WORKSHOP ON THE IMPACTS OF DESTRUCTIVE FISHING PRACTICES ON THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT John Robertson Background estructive fishing practices such as the use of explosives and toxic substances have raised widespread concerns in the Asia-Pacific region in recent years. At its 9th meeting in Phuket, Thailand (27-29 September 1996) the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (APEC) Marine Resources Conservation Working Group decided that a workshop should be convened to address the impacts of destructive fishing practices on the marine environment. The workshop was held on 16-18 December 1997 in Hong Kong, China. It provided a forum for government officials, scientists, environmental groups and the fishing industry to discuss and exchange information on various topics including: impacts of destructive fishing practices protection of the coral reef environment promotion of environmentally friendly fishing practices, and legislation, enforcement and management strategy with a view to defining areas for action and regional cooperation through which the problems of destructive fishing practices could be addressed. Themes Impacts of Destructive Fishing Practices Protection of the Coral Reef Environment Promotion of Environmentally Friendly Fishing Practices Legislation, Enforcement and Management Strategy

Impacts of Destructive Fishing Practices Most of the papers presented comprised coral reef status reports from APEC countries such as Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and China. The reports summarised the level of reef degradation, the causes of reef decline and the types of destructive fishing practices. Many areas have suffered quite alarming declines in the health of their coral reef ecosystems. For example, the status of reefs in the Philippines is that 32 per cent of reefs are in poor condition, eight per cent are in fair condition, 25 per cent are in good condition and five per cent are in excellent condition. In some areas of southern China, coral cover has declined by over 50 per cent on some reefs. It has been estimated that more than 30 per cent of reefs are degraded beyond recovery and 30-60 per cent are facing destruction. The causes of reef decline are many and varied. Commonly, however, the causes relate to over-fishing, destructive fishing practices such as the use of explosives, sodium cyanide and fishing gear which destroys reef habitat, the harvest of rare and vulnerable species such as dugong and sea turtles, irresponsible tourism, coral mining, sedimentation and pollution. In most countries, the laws required to adequately protect coral reefs are not in place and/or enforcement is not sufficient. Additionally, there is a lack of public awareness on the significance of coral reefs and an ignorance of human impacts. It was reported that, for many countries over-fishing and destructive fishing practices are seen as the greatest threat to sustainability of coral reef areas. In particular, explosive fishing and cyanide fishing for the aquarium fish and food fish trades severely affects reef fish abundance and reduced reef fish and coral species diversity. An interesting study compared the short-term private incentives to fisherman for using cyanide. The private incentives to fisherman were very high but the activity impacted heavily on tourism resulting in the longer-term loss of approximately 50 times the gain received by fisherman. There was also talks on the impact of prawn trawlers on sea bottom environments and demersal fish communities in Taiwan. Protection of the Coral Reef Environment Most of the talks centred on current mechanisms used by a number of countries to protect coral reefs, in particular marine protected areas. The protection of world heritage areas was discussed as well as the pros and cons of reef closures. Many of the presentations discussed the effectiveness of community-based strategies. These strategies included the establishment of protected areas, fish sanctuaries and marine reserves, law enforcement, provision of other sources of livelihood, information and education campaigns. In the Philippines, many of the successful marine protected areas, which were established using the community-based approach, have resulted in some recovery on seriously depleted reefs. The sanctuaries improved lives of villagers by increasing catches, incomes, awareness and value systems. The Hong Kong Government is now establishing marine parks. Promotion of Environmentally Friendly Fishing Practices Many of the speakers discussed the success of current programs for cyanide detection technology, monitoring, inspection and sampling of live reef fish, and training of fisherman on alternative harvesting methods such as use of nets in aquarium fish capture and hook and line for food fish. The adoption of fishing technologies such as turtle excluder devices (TEDS) in trawl nets, alternative livelihoods for coastal fishing communities such as combining tourism with artisanal fisheries and promoting the sea-ranching type fishery and related technology, information and education drives and efficient law enforcement were also discussed. The need to establish these programs in some countries was also emphasised in the talks. Programs to test aquarium and live fish for cyanide residues are already well established in the Philippines. The use of TEDS and barrier nets has been successfully adopted in fisheries in the Philippines.

Legislation, Enforcement and Management Strategy Many of the presentations centred on the live fish trade and the growing concerns that vulnerable reef fish stocks are being rapidly over-fished. The speakers emphasised that over-fishing must be addressed in source countries. Destructive fishing practices, however, had to be dealt with through cooperation between exporting and importing nations. The influence on international trade practices by major importing nations such as the United States of America, the need for a comprehensive monitoring scheme for imports, the cyanide testing of imported fish and cyanide free documentation requirements between countries were discussed. Talks also covered the promotion of cyanide free sources for consumption and aquaria, reduced demand on wild stocks through aquaculture, education on the impact of destructive fishing and the adoption of alternative livelihoods. There was common acknowledgment that legislation must be in place to prevent the use of destructive fishing practices and that it must be consistent between adjacent countries. The Nature Conservancy explained the role that non-government organisations can play in the prevention of destructive fishing practices. One speaker stressed that it was important to understand the socioeconomic and 'ethno-networks' of fishing communities if the strategies mentioned above were to be effective. A report on the economic potential of the live food fish, predicted a market well in excess of US$1.0 billion. Hong Kong is still the major fishing, trading and market destination for much of the live product, although other countries such as China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan are now involved. The market is mostly confined to the restaurant trade with demand being based on entertainment and consumers with a relatively high disposable income. Prices paid for live tropical reef fish can exceed US$100 per kilogram wholesale. Premium prices are paid for species that are wild capture and/or are difficult to obtain. Species such as maori wrasse and high-finned grouper attract a significant price premium over species which are readily available. The future of the live tropical reef fish market was stated to be firm. Major expansion was expected from other countries, in particular China. Significant expansion was predicted to also occur in some of the other Asian nations, for example Malaysia. The potential to supply this market from aquaculture operations was considered promising with significant quantities of live tropical grouper already being supplied into the Taiwan market especially. Presently the culture of reef fish species relies heavily on wild caught fingerlings for aquaculture caused by the lack of consistent success in captive breeding of coral reef fish species.

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
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E-mail: registry@gbrmpa.gov.au