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DEFINITION
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In general, action of exerting a fishing pressure (fishing intensity) beyond agreed optimum level. A reduction of fishing pressure would, in the medium term, lead to an increase in the total catch.
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Other Definitions
In the classical sense, a level of fishing effort or fishing mortality such that a reduction of this level would, in the medium term, lead to an increase in the total catch |
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Cooke, J.G. (1984), Glossary of technical terms. In Exploitation of Marine Communities, R.M. May (ed), Springer-Verlag
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COMMENT
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For long-lived species, overfishing (i.e. using excessive effort) starts well before the stock becomes overfished. The use of the term "overfishing" may not always be consistent
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