Evidence of overfishing in the Eastern Mediterranean

The Levant or Eastern Mediterranean is a warm, saline oligotrophic body of water. Its multi-species fisheries have witnessed dwindling yields in recent decades. The Levant is also the milieu of the greatest Marine bio-invasion of the modern era – migration of Indo-Pacific fauna into Atlanto-Mediterranean waters via the Suez Canal, making it one of the fastest changing marine ecosystems on earth. Our data sets, derived from Israeli trawl surveys, suggest Levantine fauna is also overfished. Historical landings exhibit a 3-fold decrease in CPUE of the Israeli trawl fleet since 1950. Over the last 2 decades, 13 of the 20 commonest species have significantly decreased in mean TL, suggesting growth overfishing. Discards have risen over this period from 34% to 44% (biomass) and from 57% to 73% (specimens) and crustacean share in surveys has risen from 22% to 35%, suggesting fishing down effects. The share of migrants in surveys has increased from 36% to 59% of all individuals, alluding to vulnerable local populations and a decreased resilience of the Levantine ecosystem. Ever growing swarms of alien Jellyfish and ctenophores complete a grim picture, requiring urgent improvements to the current fishery management regime.