Artist Ruofei Rao (age 17) from New Zealand wanted to show the significant repercussions that result from IUU fishing. The piece, called What Goes On Your Plate, shows both the economic losses and environmental losses that IUU fishing causes.
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2016 Living Oceans Foundation “Science Without Borders” Challenge
The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, an organization dedicated to the preservation of the ocean, hosts an annual student art competition—Science Without Borders. This year, the number of entries for the competition reached an all-time high—over 160 entries from students in 18 countries around the world.
The goal of the challenge is to raise awareness of issues impacting the ocean and the importance of ocean conservation. The theme for the 2016 contest was illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. IUU fishing is when conservation and management rules set by governments are not upheld by fishermen. This typically occurs when quotas (rules placed on the number of fish that are allowed to be caught) are violated. Because these rules are made based on information that is known about the size of fish populations, how long species take to mature, and other scientific knowledge, it can be extremely harmful to populations when regulations are violated. In addition, violating quotas on bycatch (marine life that is harvested inadvertently when fishing for a particular species), fishing in areas outside of a vessel’s legal jurisdiction, and evading taxes when landing fish in port are all common forms of IUU fishing.
Often these illegal practices lead to misreporting of catch—the total catch of fish in a region can be much more than what is reported. In West Africa, the catch is thought to be about 40 percent higher than recorded numbers, meaning there might not be as many fish as we think in the ocean. This threatens both fishermen’s jobs and our food security. IUU fishing also has a significant economic impact. In 2015, Malaysia lost about 108,000 metric tonnes of fish because of IUU fishing—equal to about $271 million worth of fish.
The images of the winner’s art depict the struggles that surround IUU fishing, and attempt to raise awareness of the harm it’s causing. You can see more of the submissions here.
First Place (High School age group)
Credit: Ruofei Rao, Courtesy of Living Oceans Foundation
Second Place (High School age group)
Credit: Stephanie Tian, Courtesy of Living Oceans FoundationIn her piece called Bled Out Depths, artist Stephanie Tian (age 16) from the United States aimed to draw attention to the consequences of IUU fishing, and the pernicious effect it has on the ocean.
Third Place (High School age group)
Credit: Yeon Soo Park, Courtesy of Living Oceans FoundationIllustrated by Yeon Soo Park (age 16) from South Korea, this piece is called Hurting the Nature is Hurting Ourselves as Well. Park wanted to show that because of human greed, the ocean is suffering and people are suffering as well. The ocean is an integral part of nature, and by harming it, people are also harming themselves.
First Place (Middle School age group)
Credit: Supratik Das, Courtesy of Living Oceans FoundationIn this piece titled Fishing Disaster, artist Supratik Das from India (age 14) wanted to showcase the detrimental effect illegal fishing has on marine environments. Das also wanted to depict how money made from illegal transactions benefits only the fishermen, while it could be going to conservation efforts.
Second Place (Middle School age group)
Credit: Alexandra Jin, Courtesy Living Oceans FoundationCanada Artist Alexandra Jin from Canada (age 14) wanted to communicate the message that our current unsustainable fishing practices are inhumane. In her piece Grief, she shows a fish mourning the loss of its friends as they are taken away by a fishing net.
Third Place (Middle School age group)
Credit: Dharunigsa Naguleshwaran, Courtesy Living Oceans FoundationIn We Protect our Oceans Resource For US - Fishing Under the Rader, artist Dharunigsa Naguleshwaran (age 11) from Sri Lanka hopes to encourage people to fish sustainably and preserve the ocean for future generations.