We are overfishing AND throwing out fish

Bycatch is fish caught unintentionally while catching other fish. Many of these are simply thrown back out into the sea, dead! The total number of such discarded fish is 10 million tons per year - that’s about 10 percent of all fish caught in oceans.  

Why do we throw out so much fish?

In short, the large amount of discarded fish is a result of poor fishing practices and management. Illegal and unregulated fishing also play a role. It is estimated that up to 28 percent of fishing world-wide is illegal or unregulated.

We are draining the oceans

Since the 1960s, the amount of large fish species has declined by 90 percent.  

State of the world’s fish stocks:

• 33 percent are overfished
• 60 percent are fully exploited / fished to the max
• 7 percent are less than maximally fished.

We are heading for disaster

The overfishing of our oceans could result in the complete collapse of the world’s fish stocks. By 2048 the world’s oceans could be virtually emptied for seafood.

Some seafood is worse than other

Shrimp fishing accounts for nearly two thirds of the world's discarded fish, while producing 1.4 percent of all caught seafood. In some cases, more than 20 tons of fish are discarded for only 1 ton of shrimp caught.

Good things are happening

The by-catch intensity of certain fisheries is believed to have decreased in recent years due to the wider use of selective fishing gear and “best practice” fishing techniques. The amount of discarded fish peaked in 1989 with almost 19 million tons.

You can make a difference !

There are ways to fish in sustainable manners, and you can pick products that can make a difference. We are working to help you find them.

The end of the Line (Trailer)

The End of the Line is a powerful film about one of the world's most disturbing problems: overfishing. Advances in fishing technology mean whole species of wild fish are under threat and the most important stocks we eat are predicted to be in a state of collapse by 2050.