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Over fishing is a concerning and growing issue because they the food chain will become unbalanced if to many fish disappear. This can happen not only from the lack of the fish in the sea but from the lack of preys that are being eaten, resulting in over population of other species. The imbalance between predator and prey is the leading effect of the imbalanced food chain.

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Patagonia Toothfish have been faced with the issue of overfishing is nothing new. Fisherman discovered early on, when first uncovering Patagonia Toothfish, the species is slow to develop and mature. So they don't recognize when they are being caught making them easy prey.

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Chilean Sea Bass: How Patagonian Toothfish was saved | MSC

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Smarter fishing practices, improved management and MSC certification have transformed Patagonian toothfish into a sustainable delicacy.

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Not only is the Toothfish's ecosystem is being threatened, but all of the southern ocean is being unsustainably fished as well.

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Since the 18th century, when humans first began commercial hunting in the Antarctic's Southern Ocean, many species have been hunted and fished to near extinction due to commercial activities.

Warm up

In 1980 CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, entered into force in 1982) was formed to protect and monitor the exploitation of the Southern Ocean within a Convention Area, which applies to the marine living resources living there. The Convention Area is all of the waters bounded by the Antarctic continent to the south, and to the north by a line starting at 50°S, 50°W and then due east to 30°E, then due north to 45°S, then due east to 80°S, then south to 60°S then to 50°W and back to the beginning. Importantly, it also covers areas beyond the Antarctic Treaty's 60 degrees South zone.

The incidence of illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing has been a great cause for concern in the Convention Area. Some targeted species such as the Patagonian Toothfish (sometimes known as the Chilean Sea Bass) are currently being fished unsustainably and therefore, threatening the survival of the whole Southern Ocean ecosystem as well as undermining CCAMLR's conservation work.

The CCAMLR Fishery reports includes different species that were hunted/fished/caught in the Southern Ocean and Antarctic areas.

Cold Facts

Are measures working to reduce the incidence of IUU fishing?

Although hunting for seals and whales began in the 18th century, large scale commercial fishing did not begin until the 1970s, beginning with distant water trawler fleets targeting nototheniids, laternfish and icefish.

Long lining fishing began in the mid-1980s to catch Pategonian Toothfish (also know as the Chilean sea bass) which resulted in the bycatch of bird species such as albatross and petrels which drowned when caught in the lines, a more detailed description of this can be found in the section on Conservation. Millions of tonnes of finfish have been taken out of the Southern Ocean as the fishing has followed a pattern. Once fishing of a species was discovered as viable, full-scale unsustainable exploitation began leading to a rapid decline of species then the commercial fishing switches to another species and the cycle starts again.

Conservation

CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources) was set up in 1980 under the Antarctic Treaty to manage and protect the marine resources in the Southern Ocean. Conservation under the Convention does include the ' rational ' use of the Southern Ocean. However by the end of the 1980s CCAMLR had banned fishing for most finfish species or put into place strict catch limits.

Krill

Fishing for krill began in the 1970s. There was concern at the time that the fishing of krill would negatively impact on the entire Antarctic marine ecosystem because krill is a major food source for many species of whale, seal, bird and fish species. Krill is used for animal feed, aquaculture feed, bait and food for humans. Krill catches peaked at more than 500,000 tonnes in 1981/2. After the Soviet fleet stopped operating in the early 1990s, the krill catch dropped dramatically. The current krill catch is slightly more than 100,000 tonnes a year.

Over the last 10 years there has been a large increase in illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing in the convention area and nearby areas, although IUU has been completely eliminated around South Georgia. Some of the worst activity occurred near the South African Prince Edward Islands and Australia and France agreed to work together to tackle IUU fishing around their overseas territories in the Southern Ocean. Substantial catches of toothfish have been taken by longline fishing and more recently with gillnet fishing. The CCAMLR estimates of IUU fishing are far higher than the allowable (sustainable) catches agreed by CCAMLR. IUU fishing is considered to be fishing that is conducted illegally within the Convention Area or in a way that is against the conservation measures put in place to control and monitor catches.

IUU fishing of toothfish has raised cause for concern. The high level of IUU fishing has had a negative effect on toothfish stocks but has also seriously affected other species in the food web including sea bird populations putting the future sustainability of both groups into question.

