Fishing for sustenance dates back more than 4,000 years. The early history of fisheries was plagued by cases of disputes and exploitation, but in recent decades there has been an increasingly unified voice amongst global communities advocating responsible, sustainable fishing. National governments and global organizations have come together to study and implement more comprehensive and internationally coordinated systems of fisheries management.

Contemporary fisheries management systems are underpinned by the principles of monitoring, control and surveillance. This is achieved through measures both systemic as well as technical, such as controlling total industry fishing capacity, total allowable catch volume, and fishing methods.

As a result, annual volumes of wild-caught seafood have remained at relatively stable levels of approximately 90 million tonnes over the past 15 years. Separately, to meet the rise in global demand for seafood, producers have innovated aquaculture, devising a commercially viable method of increasing production. China is currently the world's top producer of seafood, accounting for over one-third of total world supply.

Going forward, the world will need to make a sustained effort through multilateral dialogue and cooperation to ensure that our global fish stocks remain healthy and sustainable for generations to come.