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Environment

Sustainable fishing: Why and how?

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Cod off the menu (1/9)

In the 1960s, fishing vessels caught about three million tons of cod every year. Today cod stands as a synonym for the global fishing crisis.In 1992, ... more
Tasty substitutes (2/9)

Instead of buying depleted species like Red Snapper or Rock Cod, consumers can look for tasty alternatives. Choosing the well-managed Wild Atlantic ... more
Farmed lobster? Yes please! (3/9)

Lobster is actually better bought from a farm than from the sea. The great value of a lobster tail promises fishermen easy money. However, the ... more
Farmed shrimp? No thanks! (4/9)

Shrimp farming is considered very problematic, especially in Asian countries, because farmers destroy valuable wetlands like mangrove forests to make ... more
Don’t fish down the food chain (5/9)

The constant overfishing of large predator species like tuna, shark, or swordfish leads to an increase of smaller prey species, lower in value. Once ... more
Bad nets (6/9)

Trawl nets (shown in picture): this kind of net not so much catches but harvests fish. A huge tube net, pulled by one or more trawlers, becomes a ... more
Better nets (7/9)

Trolling (shown in picture): lines with bait attached are drawn behind the fishing vessels. This low-impact method does not damage the seafloor and ... more
Buy wild (8/9)

Unfortunately, the negative aspects of fish farming still outweigh the positive impacts on the ecosystem. The destruction of wetlands in favour of ... more
SAFE the dolphins! (9/9)

Modern methods of catching tuna fish with large trawl or drift nets are notorious for their large amount of bycatch. Whales, dolphins, and sea ... more

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Fishermen unload fish from a ship's storage freezer at Peru's northern port of Chimbote / Credits: Reuters

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January 7, 2013

Bettina Fachinger

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Environment Sustainable development in action

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Environment

Sustainable fishing: Why and how?

prev next

Cod off the menu (1/9)

In the 1960s, fishing vessels caught about three million tons of cod every year. Today cod stands as a synonym for the global fishing crisis.

In 1992, the Canadian government banned cod fishing in its waters. Populations had dropped by 99 percent. Stocks still haven’t fully recovered. In the North Sea, populations have declined by 90 percent during the last 40 years. (Source: Reuters)
Tasty substitutes (2/9)

Instead of buying depleted species like Red Snapper or Rock Cod, consumers can look for tasty alternatives. Choosing the well-managed Wild Atlantic Striped Bass, a fish similar in meat texture and taste to these endangered species, will have no impact on your taste buds but a huge one on the marine ecosystem. (Source: Shutterstock)
Farmed lobster? Yes please! (3/9)

Lobster is actually better bought from a farm than from the sea. The great value of a lobster tail promises fishermen easy money. However, the animals, although still plentiful and not directly threatened by extinction, are often caught when they are too young and before they get the chance to breed. (Source: Reuters)
Farmed shrimp? No thanks! (4/9)

Shrimp farming is considered very problematic, especially in Asian countries, because farmers destroy valuable wetlands like mangrove forests to make room for their breeding cages.

To become economically profitable, farmed shrimp have to grow faster than their natural counterparts. To achieve this, they are often fed chemicals or even antibiotics. (Source: Reuters)
Don’t fish down the food chain (5/9)

The constant overfishing of large predator species like tuna, shark, or swordfish leads to an increase of smaller prey species, lower in value. Once the big ones are gone, the small varieties become the new catch.

Between 1950 and today, we have systematically worked our way down the food chain, fishing out the top predators one after the other. (Source: Reuters)
Bad nets (6/9)

Trawl nets (shown in picture): this kind of net not so much catches but harvests fish. A huge tube net, pulled by one or more trawlers, becomes a dead end for every species in its path. Not only are the bycatch rates extremely high, the seabed is invariably destroyed.

Drift nets: long sheets of netting drift upright in the water, forming a gigantic snare for anything and everything trying to pass. The rate of unwanted catches is incredibly high because the indiscriminate net makes it nearly impossible to preselect species to catch. (Source: Reuters)
Better nets (7/9)

Trolling (shown in picture): lines with bait attached are drawn behind the fishing vessels. This low-impact method does not damage the seafloor and lets fishermen throw back the wrong species, usually in time for them to live.

