Fact Sheets: Fish

Catch limits are protective caps on the number of fish that can be caught in a fishing year. They are a fundamental measure to prevent overfishing and ensure the long-term sustainability of fish stocks. These measures are set based on scientific assessments of the health of fish stocks.

The United States and the European Union are moving toward privatizing their fisheries management systems through catch shares, while Iceland, with one of the world’s oldest and most comprehensive catch share programs, is struggling to find a way to dismantle its program. Why? The answer is that catch shares have failed Iceland’s fisheries and the nation as a whole.

All too often when an economist or banker looks out at an expanse of virgin forest or free-flowing river, she doesn’t see nature — she sees “natural capital.” This concept promotes the view that our natural resources should be attached a value and managed using market-based principles of supply and demand. It is the cornerstone of the “green economy” that many free-market proponents and market-oriented environmentalists assert will provide environmental sustainability.

Offshore aquaculture is factory fish farming of the sea, growing fish in huge, often over-crowded cages out in ocean waters. It can be problematic for both
the environment and the economy. The waste – fecal matter, uneaten food, and any chemicals or drugs used in the operation – flows directly into the ocean, and the result could be long-term damage to the seafloor. Despite its negative impacts, the following groups push for, or would profit from, factory fish farming in the United States and Europe.

Catch shares are a system for managing our nation’s fisheries that are causing consolidation in the fishing industry at the expense of the livelihoods of thousands of smaller-scale, traditional fishermen and their communities. Such programs are being heavily touted as a means to promote sustainable fishing, but a closer look reveals they do not have a positive environmental record. Catch shares can incentivize the use of larger-scale boats, more damaging gear and wasteful fishing practices that hurt fish populations and the habitats on which they depend.

Offshore aquaculture is factory fish farming of the sea, growing fish in huge, often over-crowded cages out in open ocean waters. It can be problematic for both the environment and the economy. The waste – fecal matter, uneaten food, and any chemicals or drugs used in the operation – flows directly into the ocean, and the result could be long-term damage to the seafloor. Despite its negative impacts, the following groups push for, or would profit from, factory fish farming in the federal waters of the United States.

Ocean factory fish farming, also known as open ocean aquaculture, involves growing marine fish in cages and net pens in the ocean. These facilities threaten coastal and fishing communities, consumers, and the health of our oceans. A new piece of legislation would put the brakes on efforts by government agencies to expand this unsustainable industry into federal waters, generally located three to 200 miles offshore.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is poised to approve genetically engineered (GE) salmon as the first “transgenic” animal allowed into the U.S. food supply. AquaBounty Technologies, Inc. says its GE salmon, which is designed to grow twice as fast an unaltered fish, is safe, healthy and poses little threat to the environment, but there are many reasons to doubt these claims.

In many communities people are growing more and more aware that their food choices affect not just our own health, but also our society and planet. Whether it is local farmers’ markets springing up across the country or grocery stores dedicating aisles to organic foods, it’s clear that consumers are taking a more critical view of how their food is produced. But when it comes to seafood, murky messages abound about what we are eating.

Bluefin tuna is a top-level predator of the seas that has been part of the human diet for centuries. Thousands of years ago this fish was so revered throughout the Mediterranean that it was painted on cave walls and minted onto coins. These massive creatures can grow to be 12 feet (about 3.5 meters) long and up to 1,500 pounds (680 kg). But today, several bluefin tuna populations are teetering on the brink of collapse and suffering from unsustainable industrial fishing practices. Ineffective international management has exacerbated their dire situation. What must be done to address the bluefin tuna crisis?