overharvest

[ oh-ver-hahr-vist ]

noun

1. Also overharvesting. the excessive harvest of animals, plants, or other organisms, especially harvesting beyond a species’ capacity for population replacement, causing population decline and sometimes extinction:

   Shovelnose sturgeon are long-lived, slow-growing fish that do not spawn every year, making them vulnerable to overharvesting.

   Having survived for more than 400 million years, the horseshoe crab is now under threat primarily due to overharvest and habitat destruction.

verb (used with or without object)

1. to excessively harvest animals, plants, or other organisms, especially to harvest to an extent beyond a species’ capacity for population replacement, causing population decline and sometimes extinction:

   Be careful not to overharvest wild onions—you want to be sure the patch can regrow next year.

   Fishing fleets overharvested off the Grand Banks for decades, eventually causing the cod population to crash.

Word History and Origins

Origin of overharvest¹

First recorded in 1935–40; over- ( def ) + harvest ( def )

Example Sentences

He’s careful not to overharvest, taking only what he needs.

From Seattle Times

In each instance, the overharvest of forage fish led to the mass die-off of local colony-nesting seabirds.

From Slate

Salmon populations in the region have been in decline for decades, largely due to habitat loss and overharvest since white settlers’ arrival to the region.

From Seattle Times

For instance, tarpon in the Gulf of Mexico are likely to encounter harmful algal blooms and cross into states where it is still legal to harvest tarpon as trophies, while in the mid-Atlantic tarpon may be more impacted by changes in freshwater flow and the overharvest of their prey.

From Science Daily

Conservationists such as Knowles say it’s important that the Bahamian government succeeds in its efforts to reduce overharvest of the shellfish.

From Seattle Times