The number of overfished stocks globally has tripled in half a century and today fully one-third of the world’s assessed fisheries are currently pushed beyond their biological limits, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Overfishing is closely tied to bycatch—the capture of unwanted sea life while fishing for a different species.
This, too, is a serious marine threat that causes the needless loss of billions of fish, along with hundreds of thousands of sea turtles and cetaceans.
Source: WWF
At least 46% of the global Pacific garbage patch (a floating pile of plastic the size of France) is made up of discarded fishing nets, and even more discarded fishing gear makes up the majority of the rest.
Source: The Ocean Cleanup