Deep-sea finfish fisheries: Lessons from history

Recently, the depletion and increased regulation of shallow-water fishery r esources have generated greater interest in the potential of deepwater fish eries. Smaller-scale fisheries for deep-sea animals have been conducted in certain locations around the world for more than a century, but large-scale commercial deepwater fisheries are a more recent phenomenon An examination of past and current deepwater fisheries shows what we can expect from the development of new fisheries targeting unexploited deep-sea resources. Prev ious deepwater fisheries exhibit a pattern of rapid development, depletion of the resource, and very slow recovery. If future deepwater fisheries are to avoid this fate, development of new fisheries will require a better unde rstanding of the resource, its relationship to the environment, and a preca utionary approach to resource management.