Question description
Summary the main point of reading, it includes 3 main points from the readings and a formulated question about to readings for Dr. Holtgrieve.
PERSPECTIVE
On the sustainability of inland fisheries: Finding a future
for the forgotten
Steven J. Cooke, Edward H. Allison, T. Douglas Beard, Jr., Robert Arlinghaus,
Angela H. Arthington, Devin M. Bartley, Ian G. Cowx, Carlos Fuentevilla, Nancy J. Leonard,
Kai Lorenzen, Abigail J. Lynch, Vivian M. Nguyen, So-Jung Youn,
William W. Taylor, Robin L. Welcomme
Received: 22 December 2015 / Revised: 2 March 2016 / Accepted: 25 April 2016
Abstract
At present, inland fisheries are not often a
national or regional governance priority and as a result,
inland capture fisheries are undervalued and largely
overlooked. As such they are threatened in both
developing and developed countries. Indeed, due to lack
of reliable data, inland fisheries have never been part of any
high profile global fisheries assessment and are notably
absent from the Sustainable Development Goals. The
general public and policy makers are largely ignorant of the
plight of freshwater ecosystems and the fish they support,
as well as the ecosystem services generated by inland
fisheries. This ignorance is particularly salient given that
the current emphasis on the food-water-energy nexus often
fails to include the important role that inland fish and
fisheries play in food security and supporting livelihoods in
low-income food deficit countries. Developing countries in
Africa and Asia produce about 11 million tonnes of inland
fish annually, 90 % of the global total. The role of inland
fisheries goes beyond just kilocalories; fish provide
important micronutrients and essentially fatty acids. In
some regions, inland recreational fisheries are important,
generating much wealth and supporting livelihoods. The
following three key recommendations are necessary for
action if inland fisheries are to become a part of the food-
water-energy discussion: invest in improved valuation and
assessment methods, build better methods to effectively
govern inland fisheries (requires capacity building and
incentives), and develop approaches to managing waters
across sectors and scales. Moreover, if inland fisheries are
recognized as important to food security, livelihoods, and
human well-being, they can be more easily incorporated in
regional, national, and global policies and agreements on
water issues. Through these approaches, inland fisheries
can be better evaluated and be more fully recognized in
broader water resource and aquatic ecosystem planning and
decision-making frameworks, enhancing their value and
sustainability for the future.
Keywords
Inland fisheries
Sustainability
Governance
Integrated water resources management
Food-water-energy nexus
THE FORGOTTEN FISHERIES
Inland fisheries
1
contribute over 40 % of the world’s
reported finfish fisheries and aquaculture production (ex-
cluding plants, mammals, crustaceans, echinoderms, and
mollusks; Lynch et al.
2016
). Inland capture fisheries
comprise under 10 % of this reported total but the actual
fish harvest is likely substantially higher (Welcomme et al.
2010
). Despite this indisputable importance, due to lack of
reliable data, inland fisheries have never been part of any
high profile global fisheries assessment. Moreover, the
apparent low proportion of fish provided by inland capture
fisheries globally does not reflect the importance of inland
capture fisheries in today’s society (Bartley et al.
2015
).
Indeed, the general public and policy makers are largely
ignorant of the plight of freshwater ecosystems and the fish
they support, as well as the ecosystem services generated
by inland fisheries (Cooke et al.
2013
; Lynch et al.
2016
).
Despite mounting evidence of the immense value of
inland capture fisheries for food security in the developing
world (Welcomme
2011
;FAO
2014
), inland fisheries rarely
form part of high level policy documents and fora dealing
1
‘Inland fisheries’ operate in ‘‘lakes, rivers, brooks, streams, ponds,
inland canals, dams, and other land-locked (usually freshwater)
waters (such as the Caspian Sea, Aral Sea, etc.)’’ (FAO Coordinating
Working Party on Fishery Statistics:
http://www.fao.org/fishery/cwp/
handbook/G/en
).
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DOI 10.1007/s13280-016-0787-4
with food security and poverty alleviation, and are often
excluded or ignored from global and regional policy dis-
cussions about water resource use and global food security
(Godfray et al.
2010
). As a telling example, the United
Nations framework for the post-2015 development agenda
(i.e., Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sus-
tainable Development) has a number of proposed Sustain-
able Development Goals (SDGs; see United Nations
2016
)
that replace the previous Millennium Development Goals
(Sachs
2012
), and inland fisheries are nowhere mentioned.
Indeed, marine fisheries feature prominently in the Oceans
SDG (SDG 14—Life below water), while the Terrestrial
SDG (SDG 15—Life on land) references ‘‘inland freshwater
ecosystems’’ but makes no explicit mention of fisheries
despite the obvious links between inland fisheries and
human health, well-being, and livelihoods.
