11 June 2025
The MSC today described the new global assessment on the state of fish stocks as a real step forward.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has published its updated methodology for its 2025 State of Fishery Stocks Report. It is a collaboration between 650 experts from 92 countries and 200 organizations and includes over 2,600 fish stocks from all FAO marine Major Fishing Areas. The new data show rates of overfishing globally are stable: 64.5 percent of all fishery stocks are exploited within biologically sustainable levels, with 35.5 percent of stocks classified as overfished.
But this new methodology highlights stark regional variations. In marine fishing areas under effective fisheries management, sustainability rates far exceed the global average. In the Northeast Pacific and Southwest Pacific, long-term investment and robust management frameworks are paying off: sustainability rates of all individual stocks reach 92.7 percent and 85 percent respectively.
While some show real progress, others regions remain under intense pressure. In the Southeast Pacific, only 46 percent of stocks are sustainably fished, while the Eastern Central Atlantic stands at 47.4 percent.
Rupert Howes, Chief Executive of the Marine Stewardship Council said: “It seems that overfishing globally has stabilized. This is an encouraging development backed up by the more detailed scientific analysis of fish stocks by the FAO.
“We congratulate the FAO on their new methodology. It brings greater accuracy to the data, allowing us to focus on those areas that are particularly in need of improvement and target our efforts to end overfishing.
“The FAO today described fisheries management as the best conservation tool we have. This report backs that up. The data shows that if fish stocks are well managed, progress can be made. Sustainable fisheries management is essential to ensure not only that the ocean can thrive but that its resources can remain available to future generations.
At the ongoing UN Ocean conference, in Nice there has been a clear, global consensus on the need for action. We hope this renewed sense of urgency will lead to a significant reduction in overfished stocks as we approach 2030.”
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has published its updated methodology for its 2025 State of Fishery Stocks Report. It is a collaboration between 650 experts from 92 countries and 200 organizations and includes over 2,600 fish stocks from all FAO marine Major Fishing Areas. The new data show rates of overfishing globally are stable: 64.5 percent of all fishery stocks are exploited within biologically sustainable levels, with 35.5 percent of stocks classified as overfished.
But this new methodology highlights stark regional variations. In marine fishing areas under effective fisheries management, sustainability rates far exceed the global average. In the Northeast Pacific and Southwest Pacific, long-term investment and robust management frameworks are paying off: sustainability rates of all individual stocks reach 92.7 percent and 85 percent respectively.
While some show real progress, others regions remain under intense pressure. In the Southeast Pacific, only 46 percent of stocks are sustainably fished, while the Eastern Central Atlantic stands at 47.4 percent.
Rupert Howes, Chief Executive of the Marine Stewardship Council said: “It seems that overfishing globally has stabilized. This is an encouraging development backed up by the more detailed scientific analysis of fish stocks by the FAO.
“We congratulate the FAO on their new methodology. It brings greater accuracy to the data, allowing us to focus on those areas that are particularly in need of improvement and target our efforts to end overfishing.
“The FAO today described fisheries management as the best conservation tool we have. This report backs that up. The data shows that if fish stocks are well managed, progress can be made. Sustainable fisheries management is essential to ensure not only that the ocean can thrive but that its resources can remain available to future generations.
At the ongoing UN Ocean conference, in Nice there has been a clear, global consensus on the need for action. We hope this renewed sense of urgency will lead to a significant reduction in overfished stocks as we approach 2030.”