Based on the research expertise of leading scientists, Commercial Fishing: the Wider Ecological Impacts provides a lively, timely and accessible account of fishing activities and their impacts on marine habitats, biodiversity and species of conservation concern. It covers fishing methods that range from trawling in the Antarctic to fishing with dynamite in the tropics.

The authors show how habitats such as the muddy sea beds of the deep sea, kelp forests and coral reefs are affected by fishing and how birds, mammals, turtles and sea snakes both suffer and benefit from fishing activities. They also look to the future, highlighting ways to make fishing gear 'environmentally friendly' and asking whether marine reserves will improve conservation.