Fisheries is one of the Pacific Island region’s most vital economic resources, and a new study shows that overfishing, overcrowding and climate change is threatening it with collapse by 2035.
The report, published by Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), a regional intergovernmental organisation, said the €1.5 billion a year industry was poorly managed, with a lack of coordination between the 22 island nations in the region.
As an example, it echoed warnings from environmental groups around the world that some types of tuna were already being dangerously overexploited and the problem would spread to other species as foreign fleets clamour for access to rich fishing grounds throughout a global fall in fish stocks.
“There is a dangerous misconception that these resources will always be there but this is not true”, the report said. “If changes are not made now, the road ahead could be a bleak one.”
The study highlighted the coral reefs as particularly vulnerable to climate change, in turn affecting adversely the fish stocks feeding there, and predicted that growing populations in island nations would fuel demand for fish, increasing the risk of unsustainable practices.