Wild fish and other aquatic organisms as feed in aquaculture in the Americas 183
with no room for further expansion
and with some risk of decline if not
properly managed. Of the remaining
stocks, approximately 17 percent are
over-exploited, 7 percent are depleted
and 1 percent are recovering, and thus
offer no room for further expansion.
In the case of the major pelagic
reduction fisheries in the Americas, a
combination of heavy fishing pressure
and severe adverse environmental
conditions associated with changes in
the El Niño Southern Oscillation have
led to a general decline in the three
most abundant pelagic species in the
southeast Pacific, viz. the Peruvian
anchoveta, the South American
pilchard and the Chilean jack mackerel.
For example, the stocks of Peruvian
anchoveta have shown signs of
recovery and at present are considered
most likely fully or overexploited,
with catches in the order of 7 to 11
million tonnes after a sharp decline to
only 1.7 million tonnes in 1998 (FAO,
2005) (Figure 7). Similarly, the South
American pilchard has declined sharply
as part of a decadal regime period, and
in 2004 yielded only 6 898 tonnes
after reaching up to 6.5 million tonnes
in 1985 (major producing countries:
Peru, Chile and Ecuador) (FAO, 2005,
2006a). Similarly, the Chilean jack
mackerel is assessed as being fully to
overexploited and yielded 1.7 million
tonnes in 2002 after declining continuously from a peak in landings of 5 million tonnes
in 1994 (Figure 7).
Other reduction fisheries in the Americas that have shown a general decline in
catches over the last decade include the Atlantic and Gulf menhaden (Figure 10: fully
exploited), the Pacific anchoveta (Figure 14: moderately to fully exploited), the Pacific
herring (Figure 15: moderately to overexploited), and the Brazilian sardinella (Figure
16: overexploited).
4 .2 Current criteria and indicators for measuring fisheries sustainability
4.2.1 Marine Stewardship Council mission, obligations, principles and criteria
According to the official web site of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) (http://
eng.msc.org), the MSC works to enhance responsible management of seafood resources
to ensure the sustainability of global fish stocks and the health of the marine ecosystem.
In particular, the mission of the MSC is to safeguard the world’s seafood supply by
promoting the best environmental choice.
In February 1996, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Unilever formed
a partnership with the goal of creating economic incentives for sustainable fishing
through the establishment of an independent, non-profit Marine Stewardship Council.
FIGURE 45
Projections of the use of fish oil for the major
fed species in aquaculture until 2012Source: Jackson (2006)FIGURE 44
Projections of the use of fishmeal for the major fed
species in aquaculture until 2012Source: Jackson (2006)