Abstract
Many fish stocks in the world are depleted as a result of overexploitation, which reduces stock productivity and results in loss of potential yields. In this study we analyzed the catch trends and approximate thresholds of sustainable fishing for fished stocks to estimate the potential loss of catch and revenue of global fisheries as a result of overexploitation during the period of 1950–2010 in 14 FAO fishing areas. About 35% of stocks in the global marine ocean have or had suffered from overexploitation at present. The global catch losses amounted to 332.8 million tonnes over 1950–2010, resulting in a direct economic loss of US$298.9 billion (constant 2005 US$). Unsustainable fishing caused substantial potential losses worldwide, especially in the northern hemisphere. Estimated potential losses due to overfishing for different groups of resources showed that the low-value but abundant small-medium pelagics made the largest contribution to the global catch loss, with a weight of 265.0 million tonnes. The geographic expansion of overfishing not only showed serial depletion of world’s fishery resources, but also reflected how recent trends towards sustainability can stabilize or reverse catch losses. Reduction of global fishing capacity and changes in fishery management systems are necessary if the long-term sustainability of marine fisheries in the world is to be achieved.
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Data were obtained from the Sea Around Us Project and Fishbase for which we are grateful.
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Foundation item: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos NSFC41306127 and NSFC41276156; the Funding Program for Outstanding Dissertations in Shanghai Ocean University; the Funding Scheme for Training Young Teachers in Shanghai Colleges and Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project (Fisheries Discipline); the involvement of Y. Chen was supported by the SHOU International Center for Marine Studies and Shanghai 1000 Talent Program.
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Ding, Q., Chen, X., Chen, Y. et al. Estimation of catch losses resulting from overexploitation in the global marine fisheries. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 36, 37–44 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-017-1096-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-017-1096-x