Management of the Conservation Area

The aims of CCAMLR are to:

Conserve marine life of the Southern Ocean to maintain the ecological balance between harvested and other marine populations and restore depleted populations.

Prevent changes/minimise changes to the ecosystem which are not reversible within 20-30 years e.g. introduction of alien species, activities in and around Antarctica, environmental changes.

CCAMLR manages the Southern Ocean using two approaches. The first is a 'precautionary approach' where CCAMLR collects all the data it can, then weighs up the uncertainties and gaps in the data and then makes a decision. This prevents delays in decision making that could allow unsustainable practices to continue causing long term impacts on marine life.

CCAMLR also uses an 'ecosystems approach' which considers all the natural relationships between organisms and their environment. This approach regulates fishing on certain species but also aims to ensure that fishing does not impact on other species related to the target species.

Conservation measures

CCAMLR has introduced a number of conservation methods to try and monitor and preserve fish stocks. Here are some of the main methods used:

Boats need to be licensed to operate in the convention area. Marking fishing boats and fishing gear.

Fishing is not allowed unless boats have a license. This sets the specific area, species and time period that fishing is allowed.

Port inspections of vessels carrying tooth fish. This is to check that if fishing has been carried out in the Convention Area and whether it was carried out in line with CCAMLR conservation measures.

Licensed fishing vessels must be equipped with a satellite-linked vessel monitoring device to communicate their position in the Convention Area. Problems with this may result in licensing being taken away.

Catch Documentation Scheme (CDS). The landing of toothfish without a catch document is not allowed. Fishing operators must take steps to identify the origin of the toothfish catch and how it was caught in line with conservation measures.

Scheme to ensure CCAMLR conservation measures are followed. Evidence is collected showing vessels which are not working in line with conservation measures. E.g. fishing without a licence, not recording or declaring catches.

To learn more about these methods visit the following websites:

Student activity

Analysing data

This task is designed to analyse the relationship between the numbers of IUU caught toothfish and time. From this you may be able to infer whether the management of the Southern Ocean has been a success.

Before you begin download the spreadsheet and helpsheet:

1. Open the data for IUU toothfish in the Excell spreadsheet.

2. Decide on an appropriate hypothesis and null hypothesis for this data.

3. Decide on and create an appropriate graph to display this data. Justify your choice of graph.

4. Conduct a statistical analysis to show the relationship between the years and the quantity of IUU toothfish caught using Pearson's correlation test or Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient.

5. Using your statistical analysis data, suggest reasons for the relationship between the amount of IUU toothfish caught and the years.

6. Suggest other factors which may also influence the trend in this data.

7. Give reasons why these ICT techniques (in question 4) are effective in geography.

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Are measures working to reduce the incidence of of illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing?

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If things continue in the way they are the species will go extinct and the food web will be unbalanced. Meaning some populations will dominate and others will struggle, leaving their habitat unordered and with an unequal balance of predator and prey.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Since the 18th century, when humans first began commercial hunting in the Antarctic's Southern Ocean, many species have been hunted and fished to near extinction due to commercial activities.

Warm up

In 1980 CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, entered into force in 1982) was formed to protect and monitor the exploitation of the Southern Ocean within a Convention Area, which applies to the marine living resources living there. The Convention Area is all of the waters bounded by the Antarctic continent to the south, and to the north by a line starting at 50°S, 50°W and then due east to 30°E, then due north to 45°S, then due east to 80°S, then south to 60°S then to 50°W and back to the beginning. Importantly, it also covers areas beyond the Antarctic Treaty's 60 degrees South zone.

The incidence of illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing has been a great cause for concern in the Convention Area. Some targeted species such as the Patagonian Toothfish (sometimes known as the Chilean Sea Bass) are currently being fished unsustainably and therefore, threatening the survival of the whole Southern Ocean ecosystem as well as undermining CCAMLR's conservation work.

The CCAMLR Fishery reports includes different species that were hunted/fished/caught in the Southern Ocean and Antarctic areas.

Cold Facts

Are measures working to reduce the incidence of IUU fishing?

Although hunting for seals and whales began in the 18th century, large scale commercial fishing did not begin until the 1970s, beginning with distant water trawler fleets targeting nototheniids, laternfish and icefish.

