci of constructionist analysis to the problem it
becomes more apparent why society remains to some extent detached from this
environmental issue – in particular when looking at setting. If an agency were
to do a print ad to raise awareness for this cause how would you create an
image which resonated a rhetoric of loss or unreason, how would you create a
sense of accountability in society when it is impossible to interact with fish
or have an understanding of their “home.” To most an image of a vast empty
ocean would be considered beautiful so how do we try make sense of it being a
crisis. How can media make this issue more attainable?
As we have seen in the
WWF campaign for Bluefin Tuna, media has now started to take creative and
alternative approaches to raise awareness. Perhaps, the most significant change
has been the fact that overfishing has now entered the public discourse. “Charles
Clovers’ The End of the Line has recently been transformed into a much
acclaimed film, indicating how issues surrounding overfishing are now being
explored in the public domain. Just like many of today’s issues, the real
pendulum swing looks set to rest in the hands of consumers. The appetite for
change and transformation has never appeared stronger. The question is finding
the right approach.” (Alhadeff, 2011)
The Seafood Redlist, provided by Greenpeace in
the hopes to achieve sustainable seafood, is a good example of how
organisations have assisted in creating a global civil society. The Redlist,
which provides consumers with a list of fish that are being overfished and
should be avoided, allows consumers to make informed decisions with regards to
the seafood purchases. As ecological modernisation states, concerned, informed
consumers who favour sustainable fishing practices, will affect fishing
corporations and will hopefully decrease the over exploitation of certain
fisheries.
What do I think?
Although it is tempting
to think of fishers as being involved in an artisanal trade - going to sea in
small wooden boats or sitting on a beach mending nets by hand, in reality the
majority of fish are caught by fishers using a variety of modern technologies
for locating and catching fish and unfortunately in a society fuelled by greed,
markets and industries no longer strive to satisfy need but increasing want, to
a point where the environment simply cannot keep up.
The overfishing crisis we
as a society are facing today, in my opinion, has resulted from Man’s view that
nature has been created to provide and sustain human life. As Dickens (2004: 4)
states: “God has given mankind dominion over nature with Man having the right
to use it, work on it and consume its produce.” The general population has only
recently been concerned with the issue of sustainability. However, despite
this, we as a society have taken and still take nature, and in this case the
ocean’s resources, for granted.
The oceans have been
plundered for many years without care of what it is doing to the marine
ecosystems or the small communities that solely rely on fishing for their
livelihoods. Furthermore, the extreme increase in the world’s population has
worsened the crisis. The marine populations cannot survive or be sustained
under the pressure that is being caused by the global demand for fish.
However, despite the fact
that the oceans are suffering from years of human exploitation, fish as a human
resource cannot be completely disregarded. Fish make up a large source of
protein, so in order for their existence as a part of our diets, we, as a
society, need to make a collective effort to ensure the sustainability of
marine life.
The solutions; however,
cannot be left solely to the WWF and Greenpeace. Individuals that form part of
a mass movement toward sustainable fishing will have the most impact on the
crisis at hand. The idea of a global civil society within the theory of
ecological modernisation, in my opinion, is the best way to put an end to unsustainable
practices. The newer concept of co-management compliments this thinking. With
consumers becoming more concerned as to what fish they are consuming and
choosing only to consume fish that are sustainable, it will stop the
overfishing of endangered marine species, such as the Bluefin tuna.
As a society, we need to
become more proactive in our approach to sustainability and consider the way in
which we consume and how it affects future generations. Individuals must not
get stuck at doing nothing because they can only do little. The ocean and fish
species might seem vast, unreachable, unattainable or even uncomprehending but
that should be no excuse to not focus our efforts on it or have more actors for
this issue.
To conclude it can be
said that overfishing is most definitely an issue that has brutal consequences
and, that without more concerted from a global and individual level, these
consequences will become much more severe. Furthermore, from looking the
theories surrounding the environment, one can see the nature of the problem
that is the overfishing and how it links to human nature as well the origins of
environmental reform and nature conservation.
