People normally say that the way you start your working week sets the tone for the rest of it. As this week would have it, that seems to be true. On Monday, we were approached by a local fisherman who offered a freshly caught Crayfish for sale. Xav, speaking creole, entered into negotiation with the fisherman, at first refusing to buy it, both because of the blown up price and the fact that the ocean needed the crayfish more than us. The fisherman kept reducing the price, saying that there were no other clients around and that this was his unique catch for sale.Xav stood his ground, but as the fisherman started walking away it occurred to him that the crayfish represented a food ticket for the fisherman himself and that with Christmas season coming around, he could buy it as a present. As he went up to the fisherman to seal the deal, he thought of another option for his fresh purchase (which was still alive and kicking): buy it and release it back into the sea. We quickly filled up the bucket with sea water to allow the crayfish to breathe and get it wet again. Upon closer inspection we discovered that this crayfish was carrying eggs, which prompted us to name her Ruby and give her few words of encouragement. We kept checking on her to see whether she was moving, hoping that the stress and heat was not too much for her to handle. Xav’s grandfather came to have a look, confirming that signs of life were present, and recommended that we take her as soon as possible to a deep point in the nearby coral barrier reef. We helped Xav place the bucket in a kayak, and then watched him paddle to the reef. The following is his account of Ruby’s return to the sea:

“When I got to the reef, I put her back into the water. While she was sinking to the bottom I quickly attached my paddle, put on my snorkel, attached the kayak to my foot and dived in to see how she was doing. At first I could not find her and after looking around I saw that she crawled under the coral. I approached her and reached out to see if she was indeed doing ok, and the response was that of an enraged dog trying to chase me away from its territory. You need no better sign of life than that”. He further concluded that the ‘purchase’ he made had a threefold value: fisherman’s income, life for Ruby and her babies and his own adventure.

Later that day around the dinner table we discussed how on one side, the issue of marine life over exploitation and conservation is complex, while on the other hand the actions each one of us can take are simple and effective. We love to eat fish, it tastes like nothing else and is good for you – a balanced human diet is said to include 2 weekly servings of fish and its primary goodie omega-3.  Fish is excellent for the ocean eco-systems too, which take up three quarters of the earth’s surface!  A healthy ocean eco-system is in turn also good for us. Oceans play a key role in climate regulation, harbour a substantial amount of the planet’s biodiversity (especially in coral reefs), and host fisheries, tourism, and shipping industrial sectors. Yet, even amongst all this goodness, the whole fish business leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I wanted to find out more. I followed up the discussion with some further research and am now sharing what I found. It would be great if this fosters a second round of on-line discussion.

The Complexity

We have all heard (or at least I hope we have) that fish populations globally are being dangerously depleted; nature’s balance is being altered across vast areas of the world’s oceanic ecosystems in ways that may be irreversible, and key species in the complex, diverse web of marine life are extinct or about to be.  Fishing, an ancient human tradition, is not the one that is responsible for this. Rather it is the unsustainable fishing industry with its:

• Resource extraction methods. Bottom trawling which ploughs up the ocean floor and pair trawling that catch non-target species such as dolphins.
• The share quantity of ‘supply and demand’ that is well above fish stock’s natural ability to recover
• The fishing operations phenomenon known as ‘fishing down food webs’ ( first: large, long-lived predatory fishes, second other organisms lower on the food web) having negative cascading effects that alter the entire ocean eco-system, and
• Non transparent global distribution chains. It is near to impossible to know these days where your fish was caught[i].

The ocean eco-systems are further strained by human activities (e.g. coastal development and urbanization) that lead to habitat degradation and climate change. This environmental dimension is intimately inter-related with our social and economical realities. The collapse of fisheries worldwide endangers the livelihoods and food security of tens of millions of people.

To address these issues, national and international governments around the world have come up with numerious methods,policies and programs for fishery management. Traditional fishery management has focused on Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY). Such method is now thought of as quite ineffective due to uncertainty, imperfect models, insufficient data, and inadequate consideration of ecosystem effects. More popular nowadays are Marine protected areas (MPAs) and Ecosystem-based fisheries management.  Both embody a precautionary and ecosystems-based approach to marine conservation and restoration. A very successful case study using this MPA is restoration of coral reef- fishery at the small Philippines island of Apo (see http://www.ecotippingpoints.org/our-stories/indepth/philippines-apo-marine-sanctuary-coral-reef-fishery.html for a inspiring and informative written story of the 25 year long journey). Mauritius also has its own Marine Protected areas and Mauritius Marine Conservation Society pushing forward for more. Furthermore, Mauritius Oceanography Institute is conducting some research projects helping us understand Mauritian marine eco-system better (see http://moi.gov.mu/research_projects.htm for lists and short descriptions of current research projects). However, MPA have limitations as they still impose ‘protection boundaries’ in a free and vast ocean. This limitation is addressed by Ecosystem-based fisheries management with its focus on interactions among multiple species and habitats used throughout their life cycles. This strategy recognizes that marine elements are not isolated.

