The percentage of global marine fisheries that is sustainably fished has declined from 90% in 1974 to 61.3% in 2011. The percentage that is overfished (catches exceed replacement rate) has increased almost threefold since the 1970s and is a major concern for fishers and fisheries managers.

Fish catches in the Newfoundland-Labrador Shelf region of the North Atlantic show a distinct shift in the species and amounts taken over the years. Fisheries managers called for a 50% reduction in allowable catch of cod in 1988, but political officials only reduced the amount by 10%. The cod fishery was closed in 1992.