In 2001, the FAO method was modified by fisheries scientist Rainer
Froese at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel,
Germany. He and I then used the modified method to produce stock
status plots for all the fisheries in the world for which catch data were
available (see ‘The stock status plot’; and go.nature.com/blfbma). Our
results revealed a similar trend to that shown by the FAO: the number
of collapsed stocks had steadily increased over the years, and by the
mid-1990s, 20% of the stocks exploited in the 1950s had collapsed