SDG #14 is to “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.”
Within SDG #14 are 10 targets, of which we here focus on Target 14.4:
By 2020, effectively regulate harvesting and end overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and destructive fishing practices and implement science-based management plans, in order to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible, at least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield as determined by their biological characteristics
Target 14.4 has one indicator:
Indicator 14.4.1: Proportion of fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels
This target looks at fishing practices destroying the health of aquatic ecosystems, including when illegal, unreported and unregulated.
As of 2019, too many countries are absent data. The countries with the least sustainable fish stocks, with less than 20% of their stocks being sustainable, are:
Colombia
Italy
Croatia
Bulgaria
Turkey
0% of fish stocks in Pakistan, Guatemala and Myanmar were sustainable. 8 of the top 10 countries with the biggest fishing industries haven’t reported for this indicator. They are:
China
Indonesia
India
Vietnam
Peru
Russia
Bangladesh
Norway
Worldwide, as of 2019, 64% of fish stocks were sustainable, the rest overexploited - unchanged since 2015.
