Death of Fisheries and EU Action

The EU is set to close fishing grounds in the North and Irish Seas to stop the total destruction of the fisheries and the marine eco-system of the region. Creating huge no-fishing marine preserves is seen as the only way to save the fisheries. While pollution and climatic changes are part of the declining numbers of ocean life, over-fishing is the biggest culprit.

The BBC, has an Interactive Special Report on the North Sea Crisis, with links to an array of articles on the topic. The interactive report shows that spawning cod have dropped from a high of about 275,000 tons in 1972 to about 50 tons in 2003 and 150,000 tons is considered the minimum sustainable spawning level (records orly go back to 1963). Whiting, has been below the sustainable level of roughly 300,000 tons since 1983. The closure of fishing grounds will effect about one-third of the Fisheries in the North and Irish Seas.

This is not an issue that faces Europe alone. The threat is real and disaster is imminent in virtually every ocean on the Earth. While pollution creates ever-expanding "dead zones" off the coasts, spill and massive dumping (including oil) at sea have dramatic effects. However, in the open seas, as in the North Sea, it is over-fishing that is truly eliminating both fisheries and the marine eco-system. To be more specific, it is industrial fishing that bears responsibility - though not accountability. Pictures are worth more than a thousand word so I have included the following charts.