Sustainable fishing: Eliminating destructive practices

In some cases, a fishing practice or gear is so damaging that we believe it should stop completely.

WWF's primary approach to reduce the impacts of fishing on the marine environment is to work with fishers to change the way fisheries are operated and managed.

However, in cases where bycatch or a fishing practice is an immediate threat to the survival of a species or ecosystem and existing legislation and enforcement are inadequate, we will work to stop the use of certain fishing gear and practises completely. Examples include preventing:

• bottom trawling on sensitive deep-sea habitats
• driftnet fishing in the Mediterranean
• further dolphin and porpoise deaths in fishing nets
• cyanide and dynamite fishing
  

Protecting deep-sea habitats from bottom trawling
Bottom trawling is one of the greatest threats to deep-sea habitats, including fragile cold-water coral reefs and seamounts. WWF and other NGOs are calling for a temporary moratorium on bottom trawling on these habitats until their protection can be secured. Recent campaign successes include:

• a ban in 2005 by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) on bottom trawling in the Mediterranean Sea at depths below 1,000m, the first ban of its kind in the world
  
  
• a European Union ban in 2005 on bottom trawling around the Azores Islands, as well as a ban on the use of gillnets and other entangling fishing nets at depths greater than 200m in the areas around the Azores, Madeira, and Canary Islands
  
  
• a ban in 2004 by the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) on bottom trawling on several cold-water coral reefs in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean
  
  
• a ban in 2003 by the European Union on bottom trawling on the UK's Darwin Mounds, prior to their complete protection in 2004.

In all, our campaigns have led to the protection of 20 cold-water coral sites from bottom trawling and/or static gear in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean.

Getting rid of driftnets in the Mediterranean
Labelled 'walls of death', driftnets have killed hundreds of thousands of whales, dolphins, seabirds, marine turtles, sharks, and non-target fish since they were introduced in the 1970s.

WWF is one of many organizations to campaign against the use of driftnets. In 1992 a UN moratorium came into effect on all large-scale driftnet fishing. However despite this and subsequent driftnet bans, the damaging practise has continued.

For example in the Mediterranean Sea, the use of driftnets longer than 2.5km has been banned since 1992, and driftnet fishing was banned altogether for EU fleets effective from 2002. However, a 2003 WWF report showed that Morocco still had large-scale driftnet fleets, and that Italy, France, and Turkey also still had sizeable driftnet fleets in the Mediterranean. WWF campaigns against this illegal fishing led to:

• a complete ban in 2003 on the use of driftnets by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT), making it illegal for non-EU as well as EU fleets to use driftnets in the Mediterranean
  
  
• an EU decision in 2005 to help Morocco phase out its illegal driftnet fleet
  

WWF is continuing to urge the EU to monitor and prosecute the fleets of its member states that are using illegal driftnets. We are also campaigning against a loophole in EU anti-driftnet legislation that would allow driftnet fishing to continue legally.


Saving dolphins and porpoises
Fine monofilament fishing nets - such as driftnets, gillnets, and set nets - are responsible for a very high proportion of global bycatch. This includes around 300,000 cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) each year, making bycatch the biggest threat to the survival of many of the world's 86 cetacean species.

As part of WWF's work to reduce cetacean bycatch, we have campaigned against the use of driftnets and gillnets in certain fisheries for many years. Recent work includes:

• a campaign that led to a complete ban of driftnet fishing in the Mediterranean Sea, which when enforced will save thousands of dolphins each year.
  
  
• a campaign that led to a ban on setting gillnets in inshore waters on New Zealand's North Island to protect the critically endangered Maui’s dolphin - the world's smallest and rarest marine dolphin, whose numbers have been severely depleted by set gillnet fishing. With WWF’s support, there is now also a very active community watch group keeping an eye on these dolphins up and down the coast of New Zealand.
  
  
• a long-term conservation strategy for the vaquita - the world’s smallest and most critically endangered porpoise - developed in collaboration with many partners, which includes the elimination of gillnets and shrimp trawling nets in its range to reduce bycatch mortality rates to zero. WWF is also urging authorities in Mexico to take emergency measures to stop further drownings of vaquitas in fishing nets.
  

Stopping cyanide and dynamite fishing
Although banned in many areas of the world, the destructive practices of cyanide and dynamite fishing continue. WWF is working in various ways to stop this. For example:

• In Indonesia, 75% eradication of blast fishing and cyanide fishing has been achieved in Bunaken, Wakatobi, and Teluk Cendrawasih National Parks
  
  
• In the Philippines, a WWF programme is training and supporting members of the local community, mostly fishers, to assist local governments and other organizations to patrol marine areas in order to stop cyanide, dynamite, and other forms of illegal fishing