Long lining fishing began in the mid-1980s to catch Pategonian Toothfish (also know as the Chilean sea bass) which resulted in the bycatch of bird species such as albatross and petrels which drowned when caught in the lines, a more detailed description of this can be found in the section on Conservation. Millions of tonnes of finfish have been taken out of the Southern Ocean as the fishing has followed a pattern. Once fishing of a species was discovered as viable, full-scale unsustainable exploitation began leading to a rapid decline of species then the commercial fishing switches to another species and the cycle starts again.

Conservation

CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources) was set up in 1980 under the Antarctic Treaty to manage and protect the marine resources in the Southern Ocean. Conservation under the Convention does include the ' rational ' use of the Southern Ocean. However by the end of the 1980s CCAMLR had banned fishing for most finfish species or put into place strict catch limits.

Krill

Fishing for krill began in the 1970s. There was concern at the time that the fishing of krill would negatively impact on the entire Antarctic marine ecosystem because krill is a major food source for many species of whale, seal, bird and fish species. Krill is used for animal feed, aquaculture feed, bait and food for humans. Krill catches peaked at more than 500,000 tonnes in 1981/2. After the Soviet fleet stopped operating in the early 1990s, the krill catch dropped dramatically. The current krill catch is slightly more than 100,000 tonnes a year.

Over the last 10 years there has been a large increase in illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing in the convention area and nearby areas, although IUU has been completely eliminated around South Georgia. Some of the worst activity occurred near the South African Prince Edward Islands and Australia and France agreed to work together to tackle IUU fishing around their overseas territories in the Southern Ocean. Substantial catches of toothfish have been taken by longline fishing and more recently with gillnet fishing. The CCAMLR estimates of IUU fishing are far higher than the allowable (sustainable) catches agreed by CCAMLR. IUU fishing is considered to be fishing that is conducted illegally within the Convention Area or in a way that is against the conservation measures put in place to control and monitor catches.

IUU fishing of toothfish has raised cause for concern. The high level of IUU fishing has had a negative effect on toothfish stocks but has also seriously affected other species in the food web including sea bird populations putting the future sustainability of both groups into question.

Management of the Conservation Area

The aims of CCAMLR are to:

Conserve marine life of the Southern Ocean to maintain the ecological balance between harvested and other marine populations and restore depleted populations.

Prevent changes/minimise changes to the ecosystem which are not reversible within 20-30 years e.g. introduction of alien species, activities in and around Antarctica, environmental changes.

CCAMLR manages the Southern Ocean using two approaches. The first is a 'precautionary approach' where CCAMLR collects all the data it can, then weighs up the uncertainties and gaps in the data and then makes a decision. This prevents delays in decision making that could allow unsustainable practices to continue causing long term impacts on marine life.

CCAMLR also uses an 'ecosystems approach' which considers all the natural relationships between organisms and their environment. This approach regulates fishing on certain species but also aims to ensure that fishing does not impact on other species related to the target species.

Conservation measures

CCAMLR has introduced a number of conservation methods to try and monitor and preserve fish stocks. Here are some of the main methods used:

Boats need to be licensed to operate in the convention area. Marking fishing boats and fishing gear.

Fishing is not allowed unless boats have a license. This sets the specific area, species and time period that fishing is allowed.

Port inspections of vessels carrying tooth fish. This is to check that if fishing has been carried out in the Convention Area and whether it was carried out in line with CCAMLR conservation measures.

Licensed fishing vessels must be equipped with a satellite-linked vessel monitoring device to communicate their position in the Convention Area. Problems with this may result in licensing being taken away.

Catch Documentation Scheme (CDS). The landing of toothfish without a catch document is not allowed. Fishing operators must take steps to identify the origin of the toothfish catch and how it was caught in line with conservation measures.

Scheme to ensure CCAMLR conservation measures are followed. Evidence is collected showing vessels which are not working in line with conservation measures. E.g. fishing without a licence, not recording or declaring catches.

To learn more about these methods visit the following websites:

Student activity

Analysing data

This task is designed to analyse the relationship between the numbers of IUU caught toothfish and time. From this you may be able to infer whether the management of the Southern Ocean has been a success.

