Rampant overfishing, illegal trawling affect 357m people

According to FAO, the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2012 (SOFIA) says small-scale fisheries directly affect the lives of about 357 million people. More than 90 percent of the world's fishermen play a huge role in improving food security and alleviating poverty, particularly in developing countries.

Michele Kuruc, a fisheries expert at FAO, told IRIN that Illegal fishing has negative biological, environmental, economic and social impacts. "Much of the world's fish are harvested from developing countries," he said. The SOFIA report concludes that effective management plans "must be put in place to rebuild overexploited stocks," IRIN reports.

For more

• Irin News: Fishy business - the cost of illegal trawling

• FAO: The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture