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Fishing

About: Fishing is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 26543 publications have been published within this topic receiving 455552 citations. The topic is also known as: angling.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that management of multi–species fisheries needs to be tailored to the most sensitive, rather than the more robust species, to initiate recovery of severely depleted communities.
Abstract: Large predatory fishes have long played an important role in marine ecosystems and fisheries. Overexploitation, however, is gradually diminishing this role. Recent estimates indicate that exploitation has depleted large predatory fish communities worldwide by at least 90% over the past 50-100 years. We demonstrate that these declines are general, independent of methodology, and even higher for sensitive species such as sharks. We also attempt to predict the future prospects of large predatory fishes. (i) An analysis of maximum reproductive rates predicts the collapse and extinction of sensitive species under current levels of fishing mortality. Sensitive species occur in marine habitats worldwide and have to be considered in most management situations. (ii) We show that to ensure the survival of sensitive species in the northwest Atlantic fishing mortality has to be reduced by 40-80%. (iii) We show that rapid recovery of community biomass and diversity usually occurs when fishing mortality is reduced. However, recovery is more variable for single species, often because of the influence of species interactions. We conclude that management of multi-species fisheries needs to be tailored to the most sensitive, rather than the more robust species. This requires reductions in fishing effort, reduction in bycatch mortality and protection of key areas to initiate recovery of severely depleted communities.

443 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
02 Mar 2012-Science
TL;DR: Balanced fishing across a range of species, stocks, and sizes could mitigate adverse effects and address food security better than increased selectivity and challenges present management paradigms.
Abstract: Concern about the impact of fishing on ecosystems and fisheries production is increasing ( 1 , 2 ). Strategies to reduce these impacts while addressing the growing need for food security ( 3 ) include increasing selectivity ( 1 , 2 ): capturing species, sexes, and sizes in proportions that differ from their occurrence in the ecosystem. Increasing evidence suggests that more selective fishing neither maximizes production nor minimizes impacts ( 4 – 7 ). Balanced harvesting would more effectively mitigate adverse ecological effects of fishing while supporting sustainable fisheries. This strategy, which challenges present management paradigms, distributes a moderate mortality from fishing across the widest possible range of species, stocks, and sizes in an ecosystem, in proportion to their natural productivity ( 8 ), so that the relative size and species composition is maintained.

438 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A thorough analysis shows that the ecological threat of aquaculture is much lower than continuing to supply the majority of fish protein from wild capture, and that about one billion people world‐wide rely on fish as their primary source of animal protein.
Abstract: Historically, the oceans were considered limitless and thought to harbour enough fish to feed an ever‐increasing human population. However, the demands of a growing population, particularly in poorer countries, now far outstrip the sustainable yield of the seas. At the same time as fishing has become more industrialised, and wild fish stocks increasingly depleted, aquaculture production—fish and shellfish farming—has grown rapidly to address the shortfalls in capture fisheries. But aquaculture has come under intense scrutiny and criticism as environmentalists fear that it could cause significant environmental problems and further impact wild species that are already threatened. Indeed, both capture fisheries and aquaculture must have environmental costs—all human activities of significant scale do—but it is necessary to fairly evaluate and compare the ecological and economic impact of both. In fact, a thorough analysis shows that the ecological threat of aquaculture is much lower than continuing to supply the majority of fish protein from wild capture. Fish is a vital source of food for people. It is man's most important single source of high‐quality protein, providing ∼16% of the animal protein consumed by the world's population, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (1997). It is a particularly important protein source in regions where livestock is relatively scarce—fish supplies <10% of animal protein consumed in North America and Europe, but 17% in Africa, 26% in Asia and 22% in China (FAO, 2000). The FAO estimates that about one billion people world‐wide rely on fish as their primary source of animal protein (FAO, 2000). > A consistent source of fish is essential for the nutritional and financial health of a large segment of the world's population Fish also has substantial social and economic importance. The FAO estimates the value of fish traded internationally to be US$ 51 …

435 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The fisheries history is confronted with evidence from biological and stock-assessment studies, and results indicate that Atlantic bluefin tuna has been undergoing heavy overfishing for a decade.
Abstract: Both old and new information on the biology and ecology of Atlantic bluefin tuna have confronted scientists with research challenges: research needs to be connected to current stock- assessment and management issues. We review recent studies on habitat, migrations and population structure, stressing the importance of electronic tagging results in the modification of our perception of bluefin tuna population dynamics and behaviour. Additionally, we question, from both scientific and management perspectives, the usefulness of the classical stock concept and suggest other approaches, such as Clark's contingent and metapopulation theories. Current biological information confirms that a substantial amount of uncertainty still exists in the understanding of reproduction and growth. In particular, we focus on intriguing issues such as the difference in age-at-maturity between West Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna. Our description of Atlantic bluefin tuna fisheries places today's fishing patterns within the two millennium history of exploitation of this species: we discuss trap fisheries that existed between the 17th and the early 20th centuries; Atlantic fisheries during the 1950s and 1960s; and the consequences of the recent development of the sushi-sashimi market. Finally, we evaluate stock status and management issues since the early 1970s. While important uncertainties remain, when the fisheries history is confronted with evidence from biological and stock-assessment studies, results indicate that Atlantic bluefin tuna has been undergoing heavy overfishing for a decade. We conclude that the current exploitation of bluefin tuna has many biological and economic traits that have led several fish stocks to extreme depletion in the past.

432 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Analysis of trends in fishery landings in 48 large marine ecosystems worldwide finds that fishing down the food web was pervasive but that the sequential addition mechanism was by far the most common one underlying declines in the mean trophic level of landings.
Abstract: A recurring pattern of declining mean trophic level of fisheries landings, termed “fishing down the food web,” is thought to be indicative of the serial replacement of high-trophic-level fisheries with less valuable, low-trophic-level fisheries as the former become depleted to economic extinction. An alternative to this view, that declining mean trophic levels indicate the serial addition of low-trophic-level fisheries (“fishing through the food web”), may be equally severe because it ultimately leads to conflicting demands for ecosystem services. By analyzing trends in fishery landings in 48 large marine ecosystems worldwide, we find that fishing down the food web was pervasive (present in 30 ecosystems) but that the sequential addition mechanism was by far the most common one underlying declines in the mean trophic level of landings. Specifically, only 9 ecosystems showed declining catches of upper-trophic-level species, compared with 21 ecosystems that exhibited either no significant change (n = 6) or significant increases (n = 15) in upper-trophic-level catches when fishing down the food web was occurring. Only in the North Atlantic were ecosystems regularly subjected to sequential collapse and replacement of fisheries. We suggest that efforts to promote sustainable use of marine resources will benefit from a fuller consideration of all processes giving rise to fishing down the food web.

432 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
20231,709
20223,569
20211,068
20201,247
20191,089
20181,130