Overfishing depletes wild fish populations while causing massive welfare harms through bycatch, stress, and inhumane killing of billions of sentient animals annually.
Overfishing combines conservation harm with welfare harm at scale: depleting populations while causing suffering to billions of individual fish through inhumane capture and killing. Addressing overfishing through reduced consumption, better fisheries management, and consumer support for sustainable certified fisheries simultaneously advances conservation and welfare goals. The scale of fish welfare harm in global fisheries makes this one of the most significant animal welfare issues in existence.