Sustainable Fisheries: Addressing a Global Problem

Currently, of the world’s assessed stocks, only 20% are estimated to be moderately exploited or underexploited, 52% are fully exploited, 1% are recovering from depletion, 8% are depleted, and about 19% are considered overexploited (Cochrane et al. 2011, this volume). Fisheries are vitally important renewable resources if they are governed sustainably with responsible harvest from healthy populations, which allows for future use. While the case for sustainable fisheries has been made effectively to most fisheries professionals, it has not been an apparent priority for the majority of policy makers and the public. This book is designed to draw media and policymaker attention to key global fisheries problems that are not adequately addressed by existing governance structures and to serve as a key directive for convening a global conference on sustainable fisheries. The chapters underscore the urgency of the ecological, economic, and social aspects of the sustainable fisheries issue; highlight inadequacies of current institutional mechanisms to deal with this global tragedy; and identify areas for change.The following provides an overview of the key points from Sustainable Fisheries: Multi-Level Approaches to a Global Problem (see Table 1).