Updates

In May 2022, we updated the results presented on the Global Fishing Index website and the materials available for download.

Since the release of the Index version 1.0 in November 2021, further expert review identified some anomalies in the underlying sustainability data. Consequently, we conducted an extensive review of the data supplied and the resulting amendments are included in the version (v1.1) currently available for download.

These amendments resulted in most countries’ Progress scores increasing slightly, however, the overall global picture remains the same with almost half of fish stocks overfished.

The key insights gleaned from this ground-breaking global study also remain unchanged – no country is doing enough to end overfishing.

We are now working on the development of the next assessment of the Global Fishing Index v2.0 to be released in 2024. We are investing in methods development and have incorporated these learnings into future releases.

Most countries’ (120 of 142) Progress Scores increased as a result of this update. However, these changes were predominantly small – the median increase was 3 points out of 100.

Most of these changes resulted from the identification that data for some stocks, where relative abundance estimates were determined using reproductive (or spawning) stock biomass, had been incorrectly assessed against a sustainability threshold of 40 per cent. In these cases, a lower sustainability threshold of 20 per cent should have been used to define the stock status.

Due to the increases in Progress scores, 10 countries’ overall grades changed since the results were published in November 2021. Specifically, four countries increased from a D to a C grade (Denmark, Ghana, Sweden, and the UK), five countries increased from E to D (including Uruguay, Oman, Tanzania, Madagascar, Senegal) and one country increased from F to E (U.S. Virgin Islands).