Chapter 1

Introduction

Commercial fishing is almost synonymous to fish trawling. This means that large scale fishing

driven by market demands is usually done using trawls. In present time, fish trawling is done by towing a

large cone-shaped net in the bottom or mid depth parts of the ocean or in other big water bodies. The

pulling of the net is done by one or two motorized boats called trawlers. This process of fishing can yield

a maximum catch simply due to the large area being covered by the trawl. Fish trawling has its advantages

and draw backs as well. This paper aims to look into the impact of the technology in the STS perspective.

More emphasis , however, is given to the negative impact of the technology to society which is overfishing

and destruction of aquatic habitats. This paper digs deeper into the problem by analyzing it in the

perspective of the good life. Ultimately, the paper proposes a set of individual actions stemming from the

good life reflection to resolve the negative impact of fish trawling.

Evolution of Fish Trawling

Fishing is an important part of humans' efforts to meet their survival needs. One of the reasons why

many human settlements began in river banks and coastal areas is the proximity to the aquatic resources.

The methods of fishing from the early civilizations to present time are somehow still the same. What have

changed significantly are the materials for the fishing tools. In line fishing, the aborigines would use hooks

from bones or turtle shells, and their line was made of fiber from plants (Ohnemus, 1998 ; Parkinson,2010;

Hooper and Tinielu, 2012 ). The materials for fishing tools like harpoons, spears, and hooks became

copper and then iron during the Metal Age. Nowadays, anglers use nylon line and metal hooks. People

then would also fish using spears, bamboo traps and nets. Fishermen today still practice these methods but

with better tools. Fish nets nowadays are made of strong synthetic materials and its sizes are much bigger

like the trawl. The use of boats enabled fishermen to do their stuff offshore for a better catch. As the design

and sizes of boats improved, the fishermen's capacity to catch was also enhanced.
 The need for large scale fishing or commercial fishing went along with the increase in sizes of

settlements. As rural towns became cities fishing became a profitable endeavor. In the medieval period,

large cities were already sprawling in Europe. It is in this period that trawling - a large scale fishing practice

started. Obviously, the increase in demand from the ballooning population influenced the development of

fish trawling. Although experts say that trawling started in the 15th century, it really took off with the

arrival of the steamboats in the 19th century. This means that trawling became efficient only when modern

technology arrived. By this time, science is now the driving force behind the advancement of technology.

The steam engine which powered the trawlers was vastly improved by James Watt with his knowledge of

thermodynamics. Refrigeration, which is also a thermodynamic based technology also aided fishermen.

With blocks of ice, or operational freezers on board their trawlers, fishermen could fish for days and in far

reaches of the seas without their catch getting spoiled.

Impact to Society

Trawling helped a lot in meeting the food demand of people around the world. In the early years of

industrialization in Europe, as more and more people left the farmlands to work in factories, the developing

urban areas would have starved. This did not happen because agriculture, including fishing leveled up to

large scale production. The success of trawling in Europe helped them industrialize in two ways. First it

enabled them to mass produce processed products with their large volume of fish catch. As trawling became

more profitable, the technology was being copied by other countries. This is the other way where in trawling

contributed to the industrialization. Europe's industrialization was sustained with their mass production and

exportation of hardware technologies like steam engines for trawlers, and the machines for canning fish

products. The economic worth of trawling today can be mirrored in the worth of the global commercial

fishing industry which is put at 299 billion dollars (Statistics MRC, 2018). The industry employs around

200 million people around the globe in 2008 (CNN, 2008). Eleven years after, it is logical to say that the

number of employed people in commercial fishing has grown significantly

 The positive impact of trawling nowadays is more on the economic aspect rather than meeting the

food demands of society. It is more on generating profit than feeding hungry mouths with fish. Obviously,

trawling or any other large scale fishing is a problem in the perspective of environmental sustainability.

Since most commercial fishing practice trawling, the effect of trawling can be estimated from the gross

harvest of the global commercial fishing industry. The annual global fish catch is estimated at 106 million

of tons in 2004 and projected to reach at least in demand to 143 million of tons in 2030. This rate of fishing

is simply unsustainable, it is overfishing. Trawling is contributing significantly to overfishing. Another

negative effect of trawling is the by catch which are the marine species not intended for the market. CNN

(2008) estimates that around 20 millions of by catch fish are wasted per year. These marine species may

not be suitable for human consumption but they are essential to the stability of the ocean diversity. The by

catch are essential to the sustainability of the oceans. Both the mid water and bottom trawling produce by

catch, the bottom trawling however is worse. Bottom trawling does not simply create by catch, it also

destroys the sea floor.

