Human fishing competes with the Penguins and can eliminate their food supply. Flying birds can hunt in a wider territory, and some such as sea gulls can adapt to other types of food, but penguins must eat the local fish. In some places, the human fishing industry also directly kills the penguins. They get snared in nets, and are even deliberately killed and their meat used as bait. This can harm the penguins, since they burrow into guano piles to hide from seals.
Live penguins can be an economic resource, since they attract tourists.
But if not properly managed, tourism can threaten the survival of the penguins. Tourists step on the eggs and interrupt breeding. Tour boats also pose the danger of oil spills. These combined forces that threaten the penguins are patterns that impact on the environment in general. Because penguins are popular with us humans, their cause could be a catalyst for greater global efforts to save the natural environment.