Purse-seine-netting: having located a school of fish, the fishermen circle it with the net and heave it onboard. Purse-seine-nets have no effect on the seabed and allow for selective fishing, reducing the unwanted bycatch to about 5 percent. (Source: Shutterstock)
Buy wild (8/9)

Unfortunately, the negative aspects of fish farming still outweigh the positive impacts on the ecosystem. The destruction of wetlands in favour of aquaculture, and the crowded living conditions of farmed fish, make buying wild fish a more sustainable option. Sustainable fishing methods, however, are essential. (Source: Reuters)
SAFE the dolphins! (9/9)

Modern methods of catching tuna fish with large trawl or drift nets are notorious for their large amount of bycatch. Whales, dolphins, and sea turtles die pointlessly. You can easily help save those lives by taking tuna off your menu entirely.

If you don’t want to do without the occasional tuna treat, make sure that the tuna comes with the SAFE seal issued by the US Earth Island Institute. Also, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) - an independent nonprofit organization - awards a special seal to companies that source their fish according to sustainable guidelines. (Source: Reuters)

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Environment

Sustainable development in action

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Alternative development in practice (1/18)

A Chinese woman boils water in a kettle using solar energy panels. The world economy continues to career along its fossil-fuelled trajectory towards resource wars and climate chaos. Alternative solutions for economic development are urgently needed. In its 2011 report “Towards a Green Economy - Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication”, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) charts a future course towards an alternative model of development that claims to be not just green but also “pro-growth, pro-jobs and pro-poor”.

As part of its economic analysis, UNEP singled out encouraging solutions from around the world, many in developing countries, that point the way forward. They are shown in this photo gallery, along with other schemes that show the positive benefits of sustainable investments, policies and grassroots initiatives. (Source: Reuters)
Long-term investing in Norway (2/18)

A small hydro-electric plant generates renewable energy in Kaggefoss, Norway.The Norwegian Pension Fund Global is one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world. Funded by surplus revenues from the country’s oil and gas sector, it has over 650 billion dollars worth of investments in more than 8000 companies worldwide. Its Ethical Council has excluded companies involved in tobacco and arms production, environmental degradation, and violations of human rights.

The Norwegian Finance Ministry has established a new investment program for the fund, which will focus on environmental investment opportunities such as climate-friendly energy, improving energy efficiency, carbon capture and storage, water technology, and the management of waste and pollution. (Source: Shutterstock)
Eco-taxes in Germany (3/18)

Described as a “double dividend for jobs and the environment” by UNEP, the German government in 1999 increased taxes for engine fuels, electricity, oil and gas in incremental steps up to 2003. The revenue raised was used to offset a lowering of employers’ contributions to workers’ pensions and social security, thereby reducing non-wage labour costs. The German Institute for Economic Research found that the effect was an additional 250,000 full time equivalent jobs and a three percent drop in CO2 emissions in 2010.

Eco-taxes are designed to put a price on pollution and the use of scarce natural resources and to stimulate employment by reducing the cost of labour. The International Labour Organization estimates that imposing a price on carbon emissions and using the revenue to cut labor costs by lowering social security contributions would create 14.3 million net new jobs over five years. (Source: Reuters)
Energy subsidy reform in Indonesia (4/18)

When Indonesia, faced with unsustainable spending on energy subsidies, raised fuel prices and cut subsidies in October 2005, the government sought to soften the blow. It gave cash handouts of 30 dollars each quarter for a year to 15.5 million poor households. The program performed well, says UNEP, and was repeated when fuel prices were raised in May 2008, with 1.52 billion dollars in cash transfers being allocated to low-income households.

The program provided a model for identifying poor households which was later used in the Hopeful Family Program, intended to increase the education and health of poor communities. Cash payments are made to female household heads through post offices on the condition that they use health and education services.

Learn more about the importance of energy subsidy reform in Green short cut: Abolish fossil fuel subsidies (Source: Reuters)
Sustainable urban planning in Brazil (5/18)

An articulated bus powered with biodiesel made from soybeans operates in the Brazilian city of Curitiba. Since the 1960s, the city has more than quadrupled its population to over 1.8 million without experiencing worsening congestion, pollution, or reduction of public space. The population has doubled since 1974, but its car traffic has declined by 30 percent.

The city has closely integrated city and transport planning and zoning regulations that protect green space and divert traffic from the city center. Curitiba has the highest rate of public transport use in Brazil (45 per cent of journeys), uses 30 percent less fuel than other major cities, and has one of the country’s lowest rates of urban air pollution.

Learn more about new forms of urbanization in New Urbanism: Cities for people not cars (Source: Reuters)
Forest management in Nepal (6/18)

Children hug trees as they prepare to take part in an attempt to create a Guinness World Record for the most number of people hugging trees for two minutes in Kathmandu on World Environment Day on June 5, 2011.

