State of the World’s Fisheries | Oceana

Report | September, 2009

State of the World’s Fisheries

 

The oceans contain a vast diversity of life, from the smallest micro-organisms to the largest mammals on earth, blue whales. The oceans provide food, medicine, energy and serve as a recreational resource, but they are not as once commonly believed, an inexhaustible resource.

Global overfishing and other unsustainable fishing practices have depleted nearly all commercial fish populations and degraded the ecosystems that support them. Since the late 1980s, global fish catches have actually declined, despite significant increases in fishing effort and improvements in technology.