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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchIndustrial fishing can harm marine ecosystems by depleting target fish, changing food webs, catching non-target animals, damaging seabed habitat, and leaving lost gear that continues to trap or kill wildlife. The effects are not the same everywhere: the fishing method, location, intensity, species caught, habitat, and management all matter.
How industrial fishing affects marine ecosystems
“Industrial fishing” covers many large-scale fisheries, not one uniform practice. A fishery’s effects depend on what it catches, how it catches it, and where and how often it operates. The United Nations’ Third World Ocean Assessment identifies overexploitation, trophic cascades, habitat destruction, marine pollution, and greenhouse gas concerns among the environmental issues associated with medium- and large-scale fishing.
Target stocks can be depleted
If fishing removes fish faster than a population can replenish itself, the stock can decline. That can reduce food available to predators and alter relationships among species. Removing predators may also trigger a trophic cascade—a chain of changes across a food web. These are possible pathways, not inevitable outcomes of every industrial fishery.
Bycatch can harm animals and habitats
Bycatch is catch that is not the fishery’s intended target. It may include fish, marine mammals, birds, turtles, or other animals, depending on the fishery. Some non-target catch is retained; some is discarded. Fish caught as bycatch can add to fishing mortality or make it harder for a stock to rebuild. Bycatch can also include corals and sponges: NOAA Fisheries’ National Bycatch Reduction Strategy notes that these habitat-forming species can support habitats used by fish and other wildlife, so damaging them can affect more than the animals directly caught.
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Discards add mortality that landings do not show
Fish discarded at sea may die, so landings alone do not necessarily show the total number of animals killed by fishing. FAO’s 1994 assessment estimated global commercial-fishery discards at an average of 27.0 million tonnes, with a range of 17.9–39.5 million tonnes. This is a historical estimate based on the evidence available at the time, not a current global total. Discard figures vary with the fishery, gear, definitions, reporting, and date.
Seabed-contacting gear can disturb habitat
Some fishing gear, including trawls dragged across the seafloor, can physically disturb or destroy seabed habitat. The degree of harm depends on the gear’s contact with the bottom, the habitat’s sensitivity, how frequently and intensely it is disturbed, and its capacity to recover. A general concern about seabed damage does not establish one damage figure or recovery time that applies to all marine habitats.
Lost gear can keep catching wildlife
Abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear may continue to capture animals without anyone controlling it—a process known as ghost fishing. FAO identifies potential harm to fishery stocks, endangered species, and seabed (benthic) environments. Lost gear is one pathway by which fishing can cause harm after a vessel has left the area.
What the latest global stock assessment says—and does not say
FAO’s 2025 review assessed 2,570 individual marine fish stocks. Its announcement reported that nearly two-thirds of marine stocks were fished within biologically sustainable levels globally, while overfishing had been rising by about 1 percent per year on average in recent years. These are global findings, not a verdict on every species, region, or fishery. Local stock status and fishing pressure are needed to understand conditions in a particular place.
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There is no single gear ranking that holds across all species, habitats, locations, and management systems. To understand or compare fisheries, consider:
- Target-stock condition: whether the stock is sustainably fished, and how much fishing mortality it faces.
- Non-target catch: which animals are caught, how many die, and whether vulnerable or protected species are affected.
- Habitat contact: whether the gear touches the seabed and what habitat it encounters.
- Where and how often fishing occurs: location, depth, intensity, and frequency influence the exposure of species and habitats.
- Lost-gear risk: whether lost gear can continue fishing and what animals or habitats it may affect.
- Safeguards and monitoring: selectivity, monitoring, spatial or seasonal controls, and other management measures can change the outcome.
How fishing’s ecosystem harm can be reduced
Management and changes in fishing practice can reduce or manage impacts, but they do not guarantee that a fishery has no ecological effects. FAO describes ecosystem-based fisheries management and guidance on reducing bycatch and discards. NOAA Fisheries reports work on more selective gear and modified fishing practices to reduce bycatch. Measures need to fit the fishery and its local risks; their effectiveness depends on how they are designed, implemented, and monitored.
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