Industrial Fisheries and Their Influence on Catches for Human Consumption

• Published in: Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada
• Main Authors: Popiel, J., Sosinski, J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1973
• Subjects: General Medicine; Norway; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f73-354; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f73-354

Fish meal production may be based on a variety of raw materials such as: fish offal obtained during the processing of fish for human consumption; by-catches obtained from catches for human consumption; fish and other marine organisms not used for human consumption, but landed especially for industrial purposes, such as sand eels, Norway pout, etc.; surplus of fish caught for human consumption when abundance permits increased catches.Objections are raised against industrial catches when they are in competition with catches for human consumption. In such cases considerable losses of nutrients may occur because only a portion of the protein and fat contained in fish meal is assimilated by animals to which it is fed. Simultaneously the expansion of industrial catches of fish suitable for human consumption reduces the supply of fish products.Uncontrolled expansion of industrial catches will drive fleets which catch fish for human consumption off their usual grounds. Herring fishing in the northeast Atlantic is an example of one forced out by industrial catches. Recently mackerel catches in the North Sea have shown the same trends.In future, more fish stocks may suffer from overexploitation caused by competition between food fisheries and industrial fisheries. Whenever fish resources are simultaneously exploited for these two purposes, and regulation is necessary, management should first aim at satisfying the demand for fish for human consumption. This is to some extent the case with minimum size limits, but not with quotas. In assigning quotas, consideration should be given both to sizes of fish caught and to intended use of the fish.