Comparing the Status of Stocks and Overfishing Across Marine Ecosystems

Over the last four years a network of researchers has assembled a data base on stock assessments across a range of marine ecosystems, including almost all of the commercial catch in the N. Atlantic, NE and NW Pacific, SE Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and high seas tuna fisheries.  From the stock assessments the status of stocks is assessed and compared to several reference points of (1) abundance as relates to biological productivity and (2) economic maximization, and (3) fishing mortality rate compared to rates that produce maximum sustainable yield and (4) economic profitability.  The status of fish stocks in different ecosystems is considerably different,  but overall we identified that a majority of fish stocks remain below the level of abundance that would produce maximum sustainable yield.  However, only 15% of fish stocks are now fished so hard that their long term sustainable yield would be appreciably below MSY.  We explore a series of explanations for the differences in stock status between and among ecosystems. We also consider the potential to obtain abundance data from Most of Asia, and Africa.