_____ Jul 2022

Overfishing
https://www.worldwildlife.org

There's still time.

Act now.
Urge your local and
national government leaders

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to create environmental
reforms and practices.

Vol. 1

Help our fisheries flourish again and save our underwater wildlife.
___ Fishing is one of the
most significant drivers
of declines in ocean
wildlife populations.
Catching fish is not
inherently bad for the
ocean, except for when The number of overfished stocks
vessels catch fish faster globally has tripled in half a century
and today fully one-third of the world's
than stocks can assessed fisheries are currently
replenish, something pushed beyond their biological limits,
called overfishing. according to the Food and Agriculture
O v e r v i e w

Organization of the United Nations.

Overfishing is closely tied to bycatch—the capture of

unwanted sea life while fishing for a different species.
This, too, is a serious marine threat that causes the
needless loss of billions of fish, along with hundreds of
thousands of sea turtles and cetaceans.

The damage done by overfishing goes beyond

the marine environment. Billions of people
rely on fish for protein, and fishing is the
principal livelihood for millions of people
around the world.

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Many people who make a living catching,
selling, and buying fish are working to
improve how the world manages and
conserves ocean resources. WWF works with a
cross-section of stakeholders to reform
fisheries management globally, focusing on
sustainable practices that not only conserve
O v e r v i e w

ecosystems, but also sustain livelihoods and

ensure food security.

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 Some 4 million fishing vessels of all sizes now ply
the oceans, many with increasing capacity and
efficiencies to catch more fish. As pressure from
fishing grows, the likelihood of damage to the
structure and function of the ocean ecosystem
increases. Inadequate government capacity and
cooperation to manage, regulate, and control
fisheries and fisheries trade, especially in
developing nations and on the high seas, are key
factors contributing to the current problems in
oceanic fisheries.

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Overcapacity
C a u s e s

3
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Illegal fishing
Systemic overfishing is only made worse by
illegal catches and trade. In fact, some of the
C a u s e s

worst ocean impacts are caused by pervasive

illegal fishing, which is estimated at up to 30%
of catch or more for high-value species.
Experts estimate illegal, unreported, and
unregulated (IUU) fishing nets criminals up to

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$36.4 billion each year. These illegal catches
move through opaque supply chains due to a
lack of systems to track fish from catch to
consumer—something called traceability—
and import controls in much of the sector.

4
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Degraded
Declining wildlife ecosystem
Decades of destructive fishing has Overfishing can impact
resulted in the precipitous decline of entire ecosystems. It can
key fish stocks such as bluefin tuna change the size of fish
and Grand Banks cod, as well as remaining, as well as how
collateral impacts to other marine they reproduce and the
life. Hundreds of thousands of speed at which they mature.
marine mammals, seabirds, and sea When too many fish are
turtles are captured each year, taken out of the ocean it

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alongside tens of millions of sharks. creates an imbalance that
Many of these species are can erode the food web and
endangered and protected, while
lead to a loss of other
some such as the vaquita, Eastern
important marine life,
Pacific leatherback turtle, and Maui
including vulnerable species
dolphin are on the brink of
like sea turtles and corals.
extinction.

5
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The World Wide
Fund for Nature
(WWF) works to end
overfishing by
addressing root
causes and impacts
at the local and
SCALING FISHERY IMPROVEMENT commercial levels.
WWF recognizes the Marine Through
Stewardship Council (MSC) as the collaboration with a
leading program for certification of variety of partners,
wild-caught fisheries against an we strive to
environmental standard and helps
transform fishing to
drive fisheries toward MSC
reduce
certification. But not all fisheries are
ready for certification. A Fishery environmental
Improvement Project (FIP) draws impact and
together fishers, industry, maintain vital
researchers, government, and NGOs sources of food and
to help improve fishing practices and livelihoods for years

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management in a particular fishery to come.
toward the level of the MSC standard.
WWF works around the world to
develop and implement FIPs,
focusing on key pressure points in
order to reach sustainability in
greater volumes and for ecologically
key species.
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INFLUENCING THE
ENDING ILLEGAL FISHING
GLOBAL MARKET
The US imports 90% of its WWF works to stop criminals
seafood, making it the largest from stealing from legal
single country importer of fish. fisheries, which renders good
WWF works with 40 corporate management much less
partners in North America that effective. Together with
source from more than 550
partners worldwide, WWF aims
different fisheries. Working with
to close borders in the major
the biggest buyers, traders and
seafood importing countries to
sellers of seafood leverages the
illegally and unsustainably

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purchasing power of the private
sector to catalyze harvested seafood through
improvements in fishing government regulatory and
practices, management and voluntary private sector
conservation. It also provides actions.
financial support and incentive
for fishers looking to commit to
long-term sustainability.

7
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CREATING AND EXPANDING MARINE
PROTECTED AREAS

WWF supports the creation and management

of well-designed marine protected areas
around the world, protecting important fish
species from the Arctic to the tropics.

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Community managed areas, often based on
traditional knowledge and customary practices,
benefit people in places where fishing is such
an important part of livelihoods of coastal
communities.