More than a third of the world's assessed marine fish stocks are fished faster than they can replenish, up from a tenth in 1974, while only about 10% of the ocean lies in protected or conserved areas.
Updated October 14, 2026. Written from the sources listed below, not independently peer-reviewed.
What share of the world's assessed marine fish stocks are overfished?
35.5%
Assessed marine fish stocks that are overfished
Share of 2,570 assessed marine fish stocks fished beyond biologically sustainable levels in 2021, according to FAO's 2025 review. The share was about 10% in 1974.
Data year 2021. Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2025
72.6%
Landings from biologically sustainable stocks
Share of 2023 landings of assessed stocks that came from biologically sustainable stocks, reported in FAO's State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2026 with an updated method. Larger stocks tend to be better managed, so the share of catch is higher than the share of stocks.
Data year 2023. Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2026
10.01%
Ocean in protected and conserved areas
Share of the ocean officially designated as protected or conserved as of April 2026, against the 30% agreed for 2030. In the high seas beyond national jurisdiction, coverage is only 1.66%. Designation does not mean that fishing is banned.
Data year 2026. Source: International Union for Conservation of Nature, 2026
Unit: % of assessed stocks
Both values come from FAO's page for SDG indicator 14.4.1, which reports a fall from 90% in 1974 to 64.5% in 2021; the remainder are overfished. The 2021 value comes from the 2025 review, which assessed more stocks with an expanded method, so the two points are not strictly comparable. Only the two reported values are shown; the path between them is not plotted.
SDG target 14.4 aimed to end overfishing and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing by 2020, and target 14.6 to ban harmful fisheries subsidies by the same year. Neither was met on time: in 2021, 35.5% of assessed stocks were still overfished, although the share has broadly stabilised since 2015. Several agreements have since come into force. A WTO agreement banning the most harmful fisheries subsidies took effect in 2025, and the High Seas Treaty (BBNJ Agreement), which covers the roughly two-thirds of the ocean beyond national jurisdiction, entered into force on 17 January 2026. Target 14.5 called for conserving at least 10% of coastal and marine areas by 2020; designated protected and conserved areas passed 10% of the ocean only in April 2026.
Aquatic animal foods supply at least a fifth of the animal protein eaten by 3.1 billion people, yet in 2023 people in Africa had access to 9.1 kg per person a year, against 26.3 kg in Asia.
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2026Sustainable fisheries are worth 0.516% of GDP in small island developing States, more than six times the global average of 0.081% (2023), so these countries depend most on healthy stocks.
Source: United Nations Statistics Division, 2026Of the estimated US$35.4 billion in fisheries subsidies paid in 2018, more than 80% went to large-scale industrial fleets and only 19% to small-scale fisheries.
Source: International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2026Stock health varies widely by region and species: 92.7% of stocks in the Northeast Pacific are fished sustainably, but only 46% in the Southeast Pacific, 35.1% in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, 29% of deep-sea species and 57% of highly migratory sharks.
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2025Each country is shaded by its latest available value, so you can see where the gap is widest. Hover or tap a country, search for one, or open the full table.
Loading country values…
Shows 100 minus the share of a country's territorial waters in marine protected areas and other conserved areas, so darker means less protected; values are the latest available per country (2025 for all in the current release). This measures the policy response, not the state of fish stocks, and a designated area may still allow fishing; no open country-level dataset on overfished stocks exists. Landlocked countries have no value, and countries with very short coastlines (such as Bosnia and Herzegovina) or large inland seas (Kazakhstan, Caspian Sea) can show extreme values.
Source: UNEP-WCMC and IUCN, Protected Planet (WDPA/WD-OECM), via World Bank Open Data. Latest year available per country; years differ.
Values load from World Bank Open Data. Simplified Natural Earth borders; they imply no position on disputed territories.
Instead of one “percent solved” score, DO GOOD rates three separate dimensions. A problem can have mature solutions that still reach too few people. These ratings are an editorial reading of the sources on this page, not a measured index.
Has the situation improved in the real world?
LowThe share of overfished stocks rose from about 10% in 1974 to 35.5% in 2021. The decline has slowed and broadly stabilised since 2015, but more than a third of assessed stocks remain overfished.
