In addition to hurting some already fragile marine ecosystems, overfishing also has huge economic impacts, according to a European report.

Photo: guano / cc

While the conflict in Libya continues to rage on, another battle for survival is taking place under the sea just offshore. Bluefin tuna were once an abundant species in the Mediterranean, but after decades of overfishing they are now classified as ‘critically endangered’. In hopes of preserving one of the most rapidly dwindling fish, the activist group Sea Shepherd is heading to the war-torn region to fight for the surviv…Read the full story on TreeHugger

photo: lamoix/Creative Commons

Sorry to be the downer on the already depressing subject of overfishing, but a new study in the journal PLoS ONE (coming to TreeHugger via Mongabay) just reinforces the notion that we’re fishing…Read the full story on TreeHugger

photo: Jim G via flickr

By now you’d have to have been living on a desert island by yourself with an imaginary coconut companion to not know that overfishing is a serious problem for all the world’s oceans. The good news is, though the future for fish looks pretty dire if we keep up how we’ve been fishing, we already have seen conservation successes to show the way forward and stop overfishing….Read the full story on TreeHugger

photo: Procsilas Moscas via flickr

Overfishing is a problem not limited by national boundary or species, as an interesting piece in Tierramérica illustrates: The Argentine Hake (known in Latin as Marluccius hubbsi and in Spanish as merluza) is the preferred fish in an otherwise meat-loving nation, but due to indiscriminate fishing and a growing export market the fishery is on the brink of collapse–meaning that while there will still be hake in the sea, it won’t be commerciall…Read the full story on TreeHugger

photo: Stewart Butterfield via flickr

The bulk of the focus on the plight of the bluefin tuna has been on the Atlantic population. Understandable considering that at current fishing levels the iconic species will be extinct within a couple of years. But a new study, reported on in the Mainichi Daily News, shows that Pacific bluefin are being critically overfished as well….Read the full story on TreeHugger

photo: Nick via flickr.

A new study done by scientists from the University of York and the Marine Conservation Society shows that the UK’s fishing trawlers have to work 17 times harder today to catch the same amount of fish as they did in the late 19th century. The reason: Technological changes leading to massive overfishing. …Read the full story on TreeHugger

photo: Keith Ellenbogen

Even though the World Wildlife Fund recently warned that Atlantic bluefin tuna will be wiped out completely by 2012 if we don’t halt the overfishing of it, we still can’t seem to protect the species. By some accounts, eating the quickly diminishing tuna is now similar to feasting on a gorilla burger, but this didn’t sway votes at the Convention on International Trad…Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Almost-Extinct Flapper Skate. Photo via the Telegraph

digg_url = ‘http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/11/80-year-old-bookkeeping-error-first-species-extinct-overfishin.php’;Everyone has no doubt heard about how fisheries around the world are in grave danger of being fished into oblivion. Countless species are currently threatened by overfishing, and environme…Read the full story on TreeHugger

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