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thinking that global landings were increasing, while they were actually decreasing

(Murray 2009, mins. 9:40).

Pauly is one of the key figures in defining the contemporary problems that

sustainability strategies aim to address. Yet, one of the most interesting arguments

that Pauly et al. (2002) make is that sustainability is a questionable concept and that

fisheries have never been sustainable. His main focus is on overfishing. Along with

Reg Watson, he is well known for applying the idea of a shifting baseline (which I

mentioned in the beginning of this chapter) to fisheries, as found in his 1995 article

Anecdotes and the Shifting Baseline Syndrome of Fisheries. He argues that fishery

scientists often work to a shifting baseline because they fail to recognise what a

species population was before human exploitation (Pauly 1995). Even if the idea of a

pre-human exploitation period is questionable, unless we are to go back to a pre-

human era, Pauly raises a significant point. He challenges the idea of a sustainable

fishery, which is based on the concept of obtaining a MSY and being able to measure

the population dynamics of a fishery.

Even though overfishing was not a new phenomenon – already in the 1930s

the first overfishing conference was held in London – it was only in the 1960s that the

impact of industrial fishing on the biomass of many fish stocks became a great

th
concern. Throughout the second half of the 20 century, starting in 1956, there were a

series of UN conventions to address issues of territorial zoning and the conservation

of resources on the high seas. The third convention lasted from 1973 to 1982 and

resulted in 1994 with the current UNCLOS agreement. Apart from establishing EEZ,

setting detailed boundaries, and protecting freedom of scientific research, the

convention established responsibilities regarding the safeguarding of marine

environments. It instituted ‘a legal order for the seas and oceans’ with due regard for

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