Although scientists have known for years that fish stocks are being depleted, climate change has added new urgency to the issue. Although some ocean regions are governed by international regulatory bodies, many others aren’t. As sea temperatures rise, many fish that would have been relatively safe in the Atlantic, say, are moving north into the colder, unregulated Arctic waters, where they’re particularly vulnerable to “pirate” boats. “You can’t educate fish on where they can and cannot go,” says Simon Cripps, director of the WWF’s global marine program. Without worldwide controls on fishing, stocks could be depleted, with little chance of recovery. The EC wants the United Nations to set up more regional fisheries-management organizations, in which U.N. member countries would enforce rules on deep-sea trawling.
Some environmentalists have applauded the initiative, but critics say the plan won’t work. For one thing, by the time a resolution is debated and passed and enforcement begins, the fish stocks may already be too far gone. And even if the United Nations could act more quickly, enforcement is always difficult on the high seas. Countries like Mongolia and some Central American nations, seen as more lax in their licensing of fishing vessels, will have to be persuaded to tighten their controls. Still, even if stricter regulations prove tough to enforce, creating stronger regional organizations is a step in the right direction, says Mireille Thom, spokeswoman for the EC’s fisheries directorate. More U.N. regulation of the oceans “is not the perfect solution,” says Thom, “but it is the most realistic solution, and one that is the most likely to bear fruit.” The frutti di mare can only hope that it’s not too little, too late.
