Fishtainable

Fast Facts

Overfishing, catching more fish than the ocean can produce, is considered the largest threat to Canada’s marine wildlife.
Fewer than one-third of Canada’s fisheries are considered healthy, and nearly one in five fish stocks are critically depleted.
Making matters worse, nearly 80% of depleted fish populations don’t even have rebuilding plans to bring them back to healthy levels.
Overfishing is largely due to unsustainable fishing practices like bottom trawling, which involves dragging heavy weighted nets across the sea floor that destroy everything in their path.
Each year bottom trawlers scrape an estimated 4.1 million square kilometers of the sea floor, roughly equivalent to area of Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta combined.
This releases carbon stores that, if left undisturbed, would have remained on the floor for tens of thousands of years. Bottom trawling releases as much CO 2 into the atmosphere as the global aviation industry.
With bottom trawling being responsible for up to half of all discarded fish and marine life worldwide, this creates a domino effect that affects the ecosystem as a whole.
As specific species are overfished, their predators or prey can also experience dramatic shifts in population, triggering a chain reaction of imbalances throughout the ecosystem.
It is due to this that overfishing has been identified as a leading cause of ecosystem collapse in many aquatic systems.

Do One Thing

Ocean Wise

Support One Thing

Donate to Ocean Wise to help protect Canada’s oceans and contribute to their mission of restoring kelp forests.

Ocean Wise

Donate to Oceana Canada and sign a petition urging the Canadian government to stop overfishing and rebuild Canada’s fisheries for our oceans, coastal communities and economy.

Oceana Canada

Learn More

Overfishing is a significant global issue severely affecting our marine wildlife. 90% of global fish populations are fully fished or overfished, which has led to the alarming decline of ecologically important fish species. This includes large fish species, with more than a third of sharks and rays now at risk of extinction due to overfishing. The number of sharks found in the open oceans has plunged by 71% over half a century, with over 100 million killed every year.

While bottom trawling is a significant driver of overfishing, bycatch is also a large cause. Bycatch results from fisheries capturing unintended species. This wildlife is treated as waste, thrown overboard either dead or dying. Some fisheries discard more fish at sea than they bring to port.

Apart from being a long-standing environmental issue, overfishing has significant social and economic implications as well. More than 3 billion people rely on the ocean for a primary source of protein, and up to 10% of the global population relies on fisheries for their livelihoods. This reliance is increasing, with a 122% surge in total food fish consumption from 1990 to 2018. With demand for fish continuing to increase globally, pressure is placed on fisheries to continue catching overexploited fish, eventually leading to their inevitable extinction. When these fish species disappear, so do jobs and coastal economies.

Overfishing is a grave issue with serious environmental consequences. Yet, it's crucial to remember that for many coastal communities, fishing is a lifeline and cultural cornerstone, and fish provide essential protein for numerous populations. As we address overfishing, we must seek balanced solutions that safeguard not only our oceans but also the well-being of the communities that depend on them.

About The Artist

Pamela Moulton is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Maine, whose large-scale immersive environments transform discarded materials that are harmful to nature—a choice based in environmental consciousness. Her creative process is collaborative as she invites communities to help in building elements that she incorporates into her multi-sensory environments.

Pamela Moulton

Artist Statement: Pamela Moulton (@pamela_moulton)

This current installation, Overfishing, addresses the catastrophic global overfishing issue. In this installation, Pamela disassembles and reassembles ropes and nets; unraveling, knotting, weaving, and braiding the abandoned fishing gear called “ghost gear,” that haunts our oceans, silently killing marine life. By creating a knotted and visceral red environment that viewers can engage with, this work raises the public’s awareness of overfishing and the waste associated with this industry.