SYDNEY, April 24– Scientists warn that overfishing and environmental change are eroding the biological foundations of many fisheries, with a new analysis revealing a global decline in fish growth over the last century.
Researchers from Australia’s James Cook University (JCU) analyzed nearly 7,700 growth records covering 1,479 marine species from 1908 to 2021, and found declining growth performance from about 1908 onwards, with the greatest declines concentrated among commercially valuable species, said a recent university statement.
Human-driven pressures are causing large-scale changes to the ecologies and life histories of fishes, said Helen Yan who led the study as part of her PhD program at JCU.
Researchers measured growth performance — a life-history trait that captures the trade-off between growth rate and body size — across 113 years.
“Managed fisheries experienced an average 9-percent decline in growth performance over the last century.
This indicates fishes are growing to relatively smaller sizes and/or at slower rates,” said Yan. Commercial size-based fishing practices, not temperature, are the primary drivers of the global pattern of declining growth, although climate change may amplify the effects, she added.
Intensive fishing is leaving a clear biological imprint on fish populations, Yan said, noting that the trend is most evident in temperate regions where fishing pressure is highest.
Scientists warn that smaller, slower-growing fish alter food webs, reduce fishery yields and complicate recovery efforts, stressing the need for stricter catch limits, size and habitat protections, and longer-term monitoring to detect life-history changes. (Namibia Daily News/Xinhua)
