Sustainable fishing

Fisheries are at a critical crossroads, as recently underlined during the 2025 UN Ocean Conference in Nice (France). As vital sources of food, livelihoods, and cultural heritage for communities around the world, fisheries are threatened by overexploitation, habitat degradation, marine pollution, and climate change. The transition toward sustainability requires a multidimensional transformation in both science and practice. Unsustainable fishing practices continue to undermine the health of aquatic ecosystems, with consequences that ripple far beyond individual stocks or national waters. Here, we reflect on several key themes emerging from contemporary fisheries research, while also extending the discussion to critical dimensions of sustainable fisheries that remain insufficiently addressed. We emphasize that the challenges facing fisheries cannot be resolved by ecological science alone; they require interdisciplinary collaboration and inclusive, context-specific solutions.