By the numbers: Oceans in crisis

The world’s oceans are being emptied of seafood. While habitat loss and climate change contribute to the crisis, the biggest cause is overfishing.

Decades of destructive fishing practices and old-style management are fundamentally altering ocean ecosystems.

How bad is the crisis in the oceans?

• 90% of large fish like tuna and swordfish have been removed from the oceans.

• 70% of global fisheries are overexploited or have crashed.

• 25% of U.S. fisheries are known to be sustainable.

Fishing communities need healthy fish populations.

It's bad for people, too, not just fish

• 3 billion people worldwide rely on fish and shellfish as an important source of protein.

• 30% lower income for the typical fisherman compared to the average male worker in the U.S.

• 72,000 fishing jobs have been lost in the Pacific Northwest alone because of declining salmon stocks.

There's hope: More fish and more revenue

All the old-style management methods, such as limited seasons and restrictions on what gear to use, haven't worked. (See all the numbers above.) But one approach has — catch shares.

Under catch shares, fishermen get an economic incentive to help the fishery recover. They get a share of the allowed catch, which grows as the fishery recovers.

• 400% increase in fish populations under catch shares over a 17-year period, a Nature study showed.

• 2007 the year a catch share program for red snapper went into effect in the Gulf of Mexico.

• 60% increase in red snapper in the Gulf since then.

• 86% rise in the economic value of the red snapper fishery.

An end to new catch shares?

Some in Congress are trying to prevent new catch share programs. This will hurt both fish populations and fishing communities.

Take action now