Avoid overfishing

Overfishing means fish are being caught faster than they can reproduce, hindering their ability to maintain healthy population numbers. Overfishing is a global problem, and it’s causing fish populations to decline and harming ocean ecosystems. As demand for seafood continues to grow, it’s critical that we avoid, reduce, and stop overfishing.

Understanding the issue

What causes overfishing?

We are too good at catching fish. Modern fishing gears allow us to harvest massive amounts of fish quickly, and technology has revolutionized today’s fishing practices. For example, satellite navigation makes it easier to find fish, and onboard refrigeration and processing equipment allow larger boats to stay at sea longer, even months at a time. Other major drivers of overfishing include a growing global population, increasing demand for seafood, and government subsidies that encourage fishing beyond sustainable levels.

What are the impacts of overfishing?

• Wild fish populations are declining. In 1974, 90 percent of fish stocks were within biologically sustainable levels. Today, that figure has decreased to 66 percent. Left unchecked, overfishing can cause a fish population to collapse, meaning the population’s abundance is less than 10 percent of the original amount.
• Large fish are the first to go. Fish that are large, live a long time, and are slow to reproduce are among the most vulnerable to overfishing. These traits also make it hard to rebuild their populations once overfishing stops. Unfortunately, many of the favorite seafoods in North America—such as cod, snapper, grouper, rockfish (Pacific snapper), orange roughy, and Chilean seabass—share these traits.
• Fishing down the food web. When the larger fish are no longer plentiful, fishermen move on to smaller species, such as sardines and anchovies. This phenomenon is known as “fishing down the food web.“ These species are often important prey for other animals, and their removal can harm the entire food web.
• Harm to ecosystems. Removing fish that play key or outsized roles in food webs also alters the larger dynamics of ocean ecosystems. For example, many fish eat the algae that keep coral reefs clean and thriving. In areas where these species have been overfished, the algae overgrow the reef, killing corals and negatively impacting the many species that call the reef home.
• Economic and social costs. The ocean’s ecosystem and the food on our tables aren’t the only things affected by overfishing. Fishermen find it increasingly difficult to make a living. For example, cod fishing had been a way of life for hundreds of years along the New England coast. Then, in the early 1990s, overfishing drove the cod fishery to collapse, with the population falling to one percent of its historical levels. Thousands of fishermen and fish plant workers lost their jobs and livelihoods in the region, devastating the coastal economy.

Fisheries can thrive with strong, science-based management, allowing fish populations to remain abundant for generations. Achieving this requires stock assessments, catch limits that maintain and rebuild populations, gear modifications to reduce bycatch, and efforts to stop illegal fishing.