Abstract
Global landings of demersal marine fishes are demonstrated to have shifted to deeper water species over the last 50 years. Our analysis suggests deep‐water fish stocks may be at serious risk of depletion, as their life histories render them highly vulnerable to overfishing with little resilience to over‐exploitation. Deep‐sea fisheries are exploiting the last refuges for commercial fish species and should not be seen as a replacement for declining resources in shallower waters. Instead, deep‐water habitats are new candidates for conservation.