EFINITION OF OVERFISHING
It is important first to give the basic definition of the biological overfishing. "Overfishing" can be used to mean different things.
“Growth overfishing” corresponds to a situation where the fishing mortality (or fishing pattern) is such that fish are caught before they have a chance to reach their growth potential. Fishing less or with a better exploitation pattern would result in higher total catches. The low catch rates corresponding to this situation may not be profitable in economical terms (unless when these fishes are sold at a very high price).
The term “Local overfishing” describes a peculiar case of growth overfishing. This is a situation where the observed catches are not increasing as a response to higher local fishing mortality. This type of local overfishing can be sustainable in biological terms when the stock itself is in good shape, but the low catch rates and stable catches corresponding to this situation may not be profitable in economical terms.
The term “recruitment overfishing” describes a situation where an excessive fishing mortality has produced an excessive decline of the spawning stock, and consequently low recruitment. This recruitment overfishing may lead to a temporary or long term collapse of the stock.