Date:
June 1, 2017
Source:
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC)
Summary:
Many large fish species, including many of the
sharks and rays of Europe, are threatened with extinction. Confirming
the findings of previous studies, scientists highlight regional differences in
fish stock status in Europe and point to overfishing in the Mediterranean.
FULL STORY
Large shark swimming through school
of fish. (Stock image)
Credit: © Ben R / Fotolia
A new study by an international team
of scientists, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, warns that
many large fish species, including many of the sharks and rays of Europe, are
threatened with extinction. Confirming the findings of previous studies, the
scientists highlight regional differences in fish stock status in Europe and
point to overfishing in the Mediterranean.
Marine fish play an important role
in marine ecosystems, but are also a major food source for marine animals and
humans. The new study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution found
that the bigger the fish, the more likely it is to be threatened with
extinction. This is because they are more susceptible to threats such as
overfishing because they grow slower, take longer to mature, have fewer
offspring and are in higher demand for food consumption and recreational
fishing.
The research team studied the status
of commercial fish stocks all around Europe to assess the extinction risk of
fish. The JRC contributed to the study by analysing stock assessment data of
commercial fish stocks in the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean stock
assessment data were produced by the Scientific, Technical and Economic
Committee for Fisheries (STECF), a Commission expert group for which the JRC
acts as the secretariat and provides expertise in stock assessments.
Geographical discrepancies:
Mediterranean worst off
The scientists found significant
geographical discrepancies: a much higher fraction of the fish stocks were
overexploited and depleted in biomass in the Mediterranean, compared with the
northeast Atlantic. None of the 39 assessed Mediterranean fish stocks examined
were classed as sustainable. Hake (Merluccius merluccius) is of
particular concern: of the 12 examined hake stocks in the Mediterranean, 9 have
exploitation rates that are over five times higher than the rate in line with
maximum sustainable yield.
Scientists say that this is linked
to how the areas are managed, how fishing quotas are set and how fish stocks
are monitored. They also remind that the Mediterranean is a semi-enclosed sea
with a much longer history of human impacts compared with the Atlantic. At
present, the Mediterranean is heavily impacted, in addition to fishing, by
multiple stress factors ranging from temperature increase and acidification to
habitat modification and pollution in the coastal areas.
Larger fish species threatened with
extinction
The study stresses that while most
of Europe's commercial fish stocks are not yet threatened with extinction, most
of the larger fish species are, particularly sharks and rays. In addition to
these, the large fish species that are threatened include six species of
sturgeon, the northern wolffish (Anarhichas denticulatus), blue ling (Molva
dipterygia), the dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus), the
Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) and (wild) Atlantic salmon
(Salmo salar).
"This study highlights two
major issues for Europe's fish: the threats to large fish species, including
sharks and rays, and the severe overfishing in the Mediterranean, which is in
contrast to the improving picture in the northeast Atlantic. In the northeast
Atlantic, there are catch limits in place, coupled with rigorous fisheries
monitoring and enforcement schemes. In the Mediterranean there is a larger number
of fishing vessels using multiple gears, there are largely no catch limits, and
management is carried out mainly through some spatial and temporal restrictions
to fishing, which are often poorly enforced. The Commission recently launched
the MEDFISH4EVER strategy to improve the state of Mediterranean fish stocks,
which is obviously a step to the right direction," said JRC researcher
Paris Vasilakopoulos, co-author of the study, who contributed to the analysis
of the Mediterranean fish stock assessment data.
Greater efforts to conserve our
large fish species are essential as the loss of these large, ecologically
important species could have consequences that cascade to other levels which
include important commercial species, particularly in the overfished southern
European stocks.
MedFish4Ever
In recent years, the European
Commission has taken a number of initiatives to redress the balance between
harvesting activities and productivity of the stocks. Modern EU rules against
overfishing apply domestically, and the Commission works closely with non-EU
Mediterranean countries through international channels like the General
Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, the International Commission for
the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas and the Barcelona Convention. In parallel, a
number of conservation actions are now being developed through regions-specific
initiatives for the Adriatic-Ionian and for the western Mediterranean. A
positive sign also comes from the recent Declaration on the sustainability of
Mediterranean fisheries signed by 15 fisheries ministers of riparian countries
(MedFish4Ever). The countries in question undertake to improve fisheries
governance in the region by upgrading data collection and scientific
evaluation, establishing an ecosystem-based fisheries management framework and
developing a culture of compliance to combat illegal, unreported and
unregulated fishing. This new 10-year long partnership, which could still
extend to even more countries, is set to bring us closer to our goal of a
healthy and productive Mediterranean Sea.
Story Source:
Materials provided by European Commission,
Joint Research Centre (JRC).
Note: Content may be edited for style and length
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