Illegal Fish Poaching: Madagascar
Disproportionate Impact of an Overburdened Population
“Environmental Justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. EPA has this goal for all communities and persons across this Nation. It will be achieved when everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards and equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and work.” (EPA)
llegal fishing in Madagascar is an environmental justice issue where the indigenous people face a disproportionate impact of an overburdened population. Madagascar is one of the poorest countries within the world. Most people who live in Madagascar don’t have the opportunity to be a doctor, lawyer or even a factory worker. Most of the livelihood that is present in Madagascar is provided by the land and sea that surrounds them. For centuries the country of Madagascar has relied on fishing to provide a decent living. But for the past decade Chinese, Indian, and South Korean illegal fishing companies have been depleting fisheries at unprecedented rates. This depletion of fisheries has threatened the locals’ ability to provide a living for themselves and their families, which entails a disproportionate impact among the local people of Madagascar.
Loss of Job Security for Local Fishers
“Ten years ago, a young Madagascar fisherman and his two brothers would harvest 60 kilograms of sardines every week, earning US $370 during good times. Today, his six meter-long boat can no longer sail the three kilometers into the ocean where significant populations of sardines and prawns are found. If he does, his boat is likely to be impeded or attacked by the massive Chinese, Thai and South Korean vessels that illegally poach fish in the Indian Ocean surrounding Madagascar. As a result, his income has tumbled. As of this January, his weekly catch now earns him a mere US $57.” (Chinhur, 2015) Madagascar is blessed with one of the richest fishing stocks in the world. Unfortunately, Madagascar is being illegally fished and this threatens the survival of fishing populations and the local people’s way of life.
Majority of the World’s Protein comes from the Ocean
“Just over 100 million ton of fish are eaten world-wide each year, providing two and a half billion people with at least 20 percent of their average per capita animal protein intake.”(Kourous, 2015) When this many people depend on fisheries for their source of protein, the depletion of fish populations is a huge burden not just for Madagascar but the human species as a whole.
Thai, Chinese and South Korean ships drop illegal fishing nets with large hooks to capture valuable fish populations during the night. “An estimated 130,000 tons of fish were caught in Madagascar just last year. The status of Madagascar’s fishing populations is now signified as over exploited by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.” (FAO) A huge problem with this is the lack of regulation on the illegal fishermen and lack of legal representation the Madagascar people have. Usually these large fishing boats just bribe the police to turn their backs to their illegal operations. Where as the local population has little or no money to incentivize the police to enforce legal reprimands toward the illegal fishing operations.
Impacts Revealed
The impacts of the over fishing have the potential of biodiversity loss, and food insecurity. Socio-economic impacts include increased corruption of different actors, lack of work security within local populations, labor absenteeism, unemployment, loss of livelihood, and loss of traditional knowledge/practices/and cultures.
Marine tourism has been jeopardized because of the overfishing. “Marine tourism in Madagascar provides 10,000 local jobs. The illegal fishing from the foreign trawlers (China, Thailand, and South Korea) has strained over 1,250 coastal fishing communities that have a population estimated around 100,000 fish. Within the past 10 years an organization that registers fishermen (Antananarivo Boat Fishers Agency) has reported a reduction of licensed fishermen from 406 fishers in 2004 to only 159 in 2015. This is a significant reduction in local fishermen employment.” (EJatlas)
Recommendations
“To address global illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, horizontal government networks should focus on addressing large-scale illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing as a transnational crime problem and not as a fishery management challenge. Given the irreparable damage to both marine living resources and to fishery-related livelihood, illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing should be regarded as a transnational "serious crime.” (Telesetsky, pg. 59) By establishing strict sanctions and increasing the repercussions of illegal fishing we can allow fisheries to repopulate while also increasing the cost of illegal fishing. Illegal fishing will be less likely to happen if regulations are more intense and repercussions are more severe. If humans value the services our ocean provides we need to set more strict rules to reduce illegal fishing and the depletion of fish populations.
“Development of an ecologically robust national marine protected network presents the only viable means of safeguarding the resilience of remaining healthy ecosystems.” (Harris, 2011) Setting aside Marine Eco parks for scuba and coral reef restoration will allow biodiversity to thrive and regain its abundance. Scuba diving can bring money into the local economy. Usually when a Marine Eco Park is set up, the scuba participants pay a minimal fee to protect and regulate these areas from illegal fishing and coral reef destruction. Without proper protected areas the illegal fishermen will continue to destroy our oceans with no regard for future generations of people, plants, or animals.
Increasing criminal charges for illegal fishing and setting aside Marine Eco Parks will allow biodiversity to return to over fished areas. But both have to be set in place for any redevelopment of coral reefs to take place. If the reprimands for illegal fishing are severe enough the illegal operations will begin to significantly reduce. Setting aside specific areas for restoration will also bring tourism and biodiversity back to these previously exploited waters.
The situation of illegal fishing within Madagascar is a perfect example of disproportionate impact of an overburdened population. The indigenous people are obviously impacted in a negative way from the illegal fishing operations. The Chinese, Indian, and South Korean fishermen will not stop their illegal fishing unless repercussions are set in place to reprimand them for their actions. The way to regulate these illegal fishing operations is to set up Marine Eco Parks to bring in tourists who will help fund the regulation of these fisheries. With increasing the severity of illegal repercussions and the creation of Marine Eco Parks fish will have a haven to live and reproduce and biodiversity will begin to return.
Ending overfishing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6nwZUkBeas
References:
"Environmental Justice." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2015. <http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/>.
Chinhur, Wonder. "Madagascar Fisheries Ravaged by Foreign Plunder." Equal Times. Equal Times, 23 Mar. 2015. Web. Apr. 2015. <http://www.equaltimes.org/madagascar-fisheries-ravaged-by#.VUEtLxyJXRs>.
Kourous, George A Bray, Samara Joy Nielsen, and Barry M Popkin. "Many of the World's Poorest People Depend on Fish." FAO Newsroom. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2015. <http://www.fao.org/Newsroom/en/news/2005/102911/index.html>.
"General Situation of World Fish Stocks." United Nations Food and Agriculture Orginization (n.d.): n. pag. FAO Fisheries & Aquaculture - IUU Fishing. United Nations. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. <http://www.fao.org/newsroom/common/ecg/1000505/en/stocks.pdf>.
"Illegal Fishing, Madagascar | EJAtlas." Environmental Justice Atlas. EJ ATLAS, 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2015. <http://ejatlas.org/conflict/madagascar-illegal-fishing>.
Telesetsky, Anastasia. "Laundering Fish in the Global Undercurrents." EBSCO HOST. Ecology Law Quarerly, 2014. Web. May 2015. <http%3A%2F%2Frpucolo.colorado.edu%2Febsco-w-b%2Fehost%2Fdetail%2Fdetail%3Fsid%3Df3d83a33-18da-476c-b7a9-5ae0f90767a4%2540sessionmgr112%26vid%3D0%26hid%3D123%26bdata%3DJnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%253d%253d%23db%3Daph%26AN%3D102244662>.
Harris, AR. "Out of Sight but No Longer out of Mind." (AJOL) African Journals Online. AJOL, 2011. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. <http://www.ajol.info/index.php/mcd/article/view/68058>.