Before you begin download the spreadsheet and helpsheet:

1. Open the data for IUU toothfish in the Excell spreadsheet.

2. Decide on an appropriate hypothesis and null hypothesis for this data.

3. Decide on and create an appropriate graph to display this data. Justify your choice of graph.

4. Conduct a statistical analysis to show the relationship between the years and the quantity of IUU toothfish caught using Pearson's correlation test or Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient.

5. Using your statistical analysis data, suggest reasons for the relationship between the amount of IUU toothfish caught and the years.

6. Suggest other factors which may also influence the trend in this data.

7. Give reasons why these ICT techniques (in question 4) are effective in geography.

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Are measures working to reduce the incidence of of illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing?

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There are a couple solutions that present themselves with the conversation of overfishing. One being to apply regulations on fishing nets, another is to protect essential predator species to keep the balance, as well as the possibility of increasing marine protection.

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The average person eats nearly double the amount of seafood as half a century ago. To satisfy the rapidly growing demand, global production of fish has quadrupled over the past 50 years. This, however, has come with alarming exploitation rates on fish stocks across the world and unsustainable levels of wild fish catch, making overfishing one of the biggest environmental problems of our lifetime. As we reflect on this practice's detrimental effects, we explore the most effective solutions to overfishing.-
What is Overfishing?

Overfishing is, in some sense, a rational reaction to increasing market needs for fish. Since the 1960s, the world's population has nearly quadrupled. With it came a revolution in lifestyle and food habits.

Nowadays, people consume more than twice as much seafood as they did 50 years ago, with per capita aquatic food consumption growing from an average 9.9 kilograms to a staggering 20.2 kilograms in 2020.

The fish market is now valued at US$406 billion and global fisheries and aquaculture production has reached an all-time high of 214 million metric tons in 2020 - according to the UN State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture Report 2022.

Unsurprisingly, the rising demand for seafood resulted in a steady decline in fishery resources due to overfishing, pollution, poor management, and other factors. Today, less than 65% of stocks are considered to be fished within biologically sustainable levels, with the remaining part being classified as "overfished". This me ans that the stock of available fishing waters is being depleted faster than it can be replaced. The report also categorises more than 57% of all stocks as "maximally sustainably fished" and only 7% of stocks as "underfished."

Figure 1: Global trends in the state of the world's marine fishery stocks

On a better note, the UN's flagship report found a slight improvement in the number of landings from biologically sustainable stocks, which experienced a slight decrease from 2017, currently sitting at 64.6%.

While this data suggests that effective fisheries management has been proven successful in rebuilding stocks and increasing catches within ecosystem boundaries, the road to restoring ecosystems to a healthy and productive state while protecting the long-term supply of marine foods is still long.

We explore some of the best and most effective solutions to overfishing.
You might also like: 15 Facts About Overfishing
Solutions to Overfishing

1. Ban Fishing Subsidies

Subsidies for fuel, fishing gear, and building new vessels notoriously incentivise overfishing and represent thus a huge problem. They often benefit large-scale fishing companies which indirectly encourage the use of fuel-intensive fishing and destructive fishing practices such as deep-sea trawling. Furthermore, researchers found that illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is sometimes related to more serious problems like human trafficking and slavery at sea.

In June 2022, the World Trade Organization (WTO) secured a historic deal aimed at curbing fishing subsidies and reducing global overfishing. The landmark Fisheries Agreement introduces new rules to help preserve the world's oceans, boost falling fishing stocks, and protect the countless communities around the world whose livelihoods depend on marine resources. The accord will see countries working together to ban subsidies to IUU fishing and restrict subsidies for stocks that are already overfished. The text allows for subsidies as long as they are implemented to rebuild the fishing stock to a "biologically sustainable level" and it includes measures to enhance transparency and accountability of governments on how they subsidise the industry.

2. Adopt Rights-Based Fishery Management

A much needed solution to overfishing is the adoption of rights-based fishery management tools. According to the World Wildlife (WWF) , such approach can transform global fisheries performance and help achieve a balance between economic, ecological, and social needs around the world. In short, rights-based management (RBM) entitles an entity - such as a person, community, company, or fishing vessel - to fish in a particular place at a particular time. While guaranteeing such entities a certain portion of the catch, they are also required to adhere to certain limits, which range from a limit on how much fish they can catch to specific timeframes and seasons in which fishing is allowed.

