Better-managed fisheries could yield billions of extra dollars in profit and extract millions more tonnes of fish from the oceans.

Credit: Monty Rakusen/Getty

Many fish stocks are overexploited and poorly managed. Christopher Costello at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his colleagues modelled the trajectories of 4,713 fisheries under various management systems.

Compared to a 'business-as-usual' trajectory, improved management centred on fishing rights that boost the economic value of fish could increase fish numbers, the researchers estimate, and yield 16 million tonnes more fish by 2050. It would generate US$53 billion in profit and there would be 619 million tonnes more biomass in the oceans as a result. The average overfished stock would recover in 10 years, and 98% of stocks would recover by 2050. Better management could improve food security, conservation and profits in nations that currently manage their fisheries poorly, say the authors.

Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA http://doi.org/bdtd (2016)