Fishing communities worldwide celebrate this day through rallies, workshops, public meetings, cultural programs, dramas, exhibition, music show, and demonstrations to highlight the importance of maintaining the world's fisheries.

A recent United Nations study reported that more than two-thirds of the world's fisheries have been overfished or are fully harvested and more than one third are in a state of decline because of factors such as the loss of essential fish habitats, pollution, and global warming.

The World Fisheries Day helps in highlighting the critical importance to human lives, of water and the lives it sustains, both in and out of water. Water forms a continuum, whether contained in rivers, lakes, and ocean.

World Fisheries Day draws attention to overfishing, habitat destruction and other serious threats to the sustainability of our marine and freshwater resources.

Through participation in experimential learning activities and action projects on this special day, young people can be encouraged to make a difference in the health of aquatic ecosystems and the life they support.

Fisheries and aquaculture employ more than 43 million individuals worldwide.

More than 25% of the world's dietary protein is provided by fish. The human population consumes over 100 million metric tons of fish annually Each year the Canadian fishery lands over 1 million metric tons of fish valued in excess of 2 billion dollars.

Globally, annual fisheries exports are valued at 85 to 90 billion dollars. A recent United Nations study reported that more than two-thirds of the world's fisheries have collapsed or are overfished. Much of the remaining one third is in a state of decline because of habitat degradation from pollution and global warming.