Old Wounds
In the future, large-scale fishing corporations have been dismantled and single-species fisheries restructured to instead be replaced by smaller-scale fishing cooperatives engaged in regional, seasonal, selective and adaptive multi-species fisheries. Fishing is predominantly focused on needs satisfaction, and fishing quotas are set by the fisherfolk themselves in accordance. But oceanic change is still wreaking havoc and impacting marine fisheries and the communities that depend on them. In this story, we follow Jordan and Bok-Joo aboard the Yojeong as they navigate their fishery under uncertainty and change.
Entry #7858. Spotted a school of bluefin.
Entry #7863. Still no catch.
Entry #7866. The water is acting differently today. More murky. More energy in it.
The fish was moving. That much was clear. Jordan was following the updates on the tuna migration through the PresNet, and following the tunas themselves through the updates’ geotags.
Entry #7867. Sensors detected a big one. We let her go. No indication of others nearby.
First, there had been the predictions; results from modelling studies indicating that the fish would adapt to rising ocean temperatures, lowered alkalinity and hydrochemical changes by shifting to deeper and more northern waters. Then, there were the first indications; surprising catches by distant fleets, followed by non-appearances closer to shore.
“Anything new?” Bok-Joo asked.
“Nothing surprising.”
She nodded in response.
“And on your side? Anything from the water?” Jordan’s tone was calm, but he wasn’t meeting her eyes. His attention was still on the shared logbook on the PresNet.
Bok-Joo just shrugged, arms crossed tightly. The light from the screen in front of them lit up her face in the dark of the night.
The changes in the fish’s behaviours had forced a change in the fishers. Protected areas and no-catch-zones were rethought, moved around and made adaptive. Overall quotas were lowered when abstract “maximum sustainable yield” calculations were replaced with capture based on the needs of fishing communities and the seas they depend on. Catch limits were complemented with effort limits and gear regulations. The creation of the PresNet helped keep track of the interplay between the fish and the fishers, and a subsequent decentralisation enabled quicker responses to the changes in the ocean. But the changes still happened, are happening, with consequences yet unclear.
Jordan turned towards Bok-Joo. “I think we should call a meeting.” Their eyes met.
“I think so, too.”
—
Entry #7879. Large algal blooms in the archipelagic sea of the Solomon islands.
Entry #7880. A small school of juvenile skipjack. New sighting.
Jordan said, “The fish is moving again.” On his screen were now representatives from both the cooperatives and the other governing bodies.
A stock monitoring representative said, “The patterns we can see from your observations are roughly aligned with those that the modellers and scenario-makers have been predicting would follow from the types of climatic impacts we are seeing. And the conclusions that you have shared in the PresNet based on these changes are even more similar to the conclusions they are drawing, namely, that there is a need to oversee our practices substantially.”
A co-op representative said, “We have been noticing this, too; none of our fishers have seen or felt a big one in any of the migration-specific protected areas yet..”
“All that’s showing on our lines is juveniles. We try to let them go, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to motivate at home without formal changes to back up the decision.”
“We accidentally managed to catch up to our quota on our last voyage to the deeper waters, towards the Clarion-Clipperton zone. We were actually out searching for skipjack when we happened upon a beautiful school of bigeye.”
“It is good to hear that catches are still being made. But not where we think they should be; maybe we should update the protected areas?”
“Our archipelagic waters could use a break with the increasing blooms.”
“No-go-zones?”
“And then move the recommended catch zones further North together with the protected areas.”
“Perhaps some new no-takes further South?”
“Quotas intact?”
“We could go South to monitor the situation for a bit.”
—
Entry #7951. Spotted Finley for the first time this season. She looked well, but she was way Northeast of where we’ve usually found her at this time of the year. She seems to be moving. Our estimate is that she is now approximately 300 kg.
Entry #7956. Potentially relevant: we are noticing a lower abundance of sharks in our national waters.
Onions. Green onions. Daikon. Garlic. Ginger. Slice, chop.
Bok-Joo said “How are we doing on the sardines?”
Gochugaru. Gochujang. Soy sauce. Sugar. Rice vinegar. Sea water.
Jordan said “Maybe we’re good for 15 full portions? If we want to keep some on hand for worse days ahead.”
Their crew had wanted to target the tuna as it was supposed to be passing close to their normal fishing grounds, but after having searched for longer than desirable they had had to rethink their original plan. A short reconfiguration of the fishing gear later and they had been able to get a good catch from an especially numerous school of sardines.
