Our ocean is in crisis. Marine life is under threat from climate change, acidification, pollution and invasive species. But these threats are compounded by overfishing, which strips the ocean of life, and so reduces its capacity to produce oxygen, absorb carbon dioxide and regulate the climate.
It is estimated that almost 94 per cent of commercial fish stocks are fully or over-exploited, and 90 per cent of large, predatory fish are gone. Overfishing represents a major threat to the food security of millions, and could have devastating consequences for Earth’s climate.
At Blue Marine, we work to tackle overfishing and other damaging activities. We support low-impact fishing, and encourage a transition to ways of catching fish that benefit local economies and coastal communities without destroying the ocean.
Our legal, investigations and economics teams are increasingly exposing the iniquity of industrial fishing, uncovering the extent to which overfishing is not only disastrous for fish stocks and the climate, but is utterly inequitable.
In 2024, Blue Marine was involved in three major legal cases: challenging UK fisheries law, protecting marine areas in the Netherlands, and supporting the UK in international arbitration against overfishing. Less than a month after it formed, an alliance led by Blue Marine stopped the reopening of longline fishing in the Maldives, ensuring it remains one of the few countries in the world to practise pole-and-line tuna fishing throughout its waters.
