An Expert Helps Answer the Question “Does Sustainable Fishing Exist?”

Sustainable fishing has become a hot topic recently, including debates over whether or not it really exists. And while the world of seafood can seem confusing at a glance, with questions about ecolabels, fish farming and more making our buying choices seem complicated, there is sustainable fish to be found. To help us navigate these waters, we invited the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, or NAMA, to chat with us on Facebook Live. You can find a summary of the conversation here, but be sure to watch the interview below to learn more.

NAMA is a grassroots organization of fishermen and women that brings the concerns of fishing communities across the country to Washington to ensure they have an advocate as lawmakers and administrators create fisheries policy and other legislation that impacts the ocean. As advocates for independent fishermen who rely on a healthy ocean, NAMA is very invested in making sure seafood is sustainably produced.

How Can We Define Sustainable Fishing?

NAMA believes sustainable fishing is appropriately scaled and has continuity within a community, never taking more fish than what the ecosystem can allow and keeping an eye towards the future. Communities that rely on fish for their food or for their income are often the best advocates for conservation, as the wellbeing of the next generation relies on maintaining the ecosystem. Tribal groups are an especially good example of how this kind of management can preserve a fishery for thousands of years.

While commercial fishing and sustainable fishing are often presented as opposites, they aren’t mutually exclusive. Commercial fishing is an important economic lifeline for many communities, and when they work to harvest fish within the boundaries of an ecosystem and keep an eye towards continuity, it can be very sustainable. Commercial fishing becomes unsustainable when it’s controlled by corporations, particularly those outside the community, because they view the fish as a resource to cash in on immediately rather than a population that’s important to preserve. This explains much of the industrially scaled, factory-style fishing that’s so destructive to the oceans.

Local control is also pivotal when it comes to how fisheries are regulated. Keeping small fishermen in business is critical to ensuring they can bring a future-focused, science-informed voice to the Regional Fishery Management Councils that set catch limits to prevent overfishing.  Overfishing isn’t the only threat facing the oceans. Climate change and habitat disruption are also serious risks to fish populations, and fishing groups like NAMA are pushing for greater consideration of these other factors in the regulatory process.

Top photo by Alexandr Blinov/Adobe Stock.