Saving the ocean without excluding people: when science, governance, and cooperation work together

Ten years ago, fears for the sustainability of tuna made headlines in the news.  Consumer demand surged, and fragmented management systems struggled to control growing fishing pressures.

Today, the picture has changed. Ninety-nine percent of the catches of major tuna populations come from stocks scientifically assessed to be biologically sustainable. This was not because we stopped fishing or eating tuna, but because we learned to fish it sustainably. This turnaround shows that people and marine ecosystems do not have to be on opposite sides. When science leads, and countries cooperate, nature and people can both thrive.

A new FAO report, launched at the UN Ocean Conference, confirms what the tuna story already suggests: we know how to restore ocean health in ways that continue to sustain aquatic food production, protect livelihoods and make people part of the ocean economy rather than keeping them apart.

The report is the most comprehensive global assessment of marine fish stocks ever conducted. It covers 2,570 stocks from all corners of the ocean and draws on inputs from more than 650 scientists across 90 countries. It finds that 64.5 percent of assessed stocks are currently fished within biologically sustainable levels, and 35.5 percent are not yet sustainably exploited. It also finds that regions with strong fisheries management are doing better than those without. This difference is a key factor in the development of a sustainable global ocean economy.

In places where science informs decisions, the results are clear. For example, in the Northeast Pacific region 92.7 percent of fish stocks are classified as sustainably fished, and the Southwest Pacific follows at 85 percent. In Antarctica, every stock assessed is managed sustainably. These outcomes are not incidental. They emerged from continuity—of observation, institutional discipline, international collaboration and ecological restraint.

The data shows that when science guides the response, fish stocks rebuild and recover.

But make no mistake. Science, though essential, is not sufficient. Achieving sustainability requires monitoring systems that track stock health, but also a management system that enacts science-based rules and regulations, enforces them, and adjusts them in a continuous feedback loop.

The Mediterranean and Black Sea offer a telling case. While overfishing is still widespread in these complex regions, countries are working hard to reverse this trend. Since 2013 fishing pressure has fallen by 30 percent and the total volume of fish in the water has grown by 15 percent. While far from reaching the success we hope for, progress to date reflects a shift from short-term improvisation to long-term objective-setting: coordinated plans, protected zones, and shared enforcement.

Antarctica offers another example of the power of international cooperation. Under the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), 100 percent of assessed stocks are sustainably fished, and fishing quotas are computed only after the needs of seals, whales and seabirds are considered. It proves what can be achieved when countries commit to the ecosystem-based, effective management of marine fishery resources.

Fishermen in the Maldives fish for tuna with the traditional method one-by-one Pole-and-Line. ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano

Fisheries provide food and essential proteins and micronutrients for a growing population. Securing their sustainability also secures our future, and particularly the future of the 600 million fisheries-dependent people, most of them operating in small-scale fisheries.  And yet, these ocean-dependent communities are often overlooked in global discussions on ocean sustainability, as if the ocean could only thrive if people are kept out of the picture.

But the truth is different and more powerful: people’s wellbeing and the health of the ocean are not in conflict. They rise and fall together. The challenge before us is not how to protect the ocean from people, but how to safeguard both, through systems that enable them to thrive together. This year’s FAO report provides ample evidence that this is possible. It also outlines a vocabulary for what ocean management can become. The examples of tuna, the Northeast Pacific, and Antarctica do not stand apart. They form a current others might enter.

FAO’s Blue Transformation sketches the path ahead: strengthening science-based management, investing in institutions, closing information gaps, and bringing all actors to the table. These steps are already yielding results where leadership meets continuity.

We know how to restore ocean health: trusted science, strong institutions, and cooperation grounded in transparency, accountability, and mutual commitment. The tuna fisheries sector, once a case study in failure, is now a story of hope, and proof of what can be achieved. 

This article was first published as an op-ed in EFE Verde.

Learn more:

Review of the state of world marine fishery resources – 2025

FAO fisheries & aquaculture

FAO at the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference

Manuel Barange is an Assistant Director-General of FAO in addition to being Director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Division.