Some fisheries have been managed sustainably, but many others have not. About 70 percent of the world's major fisheries are either fully exploited, depleted, or recovering from depletion. In the United States, overfishing and habitat degradation have left many fish populations unable to produce maximal yields. Thousands of jobs and millions in revenue are lost as a result. In relatively well-managed fisheries there is often a poor understanding of fishing's effects on marine biodiversity and ecosystem health.
Fish are vital components of marine ecosystems.
Overfishing can have profound unintended effects, ranging from algal blooms that can destroy coral reefs to the starvation of seabird chicks that depend on fish for survival. To halt and prevent overfishing, we need continued advances in the scientific understanding of fishery management and improved conservation goals and we must hold resource managers accountable to these goals. We must also replace the strong existing incentives to overexploit with equally strong incentives to conserve. Because of the complexity of these ecosystems, the high level of natural variation of the ocean, and limited funds for research, uncertainty will remain. No-take reserves reduce economic pressures to overfish, protect marine ecosystems and, ultimately, increase fishery yields.