Marine biodiversity and fishery sustainability

Marine fish is one of the most important sources of animal protein for human use, especially in developing coun-tries with coastlines. Marine fishery is also an important industry in many countries. Fifty years ago, many peo-ple believed that the ocean was so vast and so resilient that there was no way the marine environment could be changed, nor could marine fishery resources be depleted. Half a century later, we all agree that the depletion of fishery resources is happening mainly due to anthropogenic factors such as overfishing, habitat destruction, pol-lution, invasive species introduction, and climate change. Since overfishing can cause chain reactions that de-crease marine biodiversity drastically, there will be no seafood left after 40 years if we take no action. The most effective ways to reverse this downward trend and restore fishery resources are to promote fishery conservation, establish marine-protected areas, adopt ecosystem-based management, and implement a “precautionary princi-ple. ” Additionally, enhancing public awareness of marine conservation, which includes eco-labeling, fishery ban or enclosure, slow fishing, and MPA (marine protected areas) enforcement is important and effective. In this pa-per, we use Taiwan as an example to discuss the problems facing marine biodiversity and sustainable fisheries