Too many, too young, too small – Overfishing the world’s oceans
The once inexhaustible stocks of fish in the ocean have dwindled: nearly one third are overfished or threatened by overfishing. More fish are caught than can regenerate. The reason: the catches allowed are too high and many fish are caught too young and too small – they die before they have a chance to reproduce.
But fish is an important nutritional resource and a significant economic factor. Around eight per cent of the world's population is directly or indirectly dependent on fishery. Annually fish worth approximately 70 billion Euros is caught in the oceans or in inland waters or produced in aquaculture.
Most fish on our plates come from the world's oceans. Sustainable management of fish stocks must keep these large enough so that they can produce the greatest possible yield on a sustained basis. For this the fisheries industry, scientists and politicians must work together. Consumers can also do something about overfishing: when buying pay attention to the size of the fish.