Increases in the speed and scale of seafood trade in the global trade network along with the simultaneous decline of many marine fisheries globally raises serious concerns about the sustainability of such trade development. The continuity, number and grouping of trade connections has changed: seafood trade in the Anthropocene is short-lived and globally connected. In this new reality, (i) the formation of new trade connections can outpace that of regulatory action in fisheries and (ii) the state of a fishery can depend on its trade-related connectivity to other fisheries. Despite mounting empirical and theoretical evidence of the importance of trade networks in natural resource management, indicators of network speed and scale are rarely used to understand fisheries sustainability. Here, we assess whether the speed and scale of the seafood trade network is indicative of fishery status. Our data consolidates post-1995 global, bilateral trade data including >400,000 bilateral trade flows and stock status estimates for 746 stocks from 222 countries and is analyzed with both static and dynamic panel analysis methods. We find that low levels of grouping in the network correlates with low fishery status and despite increasing numbers of trade connections grouping has declined. Contrary to earlier findings, we demonstrate that long-term trade connections correlate with low fishery status. These results highlight the importance of the way trade develops i.e. in the continuity and grouping of trade connections as key indicators of fisheries sustainability. Thus, policies aimed at improving fisheries sustainability cannot focus on regulating local fisheries alone. For one, trade agreements could target the formation of new multilateral trade alliances. Parallel efforts of international trade organizations, national trade and fisheries ministries need to create incentives that long-term trade connections enable sustainable fisheries use.