Bycatch is the unintentional capture of non-target species which are then thrown back to the oceans either dead or dying. One in every four fish caught never make it to the market. These fish are 'bycatch', unwanted species caught accidentally, of no commercial value to the fishermen.

27 million tons of unwanted fish catch are thrown back into the oceans every year. Most dont survive. This is the deadly consequence of bycatch.

The world is currently facing a fisheries crisis, with stocks rapidly decreasing to dangerously low levels and fish populations unable to recover from such losses.
This is the result of overfishing. Overfishing means catching fish faster than they can reproduce and has led to widespread collapse of fisheries due to commercial extinction of species.

This not only impacts on local fishing communities whose livelihood is jeopardised by dwindling stocks but also devastates the ecosystems which support the marine life. Increasing numbers of marine species are becoming endangered or extinct. As a species is overfished and eventually becomes too scarce to fish, another less desirable species is targeted and overfished. Despite the ecological dangers, the demand for seafood is increasing and where there is demand, there will be fishing, at all costs to the environment.

Certain species are particularly vulnerable to overfishing, for example those which take a long time to reach reproductive maturity, or produce few young throughout their lifetime. These species include sharks and rays, giant clams etc.

Healthy habitats are essential for the survival of healthy populations of marine species. As the
fishing industry grows and fish numbers decline rapidly, it becomes increasingly important to conserve and protect our ocean habitats essential to the growth, survival and reproduction of all marine species.

However large scale harvesting has led to destructive fishing techniques which directly damage marine habitats and disrupt both ecosystem structure and function.
The main types of destructive fishing practices used in Malaysia include trawling, blast fishing and cyanide fishing

Trawling is a fishing technique found operating in coastal waters and involves dragging giant weighted nets along the seafloor and indiscriminately ripping up or scooping out everything in its path including ancient coral forests, gardens of anemones and entire fields of sea sponges. These areas are often populated with slow growing deep sea fish and soft corals, which are especially slow to recover from repeated trawling.

Cyanide fishing is becoming widespread throughout Southeast Asia as the live reef fish trade booms. The practice involves using cyanide or other poisons to stun large reef fish so they can be caught alive and sold to the restaurant industry for lucrative prices. The poisons however kills the larvae of many coral reef organisms and coral polyps leading to coral bleaching.