The Pacific coast of Canada was once rich with seafood that provided for First Nations communities in a seemingly endless supply for thousands of years. When British Columbia joined Canada in 1871, the Fisheries Act was extended to cover the new province and the Government of Canada began managing our ocean. By the late 1980's many fish populations were in serious decline. Fishing in B.C. has always been more than part of the economy -- it has been a way of life. How we have managed the fishery, however, has led to a decline of fish populations and ocean health.
Living Oceans believes that we can and must reverse this devastating course of fisheries mismanagement and restore vital fish populations and sustainable fishing fleets to B.C.'s coast.
Sustainable fishing means protecting the habitat where species breed and grow. An important step forward is to protect deep sea habitat, which has received little to no attention in B.C. By far the greatest threat to deep sea habitat in B.C. is a fishing method known as bottom trawling, or “dragging."
People once thought that the ocean would yield as much fish as we needed. That mistaken belief has led to wasteful fishing practices. For example, throwing overboard species of no commercial value or that the fishing vessel has no license to catch. There are several ways we can reduce these discards (also known as "bycatch"). One method that has been overlooked in B.C. fisheries management is the type of fishing gear that is used.
Living Oceans Society is currently reviewing fishing gear types used in Canada in order to assess their impact on the ocean and develop recommendations of how to reduce destruction of habitat, bycatch and over fishing.
While British Columbia faces problems, its fisheries are healthier than many around the world. The 2004 United Nations State of the World’s Fisheries report says fisheries around the world have been depleted as we fish down the food web. Industrialized fishing fleets are wiping out entire fish stocks and destroying their habitat.
- 52% of the oceans' wild fish stocks are fully exploited
- 23% are lightly or moderately exploited and still offer some scope for further fisheries expansion
- 16% are overexploited
- 7% are depleted
- 1% are recovering from depletion, meaning they have no room for further expansion
