Overfishing is a topic in fisheries science and marine ecology referring to the exploitation of fish stocks at rates exceeding their capacity to replenish through recruitment and growth, thereby reducing biomass below biologically sustainable thresholds. It is quantitatively assessed using reference points such as maximum sustainable yield (MSY), fishing mortality (F), and spawning stock biomass (SSB), with overfishing indicated when F exceeds target or limit reference points or when SSB falls below critical levels. Overfishing alters age and size structure, disrupts trophic interactions, diminishes genetic diversity, and compromises ecosystem resilience, with management responses involving harvest control rules, catch limits, effort restrictions, and spatial or temporal closures.
The ocean has long been treated as boundless—a frontier for extraction and a sink for waste. This perception has driven decades of exploitation and neglect, pushing marine systems toward irreversible decline. Yet with urgent, ...
Environment
Nov 19, 2025
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A new study led by the University of St Andrews has found that critically endangered African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) are significantly more likely to forage in the same areas as commercial fishing vessels during years ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 17, 2025
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156
Despite more than a decade of international efforts to curb the trade of threatened shark species, new research led by FIU marine biologist Diego Cardeñosa and Demian Chapman, director of the Shark and Rays Conservation Research ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 6, 2025
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As global marine biodiversity faces increasing threats from climate change, pollution, and overfishing, understanding the complex dynamics of ocean ecosystems is more urgent than ever. The Asia-Pacific region (APR) is home ...
Ecology
Nov 5, 2025
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In the middle of the southern Indian Ocean lies a vast underwater volcanic ridge known as the Kerguelen Plateau. At its center sits Australia's most remote territory: Heard Island and McDonald Islands. These icy outposts ...
Ecology
Oct 27, 2025
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Professor Kenzo Kaifu and Research Fellow Hiromi Shiraishi of Chuo University, together with Professor Yu-Shan Han of National Taiwan University, conducted the world's first quantitative study to reveal the global consumption ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 17, 2025
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50
New research has revealed that about 90% of marine aquarium fish sold by online retailers in the United States are sourced directly from wild populations, mostly in the western Pacific and Indian Ocean. With the US accounting ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 8, 2025
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Most of the UK's commercial fish stocks are not in a healthy state, according to a new landmark report.
Ecology
Oct 8, 2025
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In a new study, researchers from North Carolina State University have compared numbers of juvenile blue crabs across three nursery habitats in Pamlico Sound, both pre- and post-fishery decline, and found that while adult ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 24, 2025
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After nearly 25 years of negotiations, the World Trade Organization (WTO) finally has its first legally binding agreement to tackle government fisheries subsidies. After two-thirds of WTO members ratified the Agreement on ...
Ecology
Sep 22, 2025
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