Review of the State of World Marine Fishery Resources 2025.


FAO Fisheries & Aquaculture






As yachts bobbed gently and delegates streamed by in a rising tide of lanyards and iPads at Port Lympia, Nice’s historic harbor, that statistic sent a ripple through the conference’s third day – a stark reminder that the world’s oceans are under growing pressure from overfishing, climate change and unsustainable management.

Presented dockside at a press conference by Manuel Barange, Assistant Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the report offered a detailed global snapshot of how human activity is steadily draining the ocean – and how sound management can bring it back.

“To use a banking comparison,” Mr. Barange told UN News in an interview ahead of the report’s launch, “we are extracting more than the interest the bank gives us. We are depleting the populations.”

The Review of the State of World Marine Fishery Resources 2025, which draws on data from 2,570 marine fish stocks – the widest scope used by FAO yet – paints a complex picture: while over a third of stocks are being overexploited, 77% of fish consumed globally still come from sustainable sources thanks to stronger yields from well-managed fisheries.

“Management works,” Mr. Barange said. “We know how to rebuild populations.”
Location: Nice, France

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