How mature and validated are the available solutions?
HighScience-based catch limits and stock assessments are well proven: in the Northeast Pacific 92.7% of stocks are fished sustainably, all assessed Antarctic stocks are, and 87% of tuna stocks are. In the Mediterranean and Black Sea, fishing pressure has fallen by 30% since 2013 and biomass has risen by 15%.
How widely are effective solutions actually used?
ModerateLarge, valuable stocks are often well managed, so about three quarters of landings come from sustainable stocks, but in several regions fewer than half of the stocks are. Only 10.01% of the ocean is designated as protected or conserved, and 1.66% of the high seas.
FAO's 2025 review covers 2,570 stocks and about 74.2% of global marine landings, but the latest stock-level data are from 2021, many smaller stocks lack data, and method changes between editions (77.2% of landings sustainable in 2021, 72.6% in 2023 under the new method) make trends hard to read.
Stock status has broadly stabilised since 2015, and new rules on subsidies and the high seas have entered into force. But more than a third of stocks are still overfished, the WTO rules on subsidies that drive overcapacity are not yet agreed, and climate change is projected to shrink harvestable fish biomass in several regions.
Fish and other aquatic foods feed and employ a large part of humanity. Fisheries and aquaculture produced a record 235 million tonnes in 2024, more than 600 million livelihoods depend on the sector, and for 3.1 billion people aquatic animal foods supply at least a fifth of the animal protein they eat. Wild capture has not grown for decades: catches have stayed between 86 and 94 million tonnes a year since the late 1980s, and all growth has come from aquaculture, which now supplies 53% of aquatic animal production. Overfishing happens when fish are taken faster than a stock can replace them. FAO's most detailed assessment, covering 2,570 marine stocks, found that 35.5% were overfished in 2021, up from about 10% in 1974; the decline has slowed and has broadly stabilised since 2015, but it has not reversed.
Overfished stocks yield less food and income than they could if they were allowed to recover. The damage is uneven. Where management is strong, as in the Northeast Pacific, more than nine in ten stocks are fished sustainably, while in the Southeast Pacific and the Eastern Central Atlantic fewer than half are. Deep-sea species and highly migratory sharks fare worst. Pressures add up: illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing undermines rules, fisheries subsidies estimated at US$35.4 billion in 2018, mostly paid to industrial fleets, help keep too many boats at sea, and under high emissions the fish biomass that can be harvested is projected to fall by more than 10% by 2050 in several regions. Small island developing States, where sustainable fisheries account for a far larger share of the economy than the global average, are among the most exposed.
Overfishing is tracked mainly through FAO's assessments of marine fish stocks, the basis of SDG indicator 14.4.1. SDG target 14.4 called for ending overfishing and illegal fishing by 2020 and for restoring stocks at least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield. The main measures are:
Biologically sustainable or overfished stocks
A stock counts as biologically sustainable when its abundance is at or above the level that can produce the maximum sustainable yield, the largest catch that can be taken year after year. Below that level it counts as overfished. The headline share counts stocks, so a small local stock weighs as much as a large one.
Share of landings from sustainable stocks
Weighting stocks by how much is caught from them gives a second view: in 2021, 77.2% of landings came from biologically sustainable stocks, more than the share of stocks, because many of the largest stocks are better managed. The 2026 edition of FAO's flagship report, with an updated method, puts the share at 72.6% for 2023.
Coverage of the assessment
The 2025 FAO review assessed 2,570 stocks, representing about 74.2% of global marine landings, with input from more than 650 experts in over 90 countries. Stocks with little data are harder to classify, and changes in method mean figures from different editions are not fully comparable.
Ocean protection
The share of the ocean in marine protected areas and other conserved areas, compiled in the World Database on Protected and Conserved Areas, tracks the area-based response (SDG target 14.5 and the global 30% by 2030 target). It shows how much area is designated, not whether fishing is restricted there or how well the area is managed.
What works
Setting catches according to regular stock assessments keeps stocks at productive levels. In the Northeast Pacific, where such management is well established, 92.7% of stocks are fished sustainably and they supply about 99% of the area's landings; in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, cuts in fishing pressure of 30% since 2013 have been followed by a 15% rise in biomass.
