53% of the world’s fisheries are fully exploited, and 32% are overexploited, depleted, or recovering from depletion. Government subsidies estimated at US$27 billion each year have played a major role in allowing the world’s fishing fleet to become so large. The money encourages overfishing by artificially sustaining more fishing vessels than oceans can sustainably support.

"If I was face to face with the president of the European Union, I would ask him to stop for a minute, to turn around, and to look behind him. What would he see? He would see highly developed societies that have developed extremely destructive fishing methods, which have pillaged the resources of their own countries, because they fish a lot with very effective means. So today they don't catch anything anymore at home, and they want to bring those techniques to our seas. So I say, what has happened at home is going to happen here with us. You shouldn't make the same mistake twice, you can't do that!” El Ali Haidar, Director of the Océanium NGO in Dakar, Senegal

“A reformed Common Fisheries Policy must establish a new way to distribute access to fish. Sustainability criteria should be used to rank access to resources, favouring those who employ methods which have the least impact on marine habitats and non-target species, are most selective, most fuel-efficient, and those who can demonstrate strong legal compliance and operate within and contribute to coastal communities.” Ian Campbell, on behalf of the NGO coalition at the EU

"A few years ago, there was plenty of fish landed here. Nowadays, as you can see, there are only immature ones or nothing at all. Our income has fallen too. That's due to the huge numbers of small-scale and industrial fishermen, on the one hand, and to uncontrolled fishing, on the other hand.” Ndeye Diop, Fishmonger

“For us, [the fishing agreement between the European Union and Guinea Bissau] has no sense or benefit because the industrial fishing boats don't leave us any chance of survival. They fish right up to the coast without being stopped and the government doesn't have the means to control their activities. If the government would listen to us, we wouldn't sign an agreement with people who catch everything, even the small fish.” Mario Alberto Da Silva, artisanal fisherman, Guinea Bissau, 2003