Inland Fisheries

1.5.8 Overfishing

Inland capture fisheries are also being affected by developments within the sector itself, such as increasing fishing pressure and illegal fishing. However, the majority of the impacts originate from outside the fisheries sector.

A recent review made by the FAO pointed out the overfished state of many inland fisheries. It identified two types of overfishing: intensive targeting of individual species and assemblage or ecosystem overfishing. Targeted fishing for large freshwater fish species in several major river systems in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe,the Near East, North America and South America has led to a decline in fish abundance. Of the fish targeted in these fisheries, 10 out of 21 species were assessed as being vulnerable or in danger of extinction; for the remaining 11species the available data were insufficient to assess their status or no assessment was undertaken. Assemblage overfishing is most common in tropical areas with high species diversity and where local communities depend on a diverse inland fish harvest.