Limits
Assessments need data, money and trained staff that many countries lack, and limits work only if they are enforced. Even after recent gains, only 35.1% of stocks in the Mediterranean and Black Sea are fished sustainably.
What works
Fish that cross borders or roam the high seas are managed by regional fisheries management organisations. For tuna, which are managed through such regional bodies, 87% of stocks are sustainable and they supply 99% of tuna landings.
Limits
Results depend on agreement among many countries. Only 57% of assessed highly migratory shark stocks are sustainable; sharks are often caught as bycatch in tuna fisheries, and inconsistent international management slows their recovery.
What works
Areas where fishing and other uses are restricted give stocks and habitats room to recover. Coverage reached 10.01% of the ocean in April 2026, up from 8.6% in 2024, with about 5 million square kilometres added in two years.
Limits
Many protected areas still allow fishing, only 1.3% of the ocean is covered by protected areas whose management effectiveness has been assessed, and the high seas, where much industrial fishing takes place, have only 1.66% coverage.
What works
The WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, in force since September 2025, bans subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, for fishing overfished stocks without rebuilding measures, and for unregulated fishing on the high seas.
Limits
It does not yet cover subsidies that more generally drive overcapacity and overfishing, which make up much of the estimated US$35.4 billion paid in 2018. If wider rules are not adopted within four years of entry into force, the agreement ends unless members decide otherwise.
What works
SDG target 14.b and FAO's voluntary guidelines for small-scale fisheries call for secure access to fishing grounds and markets for small-scale and artisanal fishers, who can manage local resources when their rights are recognised.
Limits
Small-scale fisheries receive only 19% of fisheries subsidies, and recognised rights do not protect fishers from industrial fleets or illegal fishing in their waters without enforcement.
Promising, but not proven at scale. The stage shows how far each approach has come; it is not a recommendation.
The High Seas Treaty, in force since 17 January 2026, allows governments for the first time to create marine protected areas and require environmental impact assessments beyond national waters, which cover about two-thirds of the ocean. Its effect will depend on which areas the parties agree to protect, which countries join, and how rules are enforced far from shore.
Vessel tracking signals, satellite images and cameras on board can reveal fishing in closed areas and help authorities target inspections against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Vessels can switch off tracking devices, and turning detection into fines or port bans still depends on national enforcement.
FAO's 2025 review used an expanded approach, drawing on more than 650 experts in over 90 countries, to classify 2,570 stocks, including many that lack full stock assessments. Such methods widen coverage, but estimates for data-poor stocks are less certain and need to be checked against better data over time.
As warming shifts where fish live and how productive they are, some managers are building climate projections into catch limits and agreements on shared stocks. FAO projects that under high emissions harvestable fish biomass could fall by more than 10% by 2050 in several regions; practical methods to adjust management in time are still being tested.
Coordination gap
Governments paid an estimated US$35.4 billion in fisheries subsidies in 2018, more than 80% of it to industrial fleets, much of it raising fishing capacity. WTO rules on subsidies that drive overcapacity and overfishing were still unresolved in early 2026, and the 2025 agreement lapses in 2029 unless they are adopted or members decide otherwise.
Implementation gap
In the Southeast Pacific only 46% of stocks and in the Eastern Central Atlantic only 47.4% are fished sustainably, compared with 92.7% in the Northeast Pacific. Low-capacity regions often lack the scientists, patrol vessels and funding to assess stocks and enforce limits.
Implementation gap
Only 1.3% of the ocean is covered by protected areas whose management effectiveness has been assessed and reported, so for most of the 10.01% now designated it is unclear whether fishing is actually restricted.
Coordination gap
Only 1.66% of the high seas lies in protected or conserved areas, although they make up over 60% of the ocean's surface. The new High Seas Treaty creates a framework, but protection depends on agreement among many states.
Knowledge gap
The latest global stock-level status refers to 2021, the assessment covers about 74.2% of marine landings, and method changes make editions hard to compare. Stocks with little catch or survey data are harder to classify with confidence.
Technology gap
Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing remains a pressure on fish stocks. Vessels that switch off tracking, transfer catch at sea or fly flags of states that do little checking are difficult to detect and prosecute with current tools.
