Overfishing
Catching fish faster than they can breed and grow, so that a stock shrinks below the level that gives the best long-term catch.
Also: overfished
A stock is overfished when fishing has pushed it below the size that could give the most catch year after year. It happens when too many boats chase too few fish, when rules are weak or ignored, or when fish are slow to grow, like sharks and orange roughy. The Food and Agriculture Organization's 2024 report found that about 38 per cent of the world's assessed marine stocks were fished beyond sustainable levels in 2021. The cod of the Grand Banks collapsed, and Canada closed the fishery in 1992. Overfished stocks can recover when fishing is cut, but some take decades.