Overlooking inland fisheries has serious consequences
for the well-being of millions of people, particularly in the
developing world, where inland fisheries support liveli-
hoods for 60 million people and food for hundreds of
millions more (Smith et al.
2005
; The World Bank
2012
).
Additionally, freshwater recreational fishers globally con-
tribute some $70 billion to the global GDP (The World
Bank
2012
). It is time to acknowledge the full value of
inland fisheries, especially in the context of food security,
human health, livelihoods, and tourism (see Lynch et al.
2016
), and ensure their future sustainable management,
particularly in the face of competing uses of freshwater
(e.g., irrigation, hydropower, domestic and industrial use,
and waste disposal). Moreover, freshwaters are subject to
threats arising from extensive habitat alteration, fragmen-
tation (i.e., dams), and invasive species, that are negatively
affecting freshwater biodiversity (Bruton
1995
; Dudgeon
et al.
2006
). In the marine realm, the threats to fisheries
tend to be internal to the sector (i.e., overfishing), while in
inland waters the threats are largely external (Beard et al.
2011
; Cooke et al.
2014
). The loss of biodiversity in
freshwater is believed to exceed that observed in both
terrestrial and marine environments (Ricciardi and Ras-
mussen
1999
). Freshwater fishes are the most threatened
group of vertebrates on Earth after amphibians (Bruton
1995
; Sala et al.
2000
), and the global extinction rate of
fishes (includes marine fish) is believed to exceed that of
other vertebrates (Sisk et al.
1994
; Bruton
1995
).
FAO recently acknowledged the crucial role of inland
fisheries in food security and poverty alleviation, and rec-
ognized the need for improved information on, and sus-
tainable development of, the sector (FAO
2014
). To
address the challenges for inland fisheries on a global scale,
FAO, in partnership with Michigan State University, con-
vened a cross-sectoral conference in Rome, Italy, 26–28
January 2015, entitled
Freshwater, fish, and the future
—
cross
-
sectoral approaches to sustain livelihoods, food
security, and aquatic ecosystems
(
http://inlandfisheries.
org
). National resource officers, policy makers, indigenous
peoples, academics, civil society organizations, and the
international development community gathered to discuss
issues of economic, sociocultural, and ecological impor-
tance associated with global inland fisheries. Here, we
summarize the characteristics of these fisheries and provide
key policy recommendations for their sustainable devel-
opment that emerged during the Global Conference on
Inland Fisheries.
ABOUT INLAND FISHERIES
Inland fisheries are diverse, use multiple species (including
non-fish), often geographically dispersed, and involve
commercial, subsistence, recreational, and aquacultural
components (reviewed in Welcomme et al.
2010
; Cooke
et al. In Press b). They range from small-scale subsistence
fisheries to large-scale industrial fisheries, and include
extensive ornamental and recreational fisheries (FAO
2010
;
The World Bank
2012
; Cooke et al. In Press b). In many
inland fisheries, aquaculture and capture fisheries are
tightly linked through stock and habitat enhancement
activities, mainly because aquaculture technologies are
often well developed and accessible and because the small-
scale and confined nature of many inland fisheries enables
governance systems that are conducive to active manage-
ment (Lorenzen
2014
).
Developing countries, mainly in Asia and Africa, pro-
duce 90 %—about 11 million tonnes—of reported global
inland capture fisheries output (FAO
2014
). A large share
of these landings is destined for local human consumption
and bartering, while a smaller share provides high value
export products (e.g., Nile perch [Thorpe and Bennett
2004
], some Mekong catfishes [Belton et al.
2011
]). In
areas where malnourishment is a common threat, inland
fisheries provide a vital source of protein, essential fatty
acids, and other micronutrients not readily found in other
accessible food sources (Youn et al.
2014
). Replacing
capture fish production with other animal-source foods
would require using more land, greater energy input and
higher greenhouse gas emissions, more water withdrawal,
and production of more agrochemical pollution (Hall et al.
2013
; Hilborn
2013
). Given the natural reproductive
capacity of many inland fishes and the local-level, informal
trade of most inland capture fisheries (The World Bank
2012
; Asche et al.
2015
), well-managed inland fisheries are
likely to be the most sustainably produced source of animal
protein on the planet. Even sustainable aquaculture, of both
herbivorous and omnivorous species, has a more efficient
food conversion ratio (
\
2 kg of dry feed per 1 kg of gain)
than poultry (2-to-1), pigs (4-to-1), and cows (7-to-1)
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(Brown
2002
; Troell et al.
2004
). International trade of
inland fisheries products is variable (Asche et al.
2015
) and
it is unclear if such trade always contributes to local pov-
erty reduction and food security (Be
́
ne
́
et al.
2010
; Eggert
et al.
2015
).
