Overfishing: what everyone needs to know

Overfishing

Historical overfishing

Recovery of fisheries

Modern industrial fisheries management

Economic overfishing

Climate and fisheries

Mixed fisheries

High seas fisheries

Deepwater fisheries

Recreational fisheries

Small-scale and artisanal fisheries

Illegal fishing

Trawling impacts on ecosystems

Marine protected areas

Ecosystems impacts of fishing

The status of overfishing.

1. Overfishing What is overfishing? What is a sustainable harvest? Can fisheries be sustainably harvested? Is overfishing a new problem Why does sustainable fishing reduce the number of fish in the ocean? What is a collapsed fishery? What happened to the Canadian cod? Why did the Canadian cod collapse Are all cod fisheries collapsed? 2. Historical overfishing Is overfishing a new problem? Can whales be sustainably harvested? How do we estimate the abundance of animals in the ocean? Can scientists estimate the sustainable yield? Is there any value in Japanese "research whaling"? Is depleting one population and moving on to the next a common problem? 3. Recovery of fisheries Can fish stocks recover from overfishing? How important is habitat to fish populations? What about the enormous numbers seen by John Smith? What is the difference between recruitment overfishing and growth overfishing? Can recreational and commercial fisheries co-exist? 4. Modern industrial fisheries management What is an example of a well-managed fishery? What is different about the pollock fishery that makes it such a good example of sustainable management? Why does the allowable catch change so much from year to year? What is a stock assessment? What is an observer program? Why are there not more observer programs in world fisheries? What is a certified fishery? Why do some NGOs believe the Eastern Bering Sea pollock fishery is not well managed?

5. Economic overfishing Is overfishing only a biological problem? What are individual fishermen's quotas, the IFQs? What are the benefits of IFQs? What are the negative impacts of IFQs? What is economic overfishing? How economically efficient are world fisheries in general? How do we prevent economic overfishing? Are there ways to prevent the tragedy of the commons without privatizing fisheries? What are community development quotas? How does sector allocation work? What other mechanisms have been used to allocate fish? 6. Climate and fisheries How does climate affect fish populations? Are many fisheries affected by climate? Are there other fisheries where we can look at hundreds of years of history before fishing started? How can we tell if a fishery is declining because of climate or fishing pressure? What are going to be the impacts on fisheries from a warming ocean? What will be the impacts of ocean acidification? 7. Mixed fisheries Do fisheries catch one species or more? What determines how hard a fish species can be harvested? How do we balance harvesting high- and low-productivity species in mixed fisheries? What is "underfishing"? Is it better to give up potential yield of productive species to keep unproductive species at high abundance? How can we manage fisheries to reduce the mixed nature of the fishery? 8. High seas fisheries What is the status of bluefin tuna that were proposed for CITES listing? What is the status of tuna around the world? Have some international fisheries management organizations been successful? Why are some tuna stocks underexploited and others overexploited? Is there hope for managing these high-seas fisheries?

9. Deepwater fisheries What happened to the orange roughy stocks? Can very slow-growing fish like orange roughy be sustainably managed? What is the experience with orange roughy in other countries? Does closing large sections of New Zealand's economic zone assure the sustainability of orange roughy? Should we have left potential orange roughy stocks unfished until we know more about their biology and ecosystem? How should we deal with new resources when their biology and sustainability are highly uncertain? 10. Recreational fisheries Are recreational fisheries fundamentally different from commercial fisheries? What is the scale of recreational fishing in the United States and Europe? How does recreational fish management differ from management of commercial fisheries? How is management different for freshwater recreational fisheries and saltwater recreational fisheries? Does recreational fishing play a role in overfishing? 11. Small-scale and artisanal fisheries Many of the fisheries of the world are small scale : how can they be managed? Is Chile typical of small-scale fisheries? How were fisheries managed prior to modern governmental fisheries agencies? What are the characteristics of territorial fishing rights? What are the general lessons for successful management of small-scale fisheries? 12. Illegal fishing Is illegal fishing an important problem in overfishing? Is the illegal fishing of Patagonian toothfish unusual? How can some toothfish fisheries be certified as well managed while substantial illegal harvesting continues? What methods can be used to reduce illegal fishing in international waters?

13. Trawling impacts on ecosystems

How do trawls and dredges work and why are they still used to catch fish?

Is trawling the ocean like clear-cutting the forest?

How long do ecosystems take to recover from trawling?

Are there alternatives to trawling and dredging as ways to catch fish?

14. Marine protected areas

What are marine protected areas?

What do marine protected areas protect?

How much of the world's oceans are now closed to fishing?

What is the impact of closing areas to fishing?

Do MPAs increase the abundance of fish?

Can MPAs solve some of the problems of overfishing?

How much of the ocean should be set aside as protected from fishing?

15. Ecosystem impacts of fishing

How does overfishing affect ecosystems?

Are coral reefs particularly sensitive to fishing?

What is a trophic cascade?

Do forage fish need special protection?

What is by-catch and how important is it?

How does ecosystem-based management differ from single-species management?

What is the precautionary approach to fisheries management?

How many marine fish species are threatened with extinction?

16. The status of overfishing

Are the world's stocks overfished?

what characterizes countries that have managed their fisheries well and those that have not?

How important are subsidies in the current problem with fisheries?

Is consumer action and certification important in stopping overfishing?

How do the environmental costs of fishing compare to those of livestock?

Should we all become vegetarians?

What is needed to stop overfishing?