Orange Roughy - Threats

Threats

In recent years, human consumption of orange roughy has risen drastically due to increased supply through new deep-sea trawling techniques. Its recovery rate from fishing is slow because its long life cycle and sporadic reproduction make the fish prone to overfishing. Due to habitat damage of commercial trawling, some may not venture out during mating season. Studies have shown a decline in species associated with Orange Roughy, either indirectly through trophic interactions or directly through catching them, such as sea coral.

The United States continues to import up to 8,620 tonnes (19 million lb) per year. Several major food retailers have established seafood sustainability policies dealing with orange roughy. Some, such as Safeway, Inc., allow the sale of the fish, while others explicitly prohibit its sale. A 2003 joint report by the TRAFFIC Oceania and World Wildlife Foundation Endangered Seas Program argues that there is "probably no such thing as an economically viable deep-water fishery that is also sustainable." and concluded that "Similarly, international agreements to reduce fishing capacity, to remove subsidies which encourage over-fishing, to encourage co-operation in management of fish stocks and flag States to take responsibility for their vessels fishing on the high seas, appear to have gone largely unheeded, to the detriment of deep-sea species and their associated ecosystems."

In addition to the dangers for the species, bottom trawling has been heavily criticized by environmentalists for its destructive nature. The destructive nature of bottom trawling combined with heavy commercial demand has focused criticism from both environmentalists and media.

The Australian orange roughy fishery was not discovered until the 1970s, but by 2008, the biomass was down to 10% of the unfished level. It was the first commercially sought fish to appear on Australia's endangered species list because of overfishing.