Unresolved questions, not vetted breakthroughs. Answering any of them would change what is possible.
As stocks move towards the poles and deeper water, how will catches shift between countries, and how can agreements on shared stocks be adjusted before conflicts arise?
Many small-scale and tropical fisheries have little data. How healthy are these stocks, and do global figures, which rely on better-studied fisheries, over- or underestimate overfishing?
Under what conditions do marine protected areas raise catches in surrounding waters, and how large and strictly protected must they be to make a difference to stocks of fish that move long distances?
How can subsidies that drive overcapacity be phased out while protecting the incomes and food security of small-scale fishers in poorer countries?
Ask shops and restaurants which species, fishing area and method a product comes from, and look for credible certification or sourcing guides. Labels differ in quality and coverage, but questions show sellers that sourcing matters.
Demand concentrates on a few popular species. Trying other, well-managed local species and avoiding those listed as overfished in your area spreads the pressure, though advice changes as stocks recover or decline.
Citizen science programmes and organisations that monitor fishing activity or record marine life rely on volunteers and donations. Taking part or giving helps fill data gaps, and the effect depends on the programme.
Ask your representatives whether your country has ratified the WTO fisheries subsidies agreement and the High Seas Treaty, and how it enforces fishing rules and protected areas in its own waters.
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Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), news release, Rome/Nice, 11 June 2025, published 2025
Launch of FAO's review at the UN Ocean Conference, assessing 2,570 stocks with more than 650 experts from over 90 countries (data year 2021). Source of the 64.5% sustainable and 35.5% overfished shares, 77.2% of landings from sustainable stocks, and the figures by region (Northeast Pacific 92.7%, Southeast Pacific 46%, Eastern Central Atlantic 47.4%, Mediterranean and Black Sea 35.1% with fishing pressure down 30% and biomass up 15% since 2013, Antarctic 100%) and by species group (tuna 87% of stocks and 99% of landings, deep-sea species 29%, highly migratory sharks 57%).
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), news release, Rome/Mombasa, 16 June 2026, published 2026
Launch of FAO's flagship report. Source of total production (235 million tonnes in 2024), capture fisheries (about 92 million tonnes, within 86–94 million tonnes since the late 1980s), aquaculture's 53% share, 72.6% of 2023 landings from sustainable stocks, more than 600 million livelihoods, 3.1 billion people getting at least a fifth of their animal protein from aquatic foods, per person availability in Africa (9.1 kg) and Asia (26.3 kg), and the projected fall of more than 10% in harvestable fish biomass by 2050 in several regions under high emissions.
FAO, Sustainable Development Goals data portal (updated 9 June 2026), published 2026
FAO's indicator page as custodian agency. Source of the definition of biologically sustainable and overfished stocks (relative to the abundance that produces maximum sustainable yield) and the reported fall in the share of sustainable stocks from 90% in 1974 to 64.5% in 2021, used for the trend.
United Nations Statistics Division (UN DESA), published 2026
Official UN progress report on SDG 14. Source of the coverage of the stock assessment (2,570 stocks, about 74.2% of global marine landings), the broadly stabilising trend since 2015, the value of sustainable fisheries as a share of GDP (0.081% globally and 0.516% in small island developing States in 2023), and the entry into force of the BBNJ Agreement on 17 January 2026, covering the two-thirds of the ocean beyond national jurisdiction.
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), policy analysis by Florencia Sarmiento, 18 February 2026, published 2026
Analysis of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies ahead of the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference. Source of the agreement's entry into force in September 2025, its three prohibitions, the four-year sunset clause, the pending rules on subsidies contributing to overcapacity and overfishing, and the estimate of US$35.4 billion in global fisheries subsidies in 2018, of which more than 80% went to large-scale industrial fleets and 19% to small-scale fisheries.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with UNEP-WCMC, press release, 1 April 2026, published 2026
Release on the April 2026 update of the World Database on Protected and Conserved Areas. Source of ocean coverage (10.01%, up from 8.6% in 2024), the roughly 5 million square kilometres added in two years, high seas coverage (1.66%) and their share of the ocean surface (over 60%), the 1.3% of the ocean in protected areas with assessed management effectiveness, and the 30% by 2030 target.