What we should do to save the world’s oceans

by **Nanneerose** Mon May 13, 2019 7:15 pm

Erin Priddle defends the record of the Marine Stewardship Council, Sam Laird attacks fishing subsidies, Keith Snell says we will suffocate if phytoplankton are wiped out, and Fiona Carnie says that we all have a duty to help save the planet

Letters
Sat 11 May 2019 01.34 AESTLast modified on Sat 11 May 2019 01.35 AEST

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Phytoplankton release oxygen that is essential for all animal life, including humankind, writes Keith Snell. Photograph: FLPA/Alamy
George Monbiot wants the world to stop eating fish (Journal, 9 May). However, considering over a billion people rely on fish as part of their diet, many of them in poorer parts of the world, simply cutting fish out – even if it were possible – would deprive millions of people of an essential protein source and vital source of income. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) provides an international benchmark for sustainable fishing that ensures certified fisheries safeguard fish stocks and our oceans.
Monbiot criticises the MSC for certifying unsustainable fisheries. But his examples include a tuna fishery that has nearly eradicated shark finning in its fishery. The steps taken by this certified fishery have helped to secure livelihoods for a suite of small-island developing nations, and they have contributed to the protection of important species, including sharks.
The Shetland dredged scallop fishery is also called out – yet this fishery has worked hard to be the only UK dredged scallop fishery to bear the MSC label. It covers less than 5% of Shetland waters, providing a haven for biogenic reefs and ecologically significant maerl beds in these waters. In fact, this fishery is inspiring a new direction for the UK scallop fleet, which is working with scientists, government, environmental groups and the UK seafood sector to forge a sustainable path forward.
There is no simple solution to the challenges faced by our oceans, and in the context of a growing global population we need to find sustainable sources of seafood that safeguard our seas. The MSC is contributing to the solution through its rigorous eco-label programme by incentivising sustainable fishing at a global level to help preserve our seafood supplies for this and future generations.
Making a global industry sustainable is complex and takes time. But the MSC is committed to global ocean sustainability by setting standards that help preserve our seafood supplies for this and future generations.
Erin Priddle
MSC program director, UK and Ireland
[size=0]• George Monbiot makes some key points about the devastation of fish stocks. Importantly, he also draws attention to the huge concentration of ownership – a very different image from the poor fisherman being destroyed by EU policies. However, he misses the fact that fishing subsidies have helped create this situation – subsidies for building more efficient boats with radar and sonar systems that make fishing rather like shooting into a barrel. Fishing subsidies, like farming subsidies, go to the rich few, not to the small operator. Greed is the reason for the decline of the industry.
Sam Laird
Le Causse, Souillac, France
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• Your editorial (A million species face extinction. One species is to blame – and will pay too, Journal, 8 May) does well to note that phytoplankton are “barely noticed at all”. When the microscopic oceanic organisms do get mentioned, it is entirely for absorbing carbon dioxide. But, like the carbon-extracting forests, they are even more significant for the fact that by using photosynthesis they trap the carbon from carbon dioxide and release the oxygen as a byproduct into the atmosphere.
This oxygen is essential for all animal life, including humankind. Roughly one-third is released by rainforests and most of the remainder comes from marine plants of which the phytoplankton are the most significant members.
Small increases in ocean temperatures devastate the growth of phytoplankton. We are one of the million species that face extinction as a result of ocean warming caused by climate change.
Dr Keith Snell
Cockermouth, Cumbria
• While the need for government action on climate change and environmental breakdown is urgent, all of those who are employed as leaders and managers in the public, private or third sectors should surely be looking closely at what their organisation can do to turn things round and making the necessary changes, sooner rather than later. Protesting is important, but it’s time now for all of us to take action in whatever sphere we can.
Fiona Carnie
Bath

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/10/what-we-should-do-to-save-the-worlds-oceans
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