According to a University of British Columbia study, Canada would do well if high-sea fishing was banned. Canada is home to large Exclusive Economic Zones. Today, fishing is done in the high seas as well as EEZs of other countries that have coastlines. The idea of closing the high seas to fishing was recently proposed. It is still a topic of discussion in many international forums. Isabelle Cote (co-author), who is a member of the Department of Biological Sciences of the Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada said that her country would gain between $100 millions and $125million if high seas fishing was banned. Few countries will be affected if high-sea fishing is banned. Image: Scientific Reports. A study published in Scientific Reports, which cites below, found that there would be a vast majority of nations benefiting from this measure. Very few countries would lose out. The high seas, legally speaking, are considered international waters that do not fall within the EEZs. An EEZ, as defined by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of water that measures 200 miles. It allows for the use of all sea resources including wind energy. Prof. Cote, along with colleagues, gathered data and analysed it to see what economic impacts the closure of high seas fishing might have. Professor Cote stated that “people have been discussing this for some time.” An economic analysis was missing. Although it’s fine for people to state, “Let’s close off the high seas fishing. There are likely to some huge ecological benefits.” The economic analysis was missing. First, the team had to determine what kinds of marine life were being caught, and how they got there. What percentage of species can be caught in high seas only, what proportions in EEZs and which combination? The majority of species caught were in both areas, according to the researchers. Surprisingly only a small number of stocks of fish can be caught only in high seas. Isabelle Cote, Professor of Marine Ecology and Conservation in the Department of Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University. Image: SFU. Professor Cote stated that closing the high seas would eliminate all fishing effort, but it’s only a small proportion, less than 0.1% of fisheries landings in the world. The majority of fishing profit comes from species that are both catchable in high and EEZs. The authors noted that even if high-sea fishing was banned, fish will still cross the artificial border. But, even if high-seas fishing was banned, tuna and swordfish stocks would still be replenishable outside the EEZs. Once stocks in high seas are abundant, fishes begin to spill over into EEZs, leading to greater catches. They hope that their research will give the United Nations more ammunition for banning high-sea fishing. Citation: “Winners & losers in a high seas fishing ban world,” U. Rashid Sumaila. Vicky W. Y. Lam. Dana D. Miller. Louise Teh. William W. L. Cheung. Isabelle M. Cote. Alex D. Rogers. Callum Roberts. Enric Sala & Daniel Pauly. Scientific Reports. Publication 12 February 2015. DOI: 10. 1038/srep0848.
Canada and several other nations would gain from banning high-sea fishing