The most glaring negative impact of trawling manifests in the form of aquatic resource depletion.

The negative effect on the livelihood of some 2.8 billion fisher folks, the common people depending on the

biodiversity below the water is seldom highlighted. Commercial fishing leaves small fisher folks with fewer

fish to catch. While the few commercial fishing companies enjoy huge profits, the traditional fishermen

could hardly make a living with the fast dwindling fish population in the seas.
 Chapter 2

Fish Trawling in the Good Life Perspective

Fish trawling is causing overfishing, destruction of the seabed, and the economic struggles of small

fisherfolks. The evolution of fish trawling fits the technological process of bringing forth to challenging

forth. Technology itself reveals whether a person values a good life or not.

The Good Life

The concept of a good life is quite subjective. Different people will surely have a variety of thoughts

about good life depending on their economic situations, faith and ideologies. Nowadays, the mere

possession of certain gadgets seem to be a necessity to living a good life. Despite the diverse thoughts about

the good life, it is still possible to find a common concept to describe it. An idea of a good life that seems

timeless and absolute to any culture was presented by Aristotle more than two thousand years ago.

Aristotle considers the good life as living well with a consideration to both ends and means. The

end is the goal in life which he considered as flourishing. To flourish means to realize one's purpose in life,

to reach self actualization. Aristotle acknowledges that desires, both acquired and natural give the sense of

a good life. The acquired desires pertain to material possessions or personal wants which vary from one

person to another create a false sense of a good life. On the other hand, natural desire which pertains to the

need to realize the natural goodness in a person is common to everyone. It is also considered as the true

parameter of a good life. For Aristotle, the natural desires correspond to the real goods which are bodily

needs, external needs, and the goods for the soul. The bodily needs correspond to health, vigor and pleasure

while the external needs refer to those that are essential for survival like shelter, clothing, and food. The

goods for the soul are knowledge, love, friendship, honor and self esteem.

In today's situation some people are in a better position to acquire Aristotle's real goods. These are

the rich people. Does it mean that rich people are favored to live a good life? This brings us back to the

idea of the end goal. As mentioned earlier the end goal of life is flourishing or self actualization. To have a

better grasp of this, we refer to the philosophy of Aquinas; "the ultimate end of man is happiness". Finally
we can say that the ultimate measure of a good life is happiness, something that is achievable by any person

within their own perspectives. It should be remembered however that good life is not all about end, it is

also about means. All the major religions in the world teach righteousness in the means or actions toward

the end goal. Aristotle, who in his time was not exposed to any of the great religions of today, considered

moderation, courage and justice as virtues necessary to live the good life. The virtue of justice implies that

living a good life is not a solitary act but a life entwined in to the communal good.

Fish Trawling and the Good Life

The natural progress of technology is from simple to complex. In Heidegger's point of view,

technologies evolve from bringing forth to challenging forth. This dynamics will help us understand the

implication of modern technology to good life.

Fish trawling started from the small nets made of plant fibers used by the early humans. The net is

the old technology which brought forth or revealed the skill of the early people. It also revealed the simple

purpose behind the technology, to catch fish for food. The net evolved into the modern day fish trawl which

is a tool for large scale fishing. Fish trawling is a modern technology that fits Heidegger's idea of

challenging forth. It is beyond the causality of the traditional fishing net. It is no longer a technology whose

purpose is to catch fish for the consumption of the fisherman . Like other modern technologies, fish trawling

is obviously for profit. The people behind the fish trawling industries consider the environment as a standing

reserve, something that is good only for utilization.

Fish trawling is a technology being used for excesses. It has no regard for the sustainability of the

ocean and the plight of the small fisherman. Obviously, the people behind the industry are living way

beyond moderation. Their means or actions to realize their acquired desires are doing injustice to the

environment and to other people who are relying on the aquatic resources for their mere survival. The

negative effect of fish trawling is obviously rooted in some people's failure to live a good life.

Chapter 3
 Resolving Fish Trawling

Fish trawling can be seen as more problematic rather than advantageous. Stopping the practice all

at once is not advantageous in the present economic perspective. It should be remembered that the

commercial fishing industry where trawling is a common practice has big economic worth. There are large

scale actions already to tackle the negative effect of fish trawling. These actions however do not resolve the

issue significantly for a variety of reasons. Individual actions based on the good life may have to

compliment the actions of governments and other organizations to make it effective.

