The myth is constantly peddled that fishing is broken and needs fixing; not just particular areas of the business of fishing, but the whole lot. We keep hearing the old chestnut brought up repeatedly that ‘more than 85 percent of stocks are over-exploited.’

Let’s take a quick look at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) figures, admittedly a year or two past their prime, but they make interesting reading all the same.

According to the 2012 report, 30 percent of stocks are judged to be over-exploited; 13 percent are under-exploited.