Bok-Joo said “Then let’s serve it also with some tofu.”
Whole sardines. Fry. Tofu. Slice. Kelp. Fry. The cooking was meditative. It made both of them more at ease. Steam rice.
Jordan said “How about soup? The kelp is abundant.”
Bok-Joo said “That’s for birthdays.”
“Maybe it is someone’s birthday?”
“I know my crew.”
—
Entry #8013. Coming across mainly sardines, no tuna. Potential alternative targets?
Entry #8014. Try them braised with a salty chilli paste, and serve with what vegetables and grains you have on hand. Tried to illustrate our own catch a few days ago, here [LINK].
In a cautious, but not suspicious, tone, a crewmember said “Are you sure it’s fine we have this? Given the extent of the fish’s changes, maybe we actually should not take anything at all? Leave the food for the fish.”
Bok-Joo said “But we also need to eat, as we are also of the ocean.”
And they ate in heavy moods but at least together, sharing the fruit of their labour.
—
Entry #8066. Now following: a noticeably slow school of bluefin. Third one this week.
Entry #8067. There seems to be warmer water moving towards #8066s position. A heatwave, or something happening with the upwelling?
Jordan and Bok-Joo were following a pack of dolphins, watching the animals dance through the sea. Up and down they were going; in a wave-like motion in sync with the water but still distinct from it. The lead dolphin, Cedric, was breaking the waves with their nose with ease. To not disturb the dolphins too much, Bok-Joo was steering the Yojeong carefully, a bit away, but still close enough so that they could see them swimming in the morning sun. Skin glistening, mingling with the water, reflecting the pale light. Back in the old days, fishers used to track the dolphins to get to the tuna. It seemed so cruel now. The tuna found shelter from the sharks with the dolphins, but in the process instead fell prey to death by net. Maybe Jordan had insisted on following the dolphins subconsciously to see if they could at least find a school, even if they did not fish from it? Make sure some of them were doing alright, see for himself that this particular species had not disappeared entirely.
Entry #8068. Following a pack of dolphins. Their movements feel natural. No hiders spotted.
A response:
R: Yojeong? Following the same group remotely. No indications of yellowfins from our side either. Is that what you are searching for?
Y: Negative. We stopped fishing yesterday. Now fulfilling monitoring duties only.
Jordan said, “We should be fishing less.” Bok-Joo wondered what he felt.
“It’s the way of the changes that are the problem” she responded. “We all know climatic ocean change is creating disturbances, forcing the fish to adapt, and us to respond. But these new changes are off. It’s what we would expect from large-scale oceanic change interacting with heavy local disturbances. And there are no such disturbances reported in the PresNet; it makes people suspicious.”
“It’s most likely that we do not know the way of the water and the way of the fish as well as we think we do.”
And Bok-Joo said, “Not everyone is ready to accept the limits to our knowing. Without that acceptance, every deviation from predictions becomes a potential concealment of information that should be open to all, a potential violation that the perpetrator is trying to hide. It breeds mistrust.”
“That’s absurd.”
“Hiding and lying about exploitation and profiting off of the opaque was long the norm. That is part of the legacy of these waters. History is not that long ago, and trust takes time to build.”
“So what do we do?”
“We keep going.”
—
Entry #8080. Still mainly juveniles.
Entry #8090. The ocean is boiling. With warmth, with rage?
Another virtual meeting.
“Do these changes not feel like more than warming?”
“We don’t know everything about the ocean.”
“We certainly do not.”
Silence.
“We suggest we open up the statements of the quotas to amendments.”
“Have we not done enough already?”
“We certainly have not. The ocean is changing. The schools are still showing signs of imminent collapse.”
“The ocean is changing; we will have to change with it.”
“We cannot. Our communities are struggling enough with the heat already. Recurring droughts, failing harvests, crops that can no longer be grown on our lands…“
“That is okay. You make the decision that is best for the well-being of your community. Satisfy your needs. If you make the judgement that you cannot do that while also lowering your quotas, that is okay. There are many of us.”
—
Amendment #1. Lowering yellowfin, skipjack.
Amendment #6. Cutting skipjack, bluefin.
Amendment #57. Cutting bluefin.
Amendment #80. Lowering yellowfin, cutting bluefin.
Credits:
The text of this story is the copyright of Tilde Krusberg. This image is the copyright of Tilde Krusberg