Oceans and fisheries
Overfishing
Catching fish faster than stocks can reproduce, leaving about a third of assessed global fish stocks fished beyond sustainable limits.
Definition
Overfishing occurs when fish are caught at a rate faster than the stock can replenish through reproduction and growth, driving population decline and, if sustained, stock collapse. The FAO's State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture reports that the share of assessed stocks fished within biologically sustainable levels has fallen to roughly two-thirds, with the remainder overfished.
References
Overview
What it means
Overfishing reflects open-access incentives, overcapacity, subsidies and weak enforcement; its consequences include lost catches and incomes, ecosystem disruption as predators and forage species are removed, and pressure shifting to ever more distant or deeper stocks.
How it is used
The term is standard in fisheries science and management (maximum sustainable yield frameworks), trade policy (WTO fisheries subsidies disciplines) and sustainability certification such as the Marine Stewardship Council.
Why it matters
Fisheries provide primary protein for billions of people; ending overfishing is both a biodiversity imperative and a food security and livelihood issue, addressed directly under SDG target 14. 4.
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