Ocean Recovery: A sustainable future for global fisheries?

by Ray Hilborn, Ulrike Hilborn

Over the last two decades, the scientific and popular media have been bombarded by gloom and doom stories of the future of fisheries, the status of fish stocks, and the impact of fishing on marine ecosystems. Dozens of certification and labeling schemes have emerged to advise consumers on what seafood is sustainable. In recent years, an opposing narrative has emerged emphasizing the success of fisheries management in many places, the increasing abundance of fish stocks in those places, and the prescription for sustainable fisheries. However, there has been no comprehensive survey of what really constitutes sustainability in fisheries, fish stock status, success and failures of management, and consideration of the impacts of fishing on marine ecosystems. This book will explore very different perspectives on sustainability, and bring together the data from a large number of studies to show where fish stocks are increasing, where they are declining, the consequences of alternative
fisheries management regimes, and what is known about a range of fisheries issues such as the impacts of trawling on marine ecosystems.

Ocean Recovery is aimed principally at a general audience that is already interested in fisheries but seeks both a deeper understanding of what is known about specific issues and an impartial presentation of all the data rather than selected examples used to justify a particular perspective or agenda. It will also appeal to the scientific community eager to know more about marine fisheries and fishing data, and serve as the basis for graduate seminars on the sustainability of natural resources.

210 pages, Hardcover

Published August 21, 2019

Reviews

[Grace]

Hilborn, if I edit this for you and make it more accessible to the public through an aggressive marketing campaign, will you sponsor (read: fund) my M.S. in Marine Sciences?

[RYAN PHAM]

From book Ocean Recovery
Each year Mekong consumption is about 25 to 50 kg a person
This is after subtracting for export
Key part of Mekong nutrition
Few make a full time living fishing on Mekong
Only people who call themselves poor or very poor survive through a mix of part time fishing, some agriculture, logging, and perhaps a bit of aquaculture
If all dams (currently more than 50) on Mekong are buoy, gosh catches could be down 42%
Two major threats: Overfishing and loss of habitat through pollution and agriculture development

[The Inquisitive Biologist]

A thought-provoking and nuanced book, Ocean Recovery critically and sceptically examines overblown claims of doom while showing where sustainable fisheries management works and where it fails. See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2020...