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Introduction
The seas around Ireland contain some of Europe’s most important
fishing grounds.
Commercial marine capture fisheries are an important economic
activity in Ireland and other countries bordering the North-East
Atlantic, as well as for countries such as Russia, Japan and China
that either hold agreed fishing rights in the area or else target
unregulated species on the high seas (international waters).
Significant technical developments in fishing gear and methods
during the last century have led to more efficient exploitation
of the various commercial fish stocks. This has led to the unsustainable
exploitation, or overfishing,
of many fish stocks and species.
Fisheries may be directed at single species or, more commonly,
a variety of species are caught in mixed fisheries. In addition
to target species, a particular fishery may take a bycatch
of non-target species, some of which may be landed or else discarded
at sea. Part of the catch of exploited species may also be discarded
to comply with fisheries regulations, for example undersized fish,
which cannot be legally landed, or individuals caught over the
allowed species quota (or total allowable catch, TAC).
In Ireland the fishing industry can be categorised into six distinct
sectors: pelagic, demersal,
deep-sea, salmon, shellfish and industrial. A potential emerging
sector in the waters around Ireland is for squid.
In 1995 Irish fleet vessels accounted
for 34% of all fish and shellfish landed in OSPAR Region III (the
Celtic Seas around Ireland and west of Britain). After Ireland
came Scotland, the Netherlands, England/Wales, and France in order
of importance as contributors to the total international landings
of fish and shellfish in the region. Irish contributions to total
landings vary considerably between the International
Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) fisheries management
sub-areas and divisions (see Map), for example, Irish landings
accounted for 75% of the 1995 total for the west of Ireland (ICES
division VIIb).
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| Map: ICES Fishing Areas (Source: ICES) |
Fisheries data
The primary sources of information for stock assessments carried
out by fisheries scientists are landings statistics reported by
fishermen in accordance with EU logbook requirements. According
to the Marine Institute (1999) such statistics "do not include
data on discards and, following reductions in Total Allowable
Catch (TACs) in the 1990s, there has been a tendency to misreport
landings and the data must therefore be supplemented by other
sources of information in order to inform the stock assessment
process."
Further to this, the OSPAR Quality Status Report 2000 states
that some improvements have been noted recently, but that statistics
after 1995 "reflect only landings and not total catch which
includes quantities of organisms discarded because they are undersized,
over-quota or of no commercial value."
Impacts of marine fisheries
Commercial fishing activity results in the largest human impact
on the oceans. The most obvious aspect is the removal of both
target and non-target species (as bycatch)
from the marine ecosystem.
The majority of the world’s fishery resources are being
subjected to overfishing
as stocks are reduced to below safe levels associated with long-term,
sustainable and efficient production. According to the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO 2004):
- World fish catches have increased fourfold since 1950, threatening
many fish stocks. As a result, species may be lost or replaced
by their prey, upsetting the balance of both ecosystems and
fisheries.
- In 2003, 24% of global fish stocks were overexploited, depleted
or recovering from depletion and needed rebuilding. A further
52% of stocks were fully exploited and therefore producing catches
that were close to their maximum sustainable limits, while 21%
were moderately exploited and only 3% under-exploited.
- From 1974 to 2003 there was a consistent downward trend in
the proportions of stocks offering potential for expansion.
At the same time there was an increasing trend in the proportion
of overexploited and depleted stocks, from about 10% in the
mid-1970s to close to 25% in the early 2000s.
The impacts of commercial fishing activity are
many and varied. In terms of the immediate threat posed to marine
ecosystems and biodiversity, as well as to society, economy and
already marginalised coastal communities, fisheries impacts are
the most pressing problem facing Ireland’s marine environment.
Other impacts of commercial fishing activity include:
- The mortality and discarding of undersized fish and non-target
species of fish, shellfish, seabirds, marine mammals and turtles,
through their incidental capture in fishing gear (bycatch).
- Habitat degradation, particularly
through physical disturbance of the seabed by some types of
fishing gear, leading to an adverse impact on seabed habitats
and communities.
- Ecosystem imbalance as a result
of shifts in population composition, community structure and
food web dynamics.
- Changes in genetic diversity of populations.
- The generation of marine litter,
notably discarded nets that entrap non-target wildlife.
There are particular impacts associated with commercial deep-sea,
high seas (i.e. open ocean and deep-sea in international waters
beyond state jurisdictions) and industrial fisheries, as well
as with recreational fishing.
Other issues
Other issues of importance concerning marine capture fisheries
include:
- the role of "responsible" ecosystem-based fisheries
practices and management in so-called
sustainable development;
- the EU common fisheries policy
as recently reformed;
- fleet overcapacity and subsidies that promote overfishing;
- social and economic impacts on fishing communities in peripheral
maritime regions;
- illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU or "pirate")
fishing;
- fishing under agreement with developing countries to exploit
their stocks, with implications for food security of the world’s
poor;
- marine protected areas, no-take
zones, and fisheries conservation;
- and the planned recovery of degraded fish stocks, restoration
of fisheries habitats, and the maintenance and/or rebuilding
of ecosystem resilience.
In addition to being overfished, the world’s fishery resources
are threatened by the loss and degradation of habitats
due largely to destructive fishing practices, by land-based activities
that result in pollution of the marine
environment, and by global climate change.
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