International Sustainability Unit – A UK context by Seafish CEO

Posted by Paul Williams, Chief Executive on 07 February 2012

Tags: | fishermen | NGO's | Towards Sustainable Fisheries | ISU | Maria Damanaki | Richard Benyon | Seafish Science | Government

Last week saw the launch of the report "Towards Global Sustainable Fisheries" by Prince Charles's International Sustainability Unit (ISU) in the grand surroundings of Fishmongers' Hall in London. All the key players from industry and NGOs gathered to hear Prince Charles, Commissioner Maria Damanaki, and Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Fisheries, Richard Benyon, and others, welcome the report's findings.

There have been quite a number of workshops and industry meetings held by the ISU over the last year and a few Seafish people, including myself have been involved, so it is not surprising that we are supportive of the conclusions reached. More than that though, I enjoyed being at an event which had such a positive tone, which focused on what can be done and the progress that is already being made, rather than emphasizing the difficulties.

The report defines three pillars that are needed to support the development of sustainable fisheries:

1. 1. Smart economics
2. 2. An ecosystem approach
3. 3. Robust management.

In a UK context, Seafish is particularly involved in the collection of data and analysis of the economics of the fishing fleet and in involving fishermen in ecosystem management. A number of speakers also recognised the need for more and better data on fisheries and the contribution that fishermen can make here. Seafish are developing a new project, Seafish Science, which will aim to ensure that fishermen are collecting robust and meaningful data and that this is presented to regulators and policy makers in a way that allows them to make best use of it in order to support the above objectives.

The other factor that was frequently mentioned as a requirement for establishing sustainable fisheries was transition finance. In situations where stocks need time to recover or where fishing pressure needs to be decreased, how will fishermen be compensated for their loss of earnings or, in some situations, for the loss of basic nutrition to their families and consumers?The afternoon session in Fishmongers' Hall was dedicated to this difficult question, but it seemed to me to be a more tentative session, with fewer clear solutions proposed and more discussion is required. In the long term, fisheries improvements puts more cash into regional economies, but in the short term, to get recovery in fish stocks local hardship can occur.

Therein lies the challenge for NGOs and governments; the basis of good regulation to restore fisheries that are in decline is much easier to define than dealing with the issue of who pays and how communities are brought through the pain. At Seafish we believe the independent work that we undertake can inform difficult debates such as this and lead to eventual solutions for the industry.

Paul Williams, Chief Executive

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