Global overview of marine fisheries

The latest FAO review of the state of the world's marine fishery resources confirms that, from the information available, about 50% of global resources are fully exploited, 25% are overexploited and about 25% could apparently support higher exploitation rates. While the proportion of overfished stocks seems to have increased much less than in the past, reaching an asymptote in the 1990s, the historical trend towards more overfishing observed since the early 1970s has not yet reversed. The fishery sector expanded greatly during the 1970s and 1980s. The size of the industrial fleet has now stabilized and is evolving slowly, with a possible downwards trend. However, the number of people involved seems to be still growing, probably in the small-scale sector. Overall, the fisheries contribution to economic development and food security is very significant, but overcapacity seems pervasive and is jeopardizing the economic and social performance of the sector, as well as its sustainability in a number of cases. The ocean ecosystem, under high fisheries pressure, is suffering from pollution from sea-based and (mostly) land-based activities and coastal degradation. Critical coastal habitats, such as sea-grass beds, coral reefs and mangroves, as well as estuaries and lagoons, are strongly affected by coastal developments including aquaculture and pollution. Global climate change, a particularly threatening manifestation of pollution, is affecting critical resources (e.g. coral bleaching) through excessively high temperatures and high UV radiations. The institutional basis for ecosystem-based governance of fisheries is building up rapidly following the entry into force (in 1994) of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea, the adoption of the UN Fish Stocks Agreement and the FAO Code of Conduct (1995), and a number of non-fisheries instruments with significant implications for fisheries. This basis has already been adopted at the highest government levels, but implementation at the lower levels (national and local) is still slow or absent in many cases. Insufficient capacity is a problem in many developing countries. Socio-economic and political short-term costs - and resultant political reluctance - are a problem everywhere. Coordination, participation and transparency represent real opportunities for positive change as well as major difficulties.