Since 1980, about 14,000 locally-organized Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs), representing more than 35 per cent of the total population, have been formed and they now manage about one quarter of Nepal’s national forest resources, deciding rules for harvesting, setting prices for forest products, and providing employment, income and wood fuel energy.

UNEP reports that community forestry has contributed to reversing forest decline in Nepal from an annual rate of 1.9 per cent during the 1990s to an annual increase of 1.35 per cent over the period 2000 to 2005, and has also resulted in improved soil and water management. (Source: Reuters)
Ecosystem services in Ecuador (7/18)

The city of Quito and its surrounding areas, home to over 1.5 million people as well as agricultural, industrial and hydropower concerns, gets 80 percent of its water from upstream ecological reserves. The Fund for the Protection of Water – FONAG – was established in 2000 as a trust fund to which all water users in Quito contribute, paying differentiated rates for the ecosystem services the water provides.

FONAG uses the proceeds to finance watershed management projects, land acquisition for key hydrological functions, and river basin management education and training. Through the fund, more than 65,000 hectares of watersheds are now under improved management, according to UNEP, and FONAG has inspired similar schemes in Latin America and beyond.

Learn more about payment for ecosystem services in How Costa Rica’s eco-economy saved its forests (Source: Reuters)
Organic agriculture in Cuba (8/18)

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent loss of cheap agrochemicals, Cuba suffered a food crisis. Cuban agriculturalists turned the declining availability of pesticides, fertilisers and petroleum into an opportunity to shift towards organic production.

Havana became a world-leading center of urban agriculture, with more than 35,000 hectares of land in the city now being used to grow food on small-scale allotments—known as ‘organiponicos’. State farms were leased back to individuals and co-operatives while local markets developed, transport costs were reduced, and derelict areas of the city revitalized.

To learn more read our interview with Humberto Rios, winner of the 2010 Goldman Environment Prize. Support Cuba's organic farmers (Source: Reuters)
Solar energy in Tunisia (9/18)

To reduce the country’s dependence on oil and gas, Tunisia’s government has passed a law establishing an “energy conservation system”, created the National Fund for Energy Management funded by a levy on the registration of private cars, and introduced a national Solar Energy Plan to increase the share of renewable energy sources from just under one percent to 4.3 percent in 2014, using solar photovoltaic systems, solar water heating systems, and solar concentrated power units.

The energy savings expected could reach 22 percent for 2016, with a reduction of 1.3 million tons per year of CO2, estimates UNEP. Between 2005 and 2008, clean energy plans have already saved the government 1.1 billion dollars in energy bills, relative to initial investments of 200 million dollars in clean energy infrastructure. (Source: Shutterstock)
Renewable energy in China (10/18)

A wind turbine is seen near a gate of the ancient city of Wushu in Diaobingshan, Liaoning province. According to UNEP China is “taking considerable steps to shift to a low-carbon growth strategy based on the development of renewable energy sources.” China has committed itself to producing 16 percent of its primary energy from renewable sources by 2020 and its Renewable Energy Law offers a national fund to foster renewable energy development, discounted lending and tax preferences, and a requirement that power grid operators purchase renewable energy.

China is already the world’s leading solar PV manufacturer, the largest wind power market in the world, and the world’s largest market for solar hot water, with more than 10 percent of Chinese households relying on the sun to heat their water. The solar water heater sector has proven profitable for both households and manufacturers and also provides “considerable health and sanitation benefits.” (Source: Reuters)
Feed-in tariffs in Kenya (11/18)

Feed-in tariffs guarantee payment of a fixed amount per unit of electricity produced from renewable sources, or a premium on top of market electricity prices. In Kenya, feed-in tariffs cover electricity generated from wind, biomass, small hydropower, geothermal, biogas and solar. They are intended to rebalance the country’s energy mix away from imported petroleum. Critically for the long-term development of the sector, the feed-in tariffs stipulate power purchase agreements of a minimum of 20 years.

This could stimulate an estimated 1300 megawatts of electricity generation capacity in the coming years or nearly double installed capacity, reports UNEP, which anticipates a “triple-win” of additional renewable, enhanced employment and poverty alleviation in rural areas, and increasing business development. (Source: Reuters)
Waste management in Korea (12/18)

People walk past flowerpots made of old jeans during a recycling campaign at a jeans shop in Seoul. Waste management and recycling in South Korea has not only reduced waste generation, but has also encouraged reusing waste as an energy resource creating thousands of jobs, says UNEP. A policy of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) has been enforced on packaging (paper, glass, iron, aluminum and plastic) and specific products (battery, tire, lubricating oil and fluorescent lamp) since 2003. This increased the recycling rate by 14 percent between 2003 and 2007 and created an economic benefit equivalent to 1.6 billion dollars.

