activities in 2003 Source: Cisneros-Montemayor and Sumaila (2010)
database, the authors estimated the missing values and calculated the yearly global value for MRAs in terms of expenditure, participation and employment. They found that currently, recreational fishing occurs in 118 maritime countries and that country-level data on expenditure, participation and employment are available in 38 of these countries (32 per cent of total). The authors estimated that in 2003, nearly 60 million recreational anglers around the world generated a total of about US$ 40 billion in expenditure, supporting over 950,000 jobs. In their analysis, countries with data account for almost 95 per cent of estimated total expenditure and 87 per cent of participation, so the authors argue that this estimate likely provided a close approximation to actual recreational fishing effort and expenditure.
Data on whale watching were found for a total of 93 territories (70 countries), mostly from 1994-2006 (Hoyt 2001; Hoyt and Iñiguez 2008). It is estimated that over 13 million people worldwide participated in whale watching in 2003, with expenditure reaching around US$ 1.6 billion in that year (Cisneros-Montemayor and Sumaila 2010). It is also estimated that 18,000 jobs worldwide are supported by this industry each year. These numbers are only an indication of the potential economic contribution that can be expected from whale watching, given that the marine mammals are found in all of the world’s oceans (Kaschner et al. 2006). Currently only a few countries have well- established whale watching industries.
There is limited country-level data on recreational diving outside of
the USA, Australia, and to some
extent, Canada and the Caribbean region. Using market surveys and other data on active divers, it is estimated that every year, 10 million active recreational divers (Cesar et al. 2003) and 40 million snorkelers generate over US$ 5.5 billion globally in direct expenditure, supporting 113,000 jobs. In total, it is estimated that 121 million MRA participants generate US$ 47 billion in expenditure annually and support over one million jobs (Cisneros-Montemayor and Sumaila 2010) (Table 3).
Marine protected areas Marine protected areas (MPAs) have been implemented in many countries and are regarded as a very important management instrument for fisheries. The assumption underlying the MPAs is that they can conserve the resources and increase the biomass therein, and consequently benefit surrounding areas through species migration and enhanced recruitment. Economic studies generally demonstrate that MPAs can be beneficial under specific conditions (Hannesson 1998; Sanchirico and Wilen 1999; Sumaila 1998). In addition, the MPA literature evaluates effectiveness of MPAs (Alder et al. 2002; Hockey and Branch 1997), Hockey and Branch (1997). In terms of policy design and implementation, many questions need to be addressed, including how to select MPA sites, how large should an MPA be, and how costly are MPAs, etc.
Marine Protected Areas will be a valuable management instrument for the greening of certain fisheries. There is growing consensus in the literature on the need to add MPAs in marine management plans (Costanza et al. 1998; Sumaila et al. 2000). Currently, MPAs comprise less than 1 per cent of the world’s oceans (Wood et al. 2008). To fully utilise MPAs as a management tool, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 aims to establish a global network of MPAs covering 10-30 per cent of marine habitats by 2012. This deadline was extended to 2020 and the target lowered to 10 per cent at the CBD meeting in Nagoya, Japan in late 2010.
Consumer Awareness In recent years, we have seen a relative explosion in the number of programmes that seek to help consumers make informed decisions in terms of sustainability about their
consumption of fish products. Although such
programmes are not without criticism, it is clear that consumer awareness of marine fishery issues, if properly designed and implemented, would be an important driver of greening world fisheries as such awareness programmes expand into more and more places around the world.
Examples of resources that consumers can use to inform their purchase of sustainably caught fish include: