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Global Fisheries Crisis
APRIL 2007
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Diminishing Returns
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Industrial fishing, according to one study, has wiped out perhaps 90 percent of large predatory fish, such as swordfish, marlin, and the biggest types of tuna. To estimate the changing biomass of large predators, researchers used five decades of data from the Japanese longline fishing fleet. The four blue maps illustrate where these predators once thrived and where their remaining numbers are highest.
Damage Done
Nearly a third of the world's fish stocks are overfished, with the Atlantic the hardest hit. In these 2004 UN assessments, "overfished" includes stocks being caught at unsustainable rates and those whose catch rate has already plummeted. Only in pockets of the Atlantic and Pacific are a few depleted stocks beginning a comeback.
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