Fisheries struggling worldwide Q: I understand that many of the
world's fisheries are on the brink of collapse - "fished out,"
to put it bluntly. How did this happen and what is being done
about it? A: Many of the world's fisheries are indeed in crisis
today, thanks to years of overfishing, pollution and habitat
loss. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization, 57 percent of global fish populations are "fully
exploited" and another 30 percent are "overexploited or
collapsed." This leaves just 13 percent in the "non-fully-
exploited" category, down from 40 percent less than four decades
ago. The nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council reports
that many of the most popular fish, such as cod, snapper and
tuna, are dangerously depleted yet continue to be overfished.
Fishing operations have been able to satisfy rising demand for
fish and shellfish in recent decades only by using increasingly
high-tech strategies like on-vessel refrigeration and
processing, spotter planes and GPS satellite