This regional study has clearly demonstrated the severely degraded state of coastal fish stocks in Asian countries caused by over-fishing, and compounded by environmental degradation. What needs to be done is also clear: reduce fishing effort and restore and rehabilitate coastal habitats. Developing countries in Asia must urgently tackle the central issue of formulating approaches to effectively reduce fishing capacity within a developing country context. This will require approaches that explicitly address the role of fisheries in food security and livelihoods of poor communities, while restoring the productivity of the natural resource base. Without the formulation and implementation of approaches to reduce fishing effort, Asia is unlikely to be able to continue contributing over half of the global fisheries production.
The analyses described in this paper are crucial for developing countries where fishery-dependent information is scarce and potentially unreliable. They provide clear independent evidence of degraded fisheries resources in several Asian countries. This study provides significant fishery-independent evidence of the degraded state of fisheries resources while the multi-country nature of the study points to even greater urgency since this issue is not only for a single country but is a regional one. The regional nature of the project makes the problem even more critical since it spans a huge geographic area and involves multiple governments and management systems. Studies such as these are critical in helping developing countries to identify the extent of the problem and in demonstrating urgency for action to reform fisheries management. The results of the present work have already helped to focus attention on the issue in at least one country and have promoted government consideration of new policy and management initiatives. If this work can be further expanded and communicated to other countries, the prospects for fisheries in the region could improve significantly.