Solutions for sustaining the world’s fisheries

Swimming fish. Image credit National Geographic

• Increasing fishing disputes have pressured the United Nations into action.
• Through the Third United Nations Conference on the law of the Sea of 1974, the UN established a 200 nautical mile zone along coastal areas.
• The coastal has sole rights to all natural resources including fish.
• This allows coastal countries to formulate policies for the sustainable management of their sea resources.
• Aquaculture or mariculture is another recent solution to the sustainable use of fish resources.
• Fish farming provide 20% of the world’s fish.
• Fish farming has proved to be more difficult with sea fishes.
• It is therefore mainly confined to fresh water species.
• Over 80% of the world’s fish farms are found in South-East Asia, particularly China.
• Fish farming has played a vital role in reducing pressure on ocean fishing, by providing a sustainable alternative.
• It has helped to meet the growing demand for fish in the world.
• It offers developing countries a cheap source of protein.
• Aquaculture can be successfully practiced at both sustainable and commercial levels.

To access more topics go to the O Level Geography Notes page