The term ‘destructive fishing’ appears in multiple international policy instruments intended to improve outcomes for marine biodiversity, coastal communities and sustainable fisheries. However, the meaning of ‘destructive fishing’ is often vague, limiting effectiveness in policy. Therefore, in this study, we systematically reviewed the use of ‘destructive fishing’ in three record types: academic literature, media articles and policy documents between 1976 and 2020. A more detailed analysis was performed on subsets of these records, considering the extent to which the term is characterised, geographic distribution of use, and specific impacts and practices associated with the term. We found that use of ‘destructive fishing’ relative to the generic term ‘fisheries’ has increased since the 1990s. Records focussed predominantly on fishing practices in South-eastern Asia, followed by Southern Asia and Europe. The term was characterised in detail in only 15% of records. Habitat damage and blast/poison fishing were the most associated ecological impacts and gear/practices, respectively. Bottom trawling and unspecified net fishing were regularly linked to destructive fishing. Importantly, the three record types use the term differently. Academic literature tends to specifically articulate the negative impacts, while media articles focus generally on associated gears/practices. Significant regional variation also exists in how the term is used and what phenomena it is applied to. This study provides evidence and recommendations to inform stakeholders in any future pursuit of a unified definition of ‘destructive fishing’ to support more meaningful implementation of global sustainability goals.

中文翻译：

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“破坏性捕鱼”——一个普遍使用但含糊不清的术语？跨学术研究、媒体和政策的使用和影响

“破坏性捕捞”一词出现在多个旨在改善海洋生物多样性、沿海社区和可持续渔业成果的国际政策文书中。然而，“破坏性捕捞”的含义往往含糊不清，限制了政策的有效性。因此，在本研究中，我们系统地回顾了 1976 年至 2020 年间三种记录类型中“破坏性捕鱼”的使用情况：学术文献、媒体文章和政策文件。对这些记录的子集进行了更详细的分析，考虑到该术语的特征、使用的地理分布以及与该术语相关的具体影响和实践。我们发现，相对于通用术语“渔业”，“破坏性捕鱼”的使用自 1990 年代以来有所增加。记录主要关注东南亚的捕捞活动，其次是南亚和欧洲。只有 15% 的记录详细描述了该术语。栖息地破坏和爆炸/毒物捕捞分别是最相关的生态影响和渔具/做法。底拖网捕捞和未指明的网捕经常与破坏性捕捞有关。重要的是，这三种记录类型使用不同的术语。学术文献倾向于具体阐述负面影响，而媒体文章通常关注相关的工具/实践。该术语的使用方式和适用的现象也存在显着的区域差异。