Food security and safety in fisheries governance – A case study on Baltic herring

Mia Pihlajamäki,Simo Sarkki,Päivi Haapasaari

doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2018.06.003

Mia Pihlajamäki, Simo Sarkki + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2018.06.003

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Abstract

One of the objectives of the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is to increase the contribution of fisheries to fish food availability and self-sufficiency. Still, the use of catch is often a secondary concern in fisheries governance and management – or not a concern at all – while the focus is on harvesting. This paper examines how the use of forage fish for human consumption can be increased within the limits of sustainability, using Baltic herring as a case study. Baltic herring contains high levels of dioxins and the human consumption is very low: the catches are mostly used for industrial purposes. The paper uses a participatory backcasting exercise to define a desirable future vision for the use of Baltic herring catch and to develop pathways of actor-specific governance actions to increase the use of the fish as a safe-to-eat food. The results reveal that increasing the contribution of forage fish, such as Baltic herring, to food security entails a paradigm shift in fisheries governance that involves 1) inclusion of well-defined objectives for catch use in the EU CFP and the related regional multiannual plans, 2) broadening the scope of the MSY-driven governance and management to one that addresses catch use, and 3) proactive catch use governance.

Highlights

The recently reformed EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) calls for increased contribution to food security while “paying full regard” to food and feed safety to decrease the dependence of the EU fish and seafood market on imported products [14]
The paper identifies three main shifts needed to support the integration of food security and safety in fisheries governance: 1) from an aquaculture-driven food security policy to one that defines targets and measures for forage fish that have been underutilised from the perspective of food security, 2) from the narrow maximum sustainable yield (MSY)-driven fisheries management and governance to a broader perspective that addresses what happens to the catch after landing, and 3) from a market-driven approach to proactive catch use governance to increase demand and supply within the limits of sustainability
This paper argues that owing to the universal food security principles [14,25], objectives and measures to increase the use of forage fish as food should be defined in the EU CFP and especially in the related regional multiannual plans

Summary

Introduction

The recently reformed EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) calls for increased contribution to food security while “paying full regard” to food and feed safety to decrease the dependence of the EU fish and seafood market on imported products [14]. The European Parliament and Council have emphasized that “all fishery products landed, including those that do not comply with common marketing standards, may be used for purposes other than direct human consumption” [15] This indicates that currently there is no interest to govern the use of the catch at the EU level and that the trend of reducing wild captured fish into feed is likely to continue unless the issue is more explicitly addressed. The use of the catch is affected by the conventional and largely-accepted focus of the Baltic herring fleets on targeting herring primarily for industrial purposes [38] This decreases the availability of Baltic herring suitable for human consumption

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