Deep-sea Finfish Fisheries: Lessons from History

Recently, the depletion and increased regulation of shallow-water fishery resources have generated greater interest in the potential of deepwater fisheries. Smaller-scale fisheries for deep-sea animals have been conducted in certain locations around the world for more than a century, but large-scale commercial deepwater fisheries are a more recent phenomenon. An examination of past and current deepwater fisheries shows what we can expect from the development of new fisheries targeting unexploited deep-sea resources. Previous deepwater fisheries exhibit a pattern of rapid development, depletion of the resource, and very slow recovery. If future deepwater fisheries are to avoid this fate, development of new fisheries will require a better understanding of the resource, its relationship to the environment, and a precautionary approach to resource management.