One of the most effective policies to reduce overfishing are catch-share programmes , which give out harvest allowances to individuals or companies. These not only help incentivise smarter and timelier fishing rather than a race to catch as much as stock possible but they also promote a healthy balance between the needs of people, the ocean, and the economy and can guarantee healthier fish populations.

3. Apply Regulations on Fishing Nets

By-catching refers to the event of unwanted marine animal species being caught in fisher's nets as a byproduct, a practice that has increased tremendously since overfishing became such a huge issue. The gigantic nets trawled around the world's oceans everyday catch thousands of untargeted marine species, including sea turtles, birds and sharks.

To tackle this issue, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) implemented a simple solution : placing the top end of the nets two meters lower, a move that has been shown to effectively reduce the mortality of marine mammal bycatch by 98% in places like the Indian Ocean. This and other regulations aimed at preventing or discouraging by-catch will help keep the environments that fishers work in healthy.

4. Protect Essential Predator Species

and tuna are some of the marine animal species most prone to overfishing. Labeled as essential predators, these animals lay a vital role in maintaining local ecosystems. Without them, issues such as overpopulation, algal bloom, and other serious environmental problems would arise. For this reason, one of the best solutions to overfishing is Sharks promoting programmes and policies that protect these vulnerable species from being caught by fishing vessels. 90% of blue sharks , for example, are mistakenly caught by fishers every year despite not being commercially valuable. It is estimated that one-third of shark species face extinction because of overfishing, bycatch, pollution, and habitat loss.
You might also like: Shark Liver Oil: The Beauty Industry's Secret Ingredient
The FAO has successfully launched a programme to protect threatened deep-sea marine life by supporting new assessment protocols in designated areas before any fishing activities can begin.

5. Increase Marine Protected Areas and Enhance Controls

Based on current UN estimates , there are more than 15,000 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the world, comprising approximately 27 million square kilometres (almost 10.6 million square miles) - or nearly 7.5% of the ocean, an area the size of North America. In such areas, tight regulations restrict or often prohibit commercial fishing and other potentially harmful activities altogether.

However, experts believe that governments around the world should put more effort in expanding MPAs - given that 92% of the world's oceans are still unprotected. This is arguably one of the most effective solutions to overfishing and could contribute greatly to meeting the IUCN recommendation of protecting at least 30% of the ocean by 2030.

6. Require Traceability Standards

Among the best solutions to overfishing is also the introduction of traceability standards. As it was highlighted in the 2022 State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture Report , traceability systems represent a crucial effort toward transparent and responsible value chains . Having such standards in place would "allow a product to be followed from its origin to the end market, informing about compliance with many fisheries regulations as well as food safety and certification requirements."

Traceability standards have been ensured in the past through the adoption of so-called catch documentation schemes (CDS), issuing certificates and trade documents validated by trustworthy national authorities to establish whether a product has been legally sourced, and certifying that the catch was sourced in compliance with all applicable requirements. FAO has been constantly working to support national authorities in understanding and implementing these schemes.

7. Impose A Ban on Fishing in International Waters

According to Our World In Data , 99% of international waters that do not belong to any single country - also called 'high seas' - are unprotected. Given the effectiveness of protected waters in saving fish population and the current lack of regulation of fishing in international waters, introducing a ban on fishing in open seas would likely be an extremely effective overfishing solution .
Figure 2: Share of Ocean Area that is Protected, 2021 You might also like: WTO Bans Fishing Subsidies in Historic Deal to Reduce Global Overfishing
In 2017, nine nations including Japan, China, and South Korea as well as the European Union agreed on a historic deal to place the central Arctic Ocean (CAO) - an area of nearly 3 million square kilometres (1.2 million square miles) - off-limits to commercial fishers for at least the next 16 years. Moreover, the FAO launched the Common Oceans Program, a plan to regulate fishing in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ), which comprise 40% of the planet's surface. The programme successfully reduced tuna overfishing and banned fishing from critically vulnerable areas.

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7 Solutions to Overfishing We Need Right Now | Earth.Org

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We are exploiting fish stocks at an alarming rate and we have reached unsustainable levels of wild fish catch. What are the best solutions to overfishing?

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvfi2WYaCAM

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Amazing Antarctic Toothfish Fishing - Chilean Sea Bass Catch By Modern Vessel - Toothfish Processing