Learn more about recycling in Recycling finds hidden resources (Source: Reuters)
Congestion charging in London (13/18)

In central London, since 2003, the world’s largest traffic congestion charge has charged motorists a fee (currently 10 pounds, about 16 dollars) for entering the city center on weekdays during peak times. The system uses cameras to monitor the licence plates of motorists and levy fines if the charge is unpaid. The scheme has reduced daily vehicle journeys by 70,000 and CO2 emissions by 20 percent, reports UNEP, as well as encouraging an increase of bicycle and public transport usage in the city center. A similar scheme in Singapore Singapore’s has also slowed increasing car use and motorization. (Source: Reuters)
Mass public transit in Colombia (14/18)

Bogota’s bus rapid transit system TransMilenio was introduced in 2000 and has been expanding ever since due to high public satisfaction and its success in reducing emissions per passenger by 14 percent. The system consists of 11 lines comprising dedicated bus lanes and elevated stations in the center of a main avenue (usually accessed via a bridge). Like a subway station, the station platforms and bus floor are at the same height making boarding easy and quick. Users pay with smartcards.

Bogotá has also built many bicycle paths built throughout the city in conjunction with TransMilenio and stations at each end of a line have large bicycle parking facilities. Today five percent of trips in Bogotá are by bicycle. Thanks to its success, TransMilenio-style bus rapid transit systems have been replicated in Lagos, Ahmadabad, Guangzhou and Johannesburg. (Source: Reuters)
Rural ecological infrastructure in India (15/18)

Labourers work on a dried lake to try and revive it under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) on the outskirts of Hyderabad. NREGA guarantees 100 days of employment every year to tens of millions of the rural poor on projects that contribute to the restoration and maintenance of natural assets, such as water sources and soil, that are used by the poor to earn their livelihoods.

The scheme has grown fourfold since its inception and investment in 2010 amounted to over 8 billion dollars, creating 3 billion workdays and benefiting 59 million households. About 84 percent of this investment goes into water conservation, irrigation and land development.

Learn more about watershed conservation in India in Combating water scarcity: Watershed management in India (Source: Reuters)
Recovering waste food in America (16/18)

According to the Environment Protection Agency, Americans throw away 40 percent of all the food in the supply chain. Meanwhile 1 in 6 Americans struggle to feed themselves. University of Maryland student Ben Simon founded the Food Recovery Network to tackle both these problems by picking up waste food from his college canteen and distributing it to local food banks and charities.

The resulting meals cost about 10 cents each as all the pickup and transport costs are borne by the student volunteers. The Food Recovery Network has spread to 11 campuses and donated over 90,000 pounds of food, worth an estimated 72,000 meals. All of this food would otherwise have been sent to a landfill.

Learn more about food banking at Food banking helps feed hungry in Japan (Source: Food Recovery Network)
Barefoot solar engineers in India, Africa (17/18)

African women being trained as solar power engineers in the Barefoot College in Tilonia, Rajasthan state, India. At the Barefoot College, illiterate women villagers learn how to assemble charge controllers and inverters, establish a rural electronic workshop, install solar panels on roofs, connect them to batteries, and solar electrify each house in the village. And they do all this without lectures, textbooks, manuals, exams, or formal qualifications.

The Barefoot approach trains the women using demonstration, practice and sign language. The first three solar engineers trained a further 27 women (speaking many different languages) from all over India. They went on to electrify some 200 rural villages and now the program has spread from India to Africa.

Learn more at Barefoot solar engineers electrify villages (Source: The Barefoot College)
Community food movement in Ecuador (18/18)

To avoid the social, economic, health, and environmental damage associated with modern food systems, particularly processed foods lacking nutrients, the “Canastas Comunitarias” movement has established direct links between farmers and urban consumers. A Canasta Comunitaria can range from 15 to 100 or more member families. Groups make bi-weekly bulk purchases; individual shares include an average of 20 foodstuffs per family.

These arrangements can lead to better prices for consumers as well as producers, greater control over food quality (e.g. pesticide use), and increased benefits for marginalised families.

Learn more at Learn more at The massive carbon footprint of the global food supply chain (Source: Reuters)