Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 May 17;108(20):8317-22.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.1015313108. Epub 2011 May 2.

Unexpected patterns of fisheries collapse in the world's oceans

Malin L Pinsky  1 , Olaf P Jensen, Daniel Ricard, Stephen R Palumbi
Affiliations

Unexpected patterns of fisheries collapse in the world's oceans

Malin L Pinsky et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

Understanding which species are most vulnerable to human impacts is a prerequisite for designing effective conservation strategies. Surveys of terrestrial species have suggested that large-bodied species and top predators are the most at risk, and it is commonly assumed that such patterns also apply in the ocean. However, there has been no global test of this hypothesis in the sea. We analyzed two fisheries datasets (stock assessments and landings) to determine the life-history traits of species that have suffered dramatic population collapses. Contrary to expectations, our data suggest that up to twice as many fisheries for small, low trophic-level species have collapsed compared with those for large predators. These patterns contrast with those on land, suggesting fundamental differences in the ways that industrial fisheries and land conversion affect natural communities. Even temporary collapses of small, low trophic-level fishes can have ecosystem-wide impacts by reducing food supply to larger fish, seabirds, and marine mammals.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Life history patterns of fished species. Histograms for all marine fish (black), species in the landings database (gray), and species in the assessment database (white) for (A) length (n = 16,548/457/120 for all/landings/assessments), (B) trophic level (n = 16,548/457/120), and (C) growth rate (n = 14,118/447/120).
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Collapses in the assessment database in relation to life history traits. Traits include (A) lifespan (n = 97), (B) age of maturity (n = 96), (C) weight (n = 93), (D) trophic level (n = 120), (E) growth rate (n = 120), (F) fecundity (n = 93), (G) investment in offspring (egg diameter, n = 97), (H) year of fishery initiation (n = 46), and (I) relative fishing mortality (n = 99). Each dot represents the proportion of stocks collapsed within a species. All x axes are log-transformed except those for trophic level and fishery initiation. Dashed line is the best fit from a generalized linear model.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Collapses in the landings database in relation to life history traits. Traits include (A) lifespan (n = 206), (B) age of maturity (n = 216), (C) weight (n = 267), (D) trophic level (n = 457), (E) growth rate (n = 447), (F) fecundity (n = 172), (G) investment in offspring (egg diameter, n = 155), and (H) year of fishery initiation (n = 208). Also see notes for Fig. 2.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Worm B, et al. Rebuilding global fisheries. Science. 2009;325:578–585. - PubMed
    1. Fisher DO, Owens IPF. The comparative method in conservation biology. Trends Ecol Evol. 2004;19:391–398. - PubMed
    1. Cardillo M, et al. Multiple causes of high extinction risk in large mammal species. Science. 2005;309:1239–1241. - PubMed
    1. Myers RA, Worm B. Rapid worldwide depletion of predatory fish communities. Nature. 2003;423:280–283. - PubMed
    1. Baum JK, et al. Collapse and conservation of shark populations in the Northwest Atlantic. Science. 2003;299:389–392. - PubMed

Publication types