title: Towards sustainability in world fisheries.
abstract: Fisheries have rarely been 'sustainable'. Rather, fishing has induced serial depletions, long masked by improved technology, geographic expansion and exploitation of previously spurned species lower in the food web. With global catches declining since the late 1980s, continuation of present trends will lead to supply shortfall, for which aquaculture cannot be expected to compensate, and may well exacerbate. Reducing fishing capacity to appropriate levels will require strong reductions of subsidies. Zoning the oceans into unfished marine reserves and areas with limited levels of fishing effort would allow sustainable fisheries, based on resources embedded in functional, diverse ecosystems.
authors.affiliation: Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. d.pauly@fisheries.ubc.ca
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pauly
authors.forename: Villy
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guénette
authors.forename: Tony J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Pitcher
authors.forename: U Rashid
authors.initials: UR
authors.lastname: Sumaila
authors.forename: Carl J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Walters
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zeller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003063:Cnidaria / Q000502:physiology; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D017753:Ecosystem; D005398:Fisheries / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D005399:Fishes / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D005523:Food Supply