The nutritional value of inland fisheries is magnified by
their accessibility. Inland water bodies are widely dis-
tributed in many natural and man-made landscapes, and
their fisheries resources are often very accessible, being
neither privately owned nor technically difficult to catch.
As a result, inland fisheries are often utilized as part of
complex rural (farming and fishing) diversified livelihoods
(e.g., combined rice and fish culture in southeast Asia;
Fernando
1993
; farming during wet season and fishing
during dry season in the Republic of Chad; Sarch and
Birkett
2000
) and are available to support the poorest
people in times of crisis such as catastrophic crop losses or
displacement by civil war (Smith et al.
2005
). This
accessibility can enable over-exploitation if fisheries are
not well managed. On the other hand, inland fisheries can
be substantially enhanced where access restrictions are
acceptable and technical means available (e.g., juvenile
fish for stocking from the aquaculture industry). In many
developed countries, inland fisheries provide not only food
but also lucrative recreational fisheries (Arlinghaus and
Cooke
2009
; Cooke et al.
2015
; Tufts et al.
2015
) and are
increasingly being recognized as sources of livelihood
support in developing countries (Bower et al.
2014
; Barnett
et al.
2015
).
Inland fish contribute to human well-being as a source of
livelihood through catching, processing, and trading
activities, with disproportionally more jobs for women.
They also contribute to sustaining cultural identities (e.g.,
indigenous communities in the Pacific northwest; Kew
1992
), maintaining cooperation and social cohesion among
riparian people, and providing job satisfaction for millions
of people (Pollnac et al.
2001
), and, they provide additional
ecosystem services by functioning as pest control, influ-
encing food webs, and through nutrient transport (Holm-
lund and Hammer
1999
; Lynch et al.
2016
). These local-
level contributions aggregate to bring well-being and
prosperity to local, regional, and national communities in
areas rich in inland fish resources (FAO
2014
; Box
1
). It is
worth emphasizing that the aforementioned benefits can
only be maintained or realized if inland fisheries are
appropriately managed.
Diverse inland fish assemblages are essential to maintain
ecosystem integrity and resilience, as well as the human
communities that depend on these fisheries for societal
well-being (Schindler et al.
2010
). At the same time, inland
fishes belong to the most threatened group of vertebrates on
the planet (Sala et al.
2000
) in part because their habitats,
freshwater ecosystems, are among the most altered and
threatened ecosystems in the world (Vo
̈
ro
̈
smarty et al.
2010
). Competition for freshwater resources by various
sectors is high and continues to increase; these activities
external to the fishery are the greatest threat to the viability
of inland fisheries (Beard et al.
2011
). Hydropower and
navigation disrupt the integrity and connectivity of aquatic
habitats, while agricultural practices and pollution from
land-based activities can further impact the productivity of
inland waters and their fisheries (Limburg et al.
2011
).
Aquaculture is often seen as a substitute for wild fish.
However, aquaculture usually does not provide the same
cultural, ecological, and nutritional goods currently pro-
vided by inland capture fisheries and may not benefit those
currently engaged in capture fisheries (Roos et al.
2007
).
Moreover, aquaculture can be a threat to wild fish stocks
(Lorenzen et al.
2012
).
THE WAY FORWARD: FROM FORGOTTEN
TO APPROPRIATELY VALUED, GOVERNED,
AND MANAGED
We provide three key recommendations that are intended
to overcome the issues highlighted above. These recom-
mendations ensure that the status of inland fish production,
as well as the economic benefits and cultural contributions
of inland fisheries, is better understood and valued; that
there is capacity and incentives for effective governance;
and that improved valuation and governance structures
promote and enable integrated water resource management
at multiple scales that benefit fish and human well-being.
Invest in improved valuation and assessment
By virtue of quota/total allowable catch-based fisheries,
embedded fisheries observers, landing statistics at port,
tracking exports on international markets, catch recon-
structions, and vigorous stock assessment programs, the
regional and global status and value (especially in eco-
nomic terms) of most commercial marine fisheries are well
quantified (e.g., FAO
1999
; Garcia and Rosenberg
2010
;
Pauly and Zeller
2016
) notwithstanding potential to
manipulate such information (Watson and Pauly
2001
).
Marine small-scale (e.g., Chuenpagdee et al.
2006
) and
recreational (Cisneros-Montemayor and Sumaila
2010
)
fisheries are not only more challenging to assess and value
but they are also considered reasonably well characterized.
This tends to be in stark contrast to inland fisheries (Wel-
comme et al.
2010
; Cooke et al.
2014
; De Graaf et al.
2015
). The dispersed and small-scale nature of most inland
fisheries (but see exceptions such as salmon culture
industry; Asche et al.
2015
) place them as generally of low
economic and sociocultural priority for data collection
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