May 19, 2010

UN warns global fish stocks may vanish in 40 years

The UN has warned that if the world remained on its path of overfishing, fish stocks could become uneconomic to exploit, or extinct, by 2050.

The UN's environment branch, UNEP, gave a preview on Monday, May 17, of its green economy report to be published in October.

Pavan Sukhdev, head of the initiative, said, ''Already 30% of the ocean fisheries have collapsed and are producing less than 10% of their original ability.''

At the heart of the analysis is the US$27 billion in subsidies the UN estimates is being injected into fishing every year, mainly by developing countries.

The UN says the subsidies are huge in terms of the scale of the industry, amounting to almost a third of the US$85 billion worth of fish caught. Among those subsidies, the UN defines US$8 billion as ''good'', in that they encourage sustainable fishing of healthy stocks.

Most of the subsidies are bad, meaning they lead to overcapacity and exploitation. About US$3 billion of the subsidies are "ugly", leading to the depletion of the fish population.

Among the most egregious practices targeted by the report are inducements to boost the size of world trawler fleets that are among the main culprits of overfishing, and generous fuel subsidies for fishing fleets.

At stake is not just the biodiversity of the oceans, but a substantial chunk of the global economy and the livelihoods that depend on it.

The UN estimates there are at least 35 million people directly employed in fishing, which translates to about 120 million including their households, and 500 million - about 8% of the world's population - taking into account indirect businesses such as packaging and freezing.

UNEP refused to name the worst overfishing offenders, though it says its final report will contain figures that will enable readers to figure out where the problem is.