At a global level, about two-thirds of assessed fish stocks are known to be healthy. At the country level, however, the extent of knowledge on fish stock health and the situation of fish stocks vary significantly.  

While some countries regularly assess hundreds of stocks, others only assess a handful or none at all. This depends on several factors, including size of coastline, institutional capacity, and technical constraints. In general, developing and emerging countries report fewer stock assessments. The share of healthy stocks also varies considerably. However, management is not the only driver of stock health: a number of factors not linked to fishing – such as climate change – can have significant impacts on stock health.

Climate change is one of the major issues facing the fisheries sector. Variations in ocean water temperatures, changes in currents and acidification, as well as more extreme weather events will have increasingly significant impacts for fish stocks and the fishing industry. 

Rising sea surface temperature will lead to changes in where fish are found, as well as their size, growth rates and survival. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change forecasts global fisheries catches to decrease by between 3.4% and 24.1% by the end of the century.

For fishers and fisheries managers, this means more uncertainty in stock assessments, as well as new socio-economic, sustainability and governance challenges. Different fisheries will be affected at different times and in different ways, complicating the work of fisheries managers and potentially undermining the resilience of the sector.

Sustainable fisheries management is a win-win-win strategy to increase fisher welfare, preserve ocean health and contribute to climate mitigation. Effective management requires a collection of policy tools that limit how, and how much, fish can be caught. This includes regulating fleets (e.g. vessel size, power and type of gear), defining where and when fleets can operate, and, importantly, using quotas to regulate catch volumes. 

The OECD Review of Fisheries 2022 finds that, in 2021, the most frequently used management tools were fishing gear restrictions (used for 87% of stocks), followed by total allowable catch limits (TACs) – applied to 76% of stocks. In 2020, species covered entirely by TACs accounted for 59% of the landings value for all the species in the dataset, or 80% of all these landings by volume. The report identifies where fisheries management should be strengthened to ensure all fisheries are sustainable.