Overfishing

Once considered to be a renewable resource, over 80 percent of fish stocks are now fully exploited, overexploited, or significantly depleted. This decline has resulted in overfishing becoming one of the most pressing global environmental issues in recent decades. Many governments have acknowledged and identified the difficulties within their fishing industries and have implemented an array of management techniques in order to restore fish stocks and protect and preserve existing fisheries that are in danger of declining.

Overfishing can be generally defined as the fishing of a body of water to such an extent that the fish population cannot produce maximum sustainable yield on a long-term basis. Growing world populations have led to the demand for seafood more than doubling in the last 30 years. This demand—together with the rise of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; poor fisheries management; destructive fishing methods; and greater exploitation of the world's fisheries—is driving some fish species to the brink of extinction. A 2006 study of bycatch data by the journal Science concluded that if fishing rates continue at the current rate, all fish stocks will collapse by 2048. Approximately $50 billion a year is lost from the global economy through depleted stocks and poor management.

The global fishing industry sustains coastal communities through employment opportunities and by providing a valuable source of protein for local communities. Overfishing has several knock-on effects and can lead to greater crises, including reduced economic and social opportunities and ecological disruption, which can lead to the severe depletion of certain fish species and, in some cases, their extinction, The 1970s’ Peruvian anchovy crash, 1980s’ North Sea herring collapse, and 1990s’ Atlantic cod collapse were disastrous events that greatly affected the local economy and harvests.

By the late 1980s, 90 million metric tons of catch had been removed from the oceans. As a result, fishing stocks have failed to recover, and the low availability of traditional fish stocks and the decline of major predators such as Bluefin tuna and Chilean sea bass have forced fishermen to fish further down the food chain, often in deeper waters, depriving other marine animals such as seabirds and seals of a regular source of food. Government subsidies and policies led to a rise of large-scale commercial trawlers, some capable of landing over 250 million tons of fish. International territorial fishing disputes, such as the 1950s’ Icelandic cod wars and the long-running mackerel dispute between Iceland/Faroe Islands and the European Union (EU), have occurred constantly between neighboring countries over fishing rights.

Recognizing a growing crisis, in the 1970s coastal nations established and enforced a 200-mile exclusive economic zone. The EU's Common Fisheries Policy was introduced in 1983 in order to manage the fish stocks of the EU by setting quotas as to how much fish member states are allowed to catch. Critics have accused politicians of subsiding more fishing fleets than required, ignoring scientific recommendations, and introducing fishing policies that are only a short-term solution.

A range of management practices to restore and sustainably manage fish stocks have been utilized globally by governments and environmental organizations. Limiting/reducing landing quotas, equipment restrictions, no-fish zones, protection of breeding hot spots, expansion of marine reserves, local community management, and consumer pressure and awareness are just some of the most common methods being utilized. Since 1999, China has banned fishing in the South China Sea during the summer months. In 2010, the Pacific nations imposed a two-year ban on commercial tuna fishing in the Pacific high seas. The seas have recently reopened with limited access to trawlers in order to keep stocks at a sustainable level. [Page 702]Bulgaria has imposed a four-year ban lasting until 2016 on sturgeon fishing in the Danube River and in the Black Sea. No-take fish zones established in the Cabo Pulmo Marine National Park have seen fish numbers increase 460 percent from 2001 levels. A recent international study of 42 coral reef fisheries by the Wildlife Conservation Society and other members concluded that local level comanagement of fisheries can curb overfishing and benefit local users. Sustainable fisheries provide many benefits, including greater food security and economic and social opportunities. Restoring fish stocks in the EU has been valued at 2.7 billion pounds a year and would result in the creation of more than 100,000 jobs.

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