Tonnes of fish caught through unsustainable fishing are being used by the fish meal and fish oil (FMFO) industries which supply feed to global aquaculture chains. These are wreaking havoc on fish stocks. The FMFO industry was considered a solace for fishermen as it purchased the trash fish (which is not edible) that came in with the catch. But the scenario has changed as the FMFO industries have now turned into a threat to the fisheries sector as the income from supplying to these industries is driving unsustainable fishing.
A study in India, Vietnam and Gambia by Netherlands-based Changing Markets (CM) Foundation highlights the hazards caused due to the present functioning of these industries. Tonnes of fish, including juvenile and edible ones, are being caught, processed and exported to various countries resulting in the collapse of fish stocks and marine ecology, imbalances in food security and causing severe environmental issues, pollution and overexploitation, said the study report, Fishing For Catastrophe’.
As part of the study, in India, two regions were selected the Mangalore-Karwar belt and the Vishakhapatnam region of Andhra Pradesh.
Indigenous fishermen communities across Indian coastal areas predict an end to fisheries soon. The topmost reason they cite is unsustainable fishing driven by the income from the FMFO industry.
In 2017, India’s aquafeed market was valued at US$ 1.20 billion. Its domestic feed mills (fish feed factories of India ) have the capacity to produce 2.88 million metric tonnes (MT), said the study.
Vasudev Boloor, who is Karnataka Coastal Fishermen’s Action Committee general secretary, told Mongabay-India that as the FMFO industries buy waste fish or bycatch (fish or other marine species caught unintentionally while catching certain targeted species) from the fishermen, the trawlers intentionally go for waste fish including juveniles and non-edible species of fish which were not earlier targeted for fishing. The CM report claimed that these companies are causing the decline of local fish stock.
Earlier only a small portion of the catch was waste and that used to be given to the FMFO industries. But things have changed and to generate more income fishermen have started fishing everything in the sea. Juvenile catch is the most serious threat because of which many species have declined in the sea, said Boloor while adding that the trawlers use small-sized nets which makes it easy to catch juveniles.
Divya Karnad, a marine biologist and assistant professor at the Haryana-based Ashoka University said that the FMFO industries originally started as a solution to the trash fish been generated in the catch.
Ideally trawlers should take measures for bycatch reduction. They are not using doing so and that is why this waste is generated. Moreover, now fishermen are encouraged to bring more and more waste. Presently, trawl fisheries are mainly dependent on this bycatch income. If the FMFO plants were not there, many of the trawlers would have gone out of the sector, Karnad told Mongabay-India.
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