Hope or Despair Revisited: Assessing Progress and New Challenges in Global Fisheries

Abstract

Marine fisheries are crucial to the economy, livelihood, food security and culture of coastal nations and communities, significantly contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. A decade ago, T. J. Pitcher and W. W. L. Cheung highlighted the dichotomy in the perception of fisheries' status, concluding that long‐term sustainability and benefits to people were threatened by overexploitation, climate change, pollution, habitat change and other human stressors. They advocated for a fundamental shift towards ecosystem‐based management, better enforcement of existing regulations and more inclusive and equitable management practices. In this paper, we provide an updated review of the status of global fisheries, reflecting on policy actions, key assessments and research findings over the past decade. While there is a growing recognition of the need for sustainable fisheries management and ocean protection, the overall status of fisheries has not improved. Despite progress in international and national policies addressing direct and indirect drivers such as climate change and harmful practices, these trends have not been reversed. Many challenges identified by Pitcher and Cheung and others persist. Additionally, new and emerging issues such as deep‐sea mining, plastic pollution, unhealthy aquaculture development, increasing social inequity and the rapidly increasing push for the acceleration of the blue economy exacerbate the complexity of achieving fisheries and other ocean management goals. Debating whether there is more hope or despair in global fisheries has become irrelevant. Pathways to ‘bend the curve’ for fisheries are clear, and effective actions are now urgently needed to achieve desirable and sustainable fisheries.