Illegal fishing is one of the greatest threats to marine ecosystems. Because the unauthorized and unregulated removal of fish from the sea contributes significantly to overfishing and is anything but sustainable. But in addition to the ecological consequences, economic damage is also associated with this phenomenon. As researchers now estimate, illegal fishing causes billions in losses every year. Accordingly, economically weak countries in Asia, Africa and South America are particularly badly affected.
Illegal fishing is a worldwide problem: Those who do not keep quotas, do not report their catches and trade on the black market do not only endanger the stocks of many popular edible fish. The illegal fishing of tuna and co also causes enormous economic damage. “The illegal trade in fish and seafood makes a small number of companies rich at the expense of society,” said Rashid Sumaila of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and his colleagues. But how big is this loss really? To find out, the scientists have now analyzed data from 143 countries – with frightening results.
For his study, the research team relied primarily on information from the “Sea Around Us” database, which supplements official information from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on fish catches by individual countries with estimates of undeclared catches. Undocumented catches for private use and deep-sea fishing beyond the 200 nautical mile border off the coast were not taken into account. Because this is difficult to assign to a single country and also only make up a small part of global fishing, as the team reports.
Unreported catches
The evaluations revealed that fishermen are likely to get between 7.7 and 14 million tons of fish from the sea each year without properly reporting it. “In doing so, they are contributing to an illegal trading system that threatens food and economic systems worldwide,” the researchers state in a statement. According to their calculations, the total economic damage will be between $ 26 billion and $ 50 billion. The tax losses are between two and four billion.
However, as the analyzes revealed, not all states are affected equally. For example, 85 percent of all catch losses from illegal, unregulated activities are attributable to countries in Asia, Africa and South America. “The substantial economic effects affect countries of all countries that can hardly afford these losses,” says Sumaila. But Germany also causes damage according to the study: For our country, the scientists calculated an annual loss of gross income of $ 4.5 to $ 7.3 million based on local prices.
Tricky reloading maneuvers
As Sumaila and his colleagues report, the illegal fish trade takes place in three ways in particular: First, fish catches from several boats are often loaded onto larger ships on the high seas, thus mixing illegal and legal catches. It is much more difficult to understand where the caught fish comes from. Second, illegally caught fish are often exported in large refrigerated containers. According to the team, these are subject to less stringent inspection requirements. A third proven strategy is sales in local markets, where there is less control.
To counter such tricks, the researchers advocate increased political intervention: “Only through full accountability and public transparency can we ensure that fish are caught and traded sustainably and legally and that these economic activities actually benefit the people and governments in the countries where the fishing takes place, ”said co-author Dirk Zeller of the University of Western Australia in Crawley. To do this, existing international agreements would have to be strengthened again.
Source: Rashid Sumaila (University of British Columbia, Vancouver), Science Advances, doi: 10.1126 / sciadv.aaz3801