Nothing fishy about it

3 May 2010
DUBAI — A staple diet for millions in the world, seafood is both delicious and nutritious.

Being the only proprietors of certain proteins and Omega 3 fatty acids, their nutritional value has been to a great extent over-emphasised in the last few decades, leading to over exploitation of fish around the world.

Great taste, natural abundance and greater value for money are also some of the factors driving excessive commercialisation of seafood. The growing popularity of fish can be assessed by the fact that over 80 per cent of the world’s main fish stocks are considered as fully exploited, overexploited, depleted or recovering from depletion.

A seafaring and fish-eating civilisation from the prehistoric days, the current state of the UAE’s fish stock is not much different from other countries in the world. But the situation in the UAE was never as critical as it is today. The downturn began in the last few decades, when the country’s population began growing exponentially, turning the fisheries into a commercial industry. This reflects in the fact that 66 per cent of the UAE’s wide-ranging demographic likes to enjoy fish at least once in a week.

At 80 per cent the average decline of the UAE’s main fish stock is exactly the same as that of rest of the world, but what is alarming is its partial favouring of a certain species. Overfished seven times beyond the sustainable level, Hamour (Orange Spotted Grouper) tops the overexploited species list with a decline of 87 to 92 per cent since 1978. Following closely behind are Kingfish and Painted Sweetlips.

Although there is a Federal Law No.23 of 1999 that governs the fishing industry in the UAE and there are also restrictions and regulations in place at the local level – quotas, size restrictions, limited use of traps and most importantly cessation in issuing new fishing licences – the situation is getting from bad to worse.

Under the circumstances, the Emirates Wildlife Society seems to have thought that the best way to tackle the problem is by creating awareness among the end-users – the consumers.

The EWS in association with Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) and Dubai Municipality (DM) earlier this week launched a nationwide sustainable fisheries campaign by calling upon the consumers to ‘Choose Wisely.’

‘Choose Wisely,’ part of the EWS’ drive for sustainable living and conservation of biodiversity, aims at driving the consumers away from the eight most exploited fish varieties, including Hamour and Kingfish, and towards the less exploited but equally delicious alternatives.

“The UAE waters have experienced 80 per cent decline in fish stock over the last three decades due to overfishing. Our campaign is targeting consumers and we are trying to highlight the evils of overfishing and communicate the status of fish stocks in the UAE. We are also trying to provide solutions and practical tools that consumers can use in making sustainable choices,” said Nessrine Al Zahlawi, Marine Biologist and coordinator of the fish conservation campaign at EWS.

The EWS has come up with a consumer guide enlisting nineteen popular fish species with their corresponding levels of stock by placing the most exploited, the less exploited and the least exploited under three different lists of Red, Orange and Green respectively. Encouraged by the positive response to a recent survey which showed that 70 per cent of the consumers wouldn’t buy a particular fish species if they know it’s being overfished, the Society aims to use the consumer guide as its main tool in creating awareness.

“We have found through a survey that if you educate people that a certain variety is being overfished, they are less likely to buy it,” added Al Zahlawi explaining the results of a consumer survey.

Apart from the consumer guide, the EWS also has several other handy tools up its sleeves which includes a website full of information, a sustainable fish dish challenge, and a programme to get the food industry on board.

“The website, www.choosewisely.ae, is also one of our main tools. It our the main portal of resources, where people can find all the information about fishing in the UAE, status of several species as well as ideas on how they can help and how they can get involved,” Al Zahlawai continued, elaborating on the utility of the website. One of the ways to get involved is to participate in the five-month ‘Sustainable Fish Dish Challenge’ through the website.

The Society is also targeting retailers and other players of the food industry like supermarkets, fish markets, restaurants and hotels to promote sustainable varieties of fish and communicate the issue to their staff and their costumers.

“We are in touch with supermarkets and restaurants to try and work out plans to promote ‘green fish’. One of our ideas is to place the consumer guides at the fish counters, the retailers can also help by labeling the different varieties of fish,” added Al Zahlawi.

Recreational Fishing

-Take extreme care while casting to prevent injury to pedestrians (Avoid fishing in public areas).

-Always keep license handy for inspection.

-Catching crabs, squids, cattle fish, mussels & Juvenile fishes is prohibited.

-Fishing in Sanctuaries, swimming beaches, shipping areas & private places is prohibited.

-Enjoy fishing. Do not over fish. Clean the area before leaving.

-Always throw back alive, undersize, unwanted, or inedible aquatic animals.

-Remember: Fishing without license or with invalid licence will be subjected to penalty/prosecution.

-Permit is restricted only to one rod/line with 2-3 hooks.

-Dubai Municipality Environment Dept stopped issuing recreational fishing licence during summer season (from July to September) every year.

-Recreational fishing licence is valid for angling only in areas of Al Maktoum and Al Garhoud Bridges, and Al Seif road of Dubai Creek, Jumaira, and Umm Suqeim beaches.


Impact On Aquatic Life

-Studies show that many varieties of fish are caught beyond sustainable levels in the UAE. This has had a serious impact on the aquatic life:

-The age factor: Hamour can live up to 30 years, but today, the oldest fish that can be found is only 11 years old.

-Caught Young: Most fish we find on the market today are juveniles. These fish have not had a chance to mature and produce eggs. In the case of Kingfish, 95 per cent of landed fish are immature. Similarly, for Zuraidi fish, 71 per cent of the catch --comprises of fish smaller than the size at which they reach maturity.

-Imbalance in gender ratio: For some species, more females than males are naturally present in the population (e.g. Hamour). However large ones are heavily targeted by fishing. Since these are usually male, the sex ratio becomes even more imbalanced. This interferes with the species’ ability to reproduce.

-Last year, Gargoor traps caught 736 tonnes of Hamour and 346 tonnes of Shaari in Abu Dhabi alone, making up 43.2% of the total fish catch in the emirate.

-Total value of the fish industry in the Abu Dhabi Emirate alone is estimated at Dh104.8 million.

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