Overfishing
This chapter calls into question the veracity of stories, often seen in the scientific literature and popular media, describing the collapse of fish stocks and predicting a soon-to-be-seen dramatic decline in food production from the ocean. In fact, detailed scientific analyses suggest that fish stock abundance is globally stable, and much of the decline in fish catch has been due to more stringent management of fisheries in many countries. This has led to a polarization between those who look at abundance trends, and argue that improving fisheries management is the solution, and those who look at catch and argue that fisheries management does not work and marine protected areas are needed. Data clearly support the effectiveness of fisheries management, whereas remarkably little data demonstrates the impact of marine protected areas outside of the closed areas. This chapter argues the actual impacts of MPAs need to be evaluated much more intensively.