Top-down intervention (education, incentives, legislation and even more importantly implementation) has not been as successful in restoring the fisheries around the world. The main reason being that such interventions are not well suited for small scale fisheries (estimated 95% of global supply).  In many cases, a “tragedy of the commons” scenario—in which each individual fisherman seeks only to maximize his own catch—leads to above discussed overfishing and collapse. Programs and incentives that are thus focusing on small fisheries and are more bottom-up (termed devolved systems of co-management) are far more promising.  A study recently conducted (and published in Nature journal) followed 130 co-managed fisheries in 44 developed and developing countries across a range of ecosystems, fishing styles, and targeted species. The study found that for a fishery to survive a strong community leadership is needed while support of local authorities and government officials is the least important. The study built on the foundational insights of Elinor Ostrom, winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize in economics, who has made a career of studying the characteristics of what she terms “long-enduring systems” commented that “it is very exciting to see the findings about trust, communication, commitment, and respect for leaders being the most important attributes leading to successful fisheries co-management.”[ii]

 The Simplicity

The simple part of it all is realising that each one of us can consciously make a difference. Fishing industry after all relies on market signals. Use your rupee, dollar or euro vote and send a clear signal time and time again. There are two key issues determining whether or not a fishery is sustainable. The first is how healthy the population or ‘stock’ is and the second, the method used to catch the fish. So far the best way to find out how healthy the fish stock is, is to refer to the lists of Endangered Species. Greenpeace, WWF and Seafoodwatch are the international organisations that have complied easy to follow fact sheets on each of the listed Endangered Species. You can even get fact cards (picture,info and things to look out for when buying) from Seafoodwatch website that you can print out (or replicate using your own artististic talent) and take with you shopping. They also have the applications for iphones and androids and very simple but tasty sustainable food recipes to follow.

Here are four things to keep in mind when buying fish:

• Choose fish whose stocks are still abundant (bar, whiting, saithe, etc.) and avoid the threatened species (cod, tuna, shrimp, emperor, sole, European hake, …).
• Buy fish from a local fisherman when you can and always ask where the fish was caught and using what method.  Never buy fish that has been caught using a bottom trawl. And if they can’t tell you or if you are not completely satisfied with the answer, buy your fish somewhere else. Also choose good sized fish, ie fish that have had time to reproduce (39 cm for the bar, 19 cm for red mullet, sardines 11 cm, 24 cm for sole) and refuse fish clearly too small.  Local Mauritian Fish Markets I heard of so far (and am still to check out) are in Grand Bay, Goodlands and Port Louis. The Food Lovers Market, opened in Bagatelle also offers local fish. Do you know of any others?
• In supermarkets look out for labels such as Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Mr Goodfish, Bio Consistency, Bio Fair, Biogarantie, Demeter, EKO, The Red Lebel, Hand in Hand, Naturland and RSPO. The brand sold in Mauritius called Sea Harvest offers frozen Hake and Witting with the MSC seal. If you are reading this and you are outside of Mauritius you can visit this website http://www.msc.org/where-to-buy/product-finder/ to find sustainable sea food labels in your supermarkets.
• When buying canned tuna do not be deceived by ‘Dolphin Friendly’ labels. This generally means very little since there is no legal standard or minimum criteria for it. The term usually refers to the type of fishing gear used but gives no consideration to the broader impacts associated with tuna fishing. This means that while the tuna may have been fished using methods less likely to catch dolphins, it may come from overexploited tuna stocks or have been caught using methods that impact on the marine environment in other ways. For example, long lining for tuna is associated with a high by-catch rate of turtles, sharks and seabirds. If you have to eat tuna, only buy line-caught skipjack tuna.

Following these recommendations will ensure you remove yourself from being a contributor to the big problems – “be the change you want to see in the world”. Next time you’re in the market or supermarket, try out one of these points, and see for yourself what the difference it makes for you personally is. Testimonials are welcome

You are probably thinking “the complex problem you described above will not be resolved thanks to my mere actions”? Unfortunately, you’ve got a point there! It is difficult to imagine that enough people will decide to take part in these actions and create significant pressure on the industry. Making the right consumption choices is great in its own, but don’t stop there: talking about it has more power than anything else. Blogs like this one and social media networks are only a start, but physically communicating to the right people is paramount.

If you have ideas for new solutions, investigate, talk, find out how they can be realised. We have one (among others) that we will share soon

Written by Maja Zidov