Page Content
Distant water fishing fleets
Introduction
Ranging across the world's oceans are fleets of fishing vessels targeting a wide range of fisheries resources of the high seas and, since their establishment in the late 1970s, within the fishing zones of coastal nations. Distant water vessels may be generally defined as those operating for extending periods far from their home base. Historically, the main targets for distant water vessels were the great whales, from the 18th century until the late 1970s. More recently, tuna and billfish have been taken by pelagic longline and purse seine vessels, and a wide variety of bottom associated fishes taken by demersal (bottom) trawlers and longliners. High seas fisheries for krill, squid and other open ocean pelagic resources have developed over the last few decades.
With the advent of onboard freezer technology after World War II, modern distant water fleets rapidly explored and established themselves in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The declaration of numerous Exclusive Economic Zones by coastal states in the late 1970s significantly reduced access to productive continental shelf waters as well as large tracts of open ocean. Distant water fleets utilising these areas were forced to negotiate access or to seek new fishing opportunities elsewhere. The increasing capabilities (in terms of capacity and range) of coastal or shore based fishing vessels in many parts of the world, may further erode the 'traditional' fishing areas of distant water fleets.
Fishing companies and distant water fishing fleets of the world respond very rapidly to changes, challenges and opportunities within the fisheries commodity markets. When opportunities are presented through technological development, changes in economics or new information, the response of distant water fleets can be very rapid. Monitoring of highly mobile and opportunistic distant water fleets is a very difficult undertaking and it is clear that, in many areas, the activities of distant water vessels go largely unrecorded by the interested national or international management bodies.
Below are two examples of the operations of distant water fleets that impinge upon the Australian Fishing Zone (AFZ).
Indian Ocean: tuna longlining
In the early 1950s Japanese longlining vessels began fishing in the vicinity of Java (Indonesia), with activities spreading rapidly westwards spanning the Indian Ocean by 1955. By 1968, with the addition of the Taiwanese fleet, tuna longline fishing activities encompassed the entire Indian Ocean (south to 45 degrees). For the last 25 years tuna longlining in the Indian Ocean has been dominated by Japan, Taiwan and Korea. A more recent trend involves the expansion of domestic fleets from Indian Ocean coastal states into the realm of the traditional distant water operators. The tuna longlining fleet of Indonesia has undergone tremendous growth in the last decade, and its operations appear to have displaced the historically prevalent fleets in the region south of Java. The Taiwanese fleet has undergone extensive modernisation, with significant numbers of new, purpose built longliners constructed over the past few years. Conversely the Japanese distant water longlining fleet is relatively old.
Development of pelagic longline effort targeting tuna, in the Indian Ocean (data source: Indo-Pacific Tuna Development and Management Programs, Industrial Longline 1952-93).
Sub-Antarctic: patagonian toothfish
Over the last few years, high prices and demand for patagonian toothfish in the US and Japan has led to the rapid development of distant water fishing operations in the sub-Antarctic. Activities have expanded eastward from the established fisheries around South Georgia, with a large un-monitored and largely illegal fleet operating in the Indian Ocean sector, including the Kerguelen Plateau and Heard and MacDonald Islands in the past 18 months. These operations are apparently well organised with very modern vessels as well as mother ships to tend the fleet. Recent years have seen the construction of vessels designed specifically to target patagonian toothfish in the sub-Antarctic, with nations such as Norway investing tens of millions of dollars (US) in purpose-built vessels.
The isolation and sensitivity of the region along with the recent listing of Heard, MacDonald and Macquarie Islands as World Heritage has necessitated stringent controls over the fledgling Australian domestic fisheries. These management measures are directed not only towards conservation of exploited stocks (in line with measures taken for the Conservation of Australia's Marine Living Resources) but also towards minimising any impact on marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Illegal fishers are obviously not bound by any of these controls.
Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic region. In the past most activity has been in the vicinity of the Antarctic Peninsula and South Georgia, however recently distant water longliners have moved east to fish the waters of the Kerguelen Plateau, including Australia's territory around Heard and MacDonald Islands. There have also been reports of vessels operating around Macquarie Island.
The future
The United Nations Implementation Agreement on fish stocks (UNIA) sets out a framework of principles for cooperation between states for the conservation and optimum utilisation of fisheries resources on the high seas and within exclusive economic zones. The agreement has yet to enter into force but will provide effective mechanisms for international cooperation and consistent management of high seas resources, including mechanisms for ensuring compliance and enforcement of agreed measures. It is intended that regional fisheries management organisations (such as the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Living Resources, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission and the proposed agency for management of western/central pacific tunas) will implement the UNIA protocols with the potential for significantly more rigorous information gathering, management and enforcement. The agreement will essentially mean that the freedom to fish on the high seas without regulation will no longer exist and governments will be required to regulate fishing or not fish.
Vessel monitoring systems (VMS) offer a technological solution to tracking the movements of fishing fleets on the open ocean and may well be a significant monitoring tool under UNIA fisheries management. VMS utilises navigation (Global Positions Systems) and communication (INMARSAT or ARGOS) satellite technology to give regular, accurate position reporting of vessels fitted with appropriate equipment. In Australia, VMS is currently is used to monitor vessels in the orange roughy and sub-Antarctic fisheries.
Links
- United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (UN)
- UNIA text - The United Nations Agreement For The Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law Of The Sea of 10 December 1982 Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (UN)
- The Agreement on High Seas Fishing: An Update (UN)