Fishing in the Galapagos Islands

A recent analysis has found that populations of migratory river fish around the world have plunged by a catastrophic 76% since 1970. Species such as salmon, trout and giant catfish are vital not just to the rivers and lakes in which they breed or feed but to entire ecosystems. By swimming upstream, they transport nutrients from oceans and provide food for many land animals, including bears and birds of prey. The causes of decline in these species are due to the hundreds of thousands of dams around the world, overfishing, the climate crisis and water pollution. 

This is especially worrying given the recent appearance of a huge fleet of fishing vessels in the Galapagos islands. Patrols are trying to ensure the fleet, which is made up of around 260 vessels, does not enter the delicate ecosystem from international waters. In Ecuador, the ex-mayor of Quito, Roque Sevilla, told The Guardian that "a protection strategy" was being designed for the islands. He stated that, "unchecked fishing just on the edge of the protected zone is ruining Ecuador's efforts to protect marine life in the Galapagos."

It is devastating that this Unesco World Heritage site could be at risk of eradication due to overfishing. It is renowned worldwide for its unique array of plants and wildlife. Additionally, Charles Darwin made observations critical to his theory of evolution on the islands. Overfishing is endangering the unique species that thrive here. Yet, there is no laws regulating fishing in international waters. The ships use bait to lure sharks out of Ecuadorian waters and then catch as many as they can. 

There is hope with this situation as efforts are being made to establish a corridor of marine reserves between Pacific-facing neighbours Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia which would seal off important areas of marine diversity. These policies are needed after the 2017 incident of the capture by the Ecuadorean navy within the Galapagos marine reserve of a Chinese vessel. The Fu Yuan Yu Leng 999, part of an even larger fleet than the current one, was found to be carrying 300 tonnes of marine wildlife. It is appalling that this massive Chinese industrial fishing fleet is currently off the Galapagos Islands.

Nature is something that should be preserved. Overfishing in the waters surrounding Galapagos combined with changes to the marine climate has led to the destruction of the majority of the coral reefs in the Archipelago, many of which had existed for hundred years. Practices are now becoming insufficient and harbouring illegal fishing, with catching below the legal size requirement. Sustainable guidelines have to be heavily enforced to allow fishing to rebound. 

This thriving part of our ecosystem is ultimately under threat. The double problem of higher ocean temperatures, worsened by climate change and overfishing, have created a situation in which many species have fallen without being able to recover. Nowhere on Earth are the combined impacts of climate change and overfishing more clearly defined than in this area, where wildlife lives on the sharp edge of change. The wildlife we eat today is part of the inner workings of an ecosystem that is under stress from global climate change and when these ecosystem are damage, species will vanish in a heartbeat. 

If the Galapagos is to remain the spectacular natural marine environment that it is today, overfishing must be controlled in the archipelago. If left unchecked overfishing could lead to the extinction of top level predators and marine ecosystem collapse, leading to the rapid decline of dive tourism and the loss of a unique and spectacular ocean environment.