Much has been written about the damaging impact of overfishing and unsustainable fishing practices such as bottom trawling and longlining on the ocean ecosystem. Yet the practices persist, often in international waters far from the public eye. Given the vastness of our oceans, it can seem like these are distant problems that are impossible to regulate. If ever there was a challenge that required international cooperation, this is surely it. As countries gather Nov. 11-22 for the 29th time for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the issue should be front and center to act before our global fisheries are further harmed.
Of course, the issue has been raised before. The UNFCCC Ocean Dialogue 2022 called for a drastic reduction in fish consumption to protect oceans from devastating fish techniques. Yet this proposed solution is punitive at its core, over-generalised and insufficient for addressing the challenges for which it was proffered.
Calling for a reduction in fish consumption targets the diet and livelihood of indigenous coastal peoples, who for centuries have depended on fish as their major source of nutrition. One study established that, when compared to the global average, indigenous coastal populations consume four times more seafood per capita, and 15 times more seafood per capita compared to nonindigenous populations in their own countries. However, through thousands of years of seafood consumption, these indigenous communities did not distort the ocean’s ecosystem. They preserved it and kept it thriving for generations. This preservation of ocean life by people who consume so much fish is an indication that the challenge does not lie in fish consumption but in the attitude towards seafood and the ocean body.
Interestingly enough, as COP29 gathers leaders in Azerbaijan, the United States recognizes November as Native American History Month, providing a new lens through which talks and agreements can thrive. The indigenous view of the ocean is not of a resource to be exploited for their benefit, but rather as a benefactor to be revered. Seafood is a benevolent product that is consumed with gratitude and plays a key role in ceremonies, traditional engagements, family and individual key moments, as well as in binding different communities together.
Take the Klamath River that stretches from the volcanoes of Southern Oregon all the way to the Pacific Ocean in California, for instance. For centuries before European settlement, Native American communities across the Klamath River Basin were obligated to inform nearby upriver communities whenever the first salmon of the season had been spotted. Fishing was only allowed to commence after certain ceremonies had been performed and it was determined that a sufficient amount of salmon had migrated upstream to reproduce. This ensures stewardship and ensures enough fish for generations to come.
The idea of eldership of the environment in a culture that values old age is instrumental in the way the environment is treated. This is rooted in the Indigenous philosophy that human beings meet the environment when they come into this world and must respect their elders amidst their own community, but that the environment itself is also an elder-owed respect. As a result, in procuring fish from the ocean, Indigenous communities typically harvest through sustainable traditional methods like weirs and selective harvesting. They also eat fish that are locally abundant and in tune with their culture. Even in eating the fish, Indigenous communities eat the whole fish, including the skin and the bones. The idea of a fish fillet, in which skin, head and bones are wastefully discarded, is considered alien to many indigenous cultures. Similarly, western disregard for the ocean’s ecosystem frequently prizes maximizing coveted popular catches, and other species killed in the process are similarly cast aside without second thought.
At COP 29, discussions should delve deeper into understanding the Indigenous mindset towards the ocean and seafood consumption. Education is foundational to understanding the Indigenous worldview of the ocean and seafood, as well as in its dissemination. Perhaps, COP29 will have to frame a language for ocean rights that is rooted in indigenous knowledge. An example already exists in North America with the Klamath River being the very first in recent times to be legally endowed with personhood rights. In 2019, the Yurok people declared “the Rights of the Klamath River to exist, flourish, and naturally evolve; to have a clean and healthy environment free from pollutants; to have a stable climate free from human-caused climate change impacts; and to be free from contamination by genetically engineered organisms.”
Understanding the deep dependence of many coastal Indigenous communities on fish consumption makes it inconsiderate to call for a blanket “general reduction in fish consumption.”
What the world needs at this time is an education that draws heavily from Indigenous people’s worldview of the ocean and ocean life to ensure practices balance human consumption with ecological impact so these valued resources can endure for generations to come.
