How much does sport fishing contribute to over fishing?
Although over fishing does contribute to the number of fish in the water it is for the most part from pollution. That includes nitrogen, phosphate, and carbon dioxide from point sources and non point sources such as chicken farms and cattle farms
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Sport fishing probably does not contribute to over fishing in any significant way. The problem of over fishing has been brought about almost exclusively by the commercial fishing operations worldwide.
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When you consider that a single large ‘factory ship’ (of which there are very many, all over the world) has the capacity to catch and process hundreds of thousands of fish each day, EVERY day that it is active, the number of fish caught by sport fishing is miniscule in comparison: quite literally too small to make any significant difference.
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Consider also that MOST commercial fishing operations are very indiscriminate, and most of what they catch will end up dead, whether it is useful or not (undersised fish brought up suddenly from the depths typically die, either before or after they are returned to the water.
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Another important thing to bear in mind is that in many parts of the world, true sports fishermen operate a catch-and-release policy, where the fish is released safely, and as quickly as possible, back into the water: anglers in general also have a vested interest in the waters that they fish, and have frequently been referred to in the media as ‘guardians of the waterway’.