Individual people are generally to greedy to cut back on their own consumption. The National Marine Fisheries Service is trying hard to regulate and control overfishing, by reducing boat numbers, and by discovering more efficient ways to manage and harvest the stocks. Governments lack of managing the oceans, raised a big question. Industries pay the government to drill for oil, cut timber in national forests and mine coal on public land. Commercial fishing's biggest problem is that it not structured, so individuals take advantage of it.
International law grants commercial fisherman the right to have freedom of the high seas.
It is the duty of a nation to make sure that its fisherman abide by laws when fishing outside of its territories. The fisherman also need to cooperate with one another and with coastal states to conserve and manage fish resources. The 1982 convention on straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks did not strictly enforce this principle. The past has been more of a conflict among fisherman for resources rather than the nations cooperating to conserve stocks. Distant fleets and coastal nations have been competing for a diminishing resource.