Global Fisheries: Balancing Overfishing and Food Production

There have been numerous scientific studies, and media reports, about the dire condition of the world’s fisheries. The warnings have included concerns about overfishing from biomass, age structure, food web, and habitat viewpoints. Additionally, several meta-analyses of large numbers of fisheries throughout the world have tended to emphasize the global nature and extent of overfishing. In response to these warnings, some authors have argued that overfishing claims have been overestimated and that many stocks can withstand current fishing pressure to support food production.

This symposium will try to answer questions about local, regional, and global overfishing. What does overfishing mean biologically and ecologically? When is a stock deemed to be overfished? What are the latest scientific developments for assessing biological and ecological status of stocks? What are the optimum biomass, age structure, sex ratio, and trophic condition for a given stock? What are the ecosystem needs for healthy fisheries? How does fishing pressure on one stock affect the status of other stocks and ecosystem goods and services? The symposium will include case examples from fisheries around the world, focus on the scientific basis for determining stock status, and on theoretical studies on different types of overfishing and their combined ecological effects. Similarly, some talks will focus on the balance between the need for food production and resource conservation.

The symposium will be of high interest to AFS members and is of great international import. This symposium may be the most well-attended of the AFS conference and will likely attract wide media attention. Stakeholders include the fishing industry, fisheries scientists, marine ecologists, institutional and governmental policy experts, and food resource strategists. The day-long symposium will begin with two 30-minute keynote talks, followed by 15-minute speaker slots. Presenters will collaborate on a group-authored summary publication presenting the salient points and conclusions from the symposium.