Legal Actions Against Fish Trawling

The negative effect of fish trawling to the biodiversity of the ocean was recognized by marine

scientists in the 1980's. As a result, a lot of local, regional, and international policies were drawn to regulate

trawling. Some of the international regulations against trawling are embodied in the following:

UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), UN Fish Stocks Agreement, FAO Compliance

Agreement, and Convention on Biological Diversity (Currie, 2004). The UNCLOS established the

exclusive economic zones (EEZ) which gives a state authority to control fishing in the EEZ. The UN Fish

Stocks Agreement brought forward the need to protect the biodiversity of the ocean. Party signatories to

this agreement pledged to sustainable fisheries management. The FAO Compliance Agreement holds a

state responsible over the activities of its fishing vessels in international waters. Under the Convention on

Biological Diversity, it is agreed by the party signatories to include marine ecosystems in its definition of

biodiversity.

The international regulations sponsored by the UN have all the aspects of protecting the ocean not

just against trawling. The problem with these regulations is enforcement. Only the parties signatories to the

agreements can be held responsible. A good example of this is the South China Sea issue. UN recognizes

the EZZ of the Philippines but China is not honoring it. Large commercial fishing fleets from China

encroaches in the EZZ of the Philippines collecting aquatic resources without regard to the local laws on
fishery. The inability of the Philippine government to protect its fishing grounds from the Chinese, either

buy shear incompetence or corruption enables unregulated fishing in its EEZ waters.

This situation also happens in other poor countries where big foreign commercial fishing fleet can pay

rights to fish in the local waters.

Trawling regulations in the high seas or international waters is not implementable. There is simply

no agency to enforce it. It seems regulation against trawling can only be done in the EEZ's. In the local

waters, government can impose moratorium on trawling in some seas in certain span of time. Some parts

of the waters may be declared fish sanctuaries where fishing activities are prohibited. In the Philippines,

some parts of the seas are declared as traditional fishing grounds where commercial fishing is gone. But

then again, the question is implementation.

Living the Good Life

The failure of many states to adhere to international fishing regulations creates a sense of

hopelessness amidst the issue of fish trawling. It makes one wish that hopefully the people behind trawling

would somehow see the light and begin living the good life. This of course is not likely to happen so we

examine our selves of what we can do to resolve the issue. It should be noted that society actually created

the demand for large scale fishing. The continuing population growth and the growing preference of many

people for a fish diet is fueling the trawling industry. In some ways I play part in this. In my pursuit of a

healthy lifestyle I preferred fish, especially those from the sea for my diet. I just realized that limiting my

preference to fish is actually an excess already. I think I am doing injustice to the environment and to the

small fisherfolks indirectly with my contribution to the high demand for fish. I have to cut my fish

consumption or make it moderate as said by Aristotle. I have to consider other fish, especially those from

the aqua farms. This will cut my demand for fish from the seas. If other individuals will do the same thing

then it will create a significant drop in the overall fish demand.

The issue of aquatic resource depletion and overfishing is a pressing one. Individuals however

usually take no sides amidst this issue unless it hits closer to home. Being silent to injustice is certainly not
living the good life. As discussed earlier, a good life is not a solitary act but rather a life that is integrated

in the communal good. I should take courage and make a stand against fish trawling, or any illegal fishing.

I have to demand responsibility from our government leaders over fish regulations and protection of our

fishing grounds from foreigners.

In the bigger perspective, the destruction of the aquatic life is not due to trawling only. Some other

things like plastic pollution is damaging the aquatic life also. I should act on this as well, refuse a plastic

whenever possible and dispose of my garbage properly. This is a small thing that an individual can do but

when done by many it becomes a strong action.

Summary

Fish trawling, or any other modern technology came to being with the help of science and the

influence of society. The technology itself is neither bad nor good. Modern technology however have the

greater potential to do damage especially in the harvesting and utilization of the natural resources. This is

the case of fish trawling. The greed of some people manifests in fish trawling. Resolving the issue of fish

trawling is at the mercy of state leaders. Incompetent governments become enablers of fish trawling and

other illegal fishing activities. This leaves the issue more open to individual actions.

The good life concept offers a simple perspective of how to resolve the issue on the personal level.

As mentioned by Aristotle, a good life is a life of moderation, courage and justice. Individuals should cut

consumption of fish from the oceans and replace some with more sustainable aquatic products from farms.

They have to make a stand as well for the environment, not just against trawling and illegal fishing but to

plastic pollution as well, or any other things that destroys the environment. Lastly, it should be remembered

that a good life is not a solitary life but something embedded in a communal good. Individuals should have

the courage to seek justice not just for themselves, but for the environment and other people as well.