Overfishing is a situation where fish stocks are depleted at a rate which threatens sustainability of the particular fish stocks. Many glaring examples exist of the outcomes from overfishing. Areas like the North Sea and the East Coast of Canada and the U.S.A. have been plundered over many years. The result has been not only disastrous to fish stocks but also to the fishing communities relying on the harvest. Nothing probably highlights better the limited vision of successive governments over many years - the plight of local communities reliant on fishing is real and profound. The ability for nature to restore the fisheries is also dependent on whether the ecosystems are still in a state to allow fish numbers to build again. In many areas water quality and other factors have now deteriorated to the point where any chance of fish numbers building to sustainable levels is remote.
