Video: What is "destructive fishing"?
All fishing methods have an impact on the target resource and may affect also non-target species and the wider aquatic environment. But the "normal" effect of exploitation should be compatible with sustainable use and reversible. It should not be confused with "destruction" which, according to the dictionary implies "to reduce to a useless form, to spoil completely; to put out of existence; to obliterate, wipe out, annihilate, demolish, devastate, tear down, raze".
The term "destructive fishing" has, however, often been used for a wide range of situations spanning from classical overfishing (non sustainable use) to outright destruction of the resource and its environment, as for example when using explosives or other methods with significant and definitive impact. Indeed, many fishing gears could be considered "destructive" if used in the wrong environment.
In this interview, Frank Chopin, Senior Fishery Industry Officer, Fishing Operations and Technology Branch (FIRO) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), briefly describes "destructive" fishing, fisheries by-catch, and "ghost fishing" and how all three have a harmful impact on the environment.