Which country catches the most fish

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Subscriber Exclusive Content. Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars? How viruses shape our world. The era of greyhound racing in the U. See how people have imagined life on Mars through history. This decline can be ascribed to the fisheries reacting too slowly to a sudden change in reproduction. Between the years of and the blue whiting for unknown reasons produced masses of young.

During this period the species was fished intensively. But following a sudden drop in reproduction rates after , the fishing industry continued to exploit the species at the same rate as before. The marked reduction of catch volumes in recent years, however, has helped the stocks to regenerate. In a harvest of almost , tonnes is expected. The situation of some deep-sea fish species is critical. All in all, 62 per cent of the stocks assessed in the Northeast Atlantic are fully exploited, 31 per cent overexploited and 7 per cent non-fully exploited.

Fish stocks also remain in a poor condition in the Northwest Atlantic. Cod and ocean perch, for example, have not yet recovered from the intensive fishing of the s, despite the Canadian authorities having completely banned the commercial fishing of these species.

Experts ascribe the situation to adverse environmental conditions and competition for food Chapter 1. Other stocks which are protected by fisheries management regimes appear to be regenerating. These include the spiny dogfish, the yellowtail flounder, the Atlantic halibut, the Greenland halibut and the haddock.

Stocks in the Northwest Atlantic are considered 77 per cent fully exploited, 17 per cent over-exploited and 6 per cent non-fully exploited. Catch volumes in the Southeast Atlantic have declined considerably since the s, from a previous 3. This can be ascribed partially to overfishing, and partially to catch reductions as a result of sustainable fisheries management. This applies in particular to the hake which is particularly important in this area. Thanks to the fishery measures introduced in , some stocks of hake such as the deep sea Merluccius paradoxus off South Africa and the shallow water Merluccius capensis off Namibia appear to be recovering.

In contrast, stocks of the formerly prolific South African sardine appear to be overexploited following a phase of intensive fishing. In the stock was classified as fully exploited. In the years since then, however, it has declined again as a result of adverse environmental conditions.

This example highlights the speed at which a fully exploited stock can become overexploited, and the importance of forward-looking and sustainable fisheries management plans. The condition of the mackerel off the coast of Angola and Namibia has also deteriorated, since being considered overexploited. Similarly, its situation is not particularly good. Of the stocks analyzed by the FAO, 50 per cent are overexploited, 33 per cent fully exploited and 17 per cent non-fully exploited.

All stocks of the European hake Merluccius merluccius and the red mullet Mullus barbatus are classified as overexploited. Too little information is available about the condition of the sea breams and sole to categorize, but these are also suspected to be overexploited.

The most significant stocks of small pelagic fish sardines and anchovies are considered fully exploited or overexploited. Areas with increasing catches In only three of the FAO major fishing areas have catches been continuously increasing since the s.

Catch volumes in the Western Central Pacific have constantly increased since to a peak of The situation has changed in the meantime, however, and stocks are now in a critical condition. Most are assessed as fully exploited and overexploited — particularly in the western regions of the South China Sea. But the FAO points out that the high catch numbers could be misleading. It is assumed that fish were counted twice during transportation. For this reason it is conceivable that flawed data is masking an actual trend reversal — i.

The annual catch in the Eastern Indian Ocean has also escalated over the years, and this trend is continuing. Between and alone, the catch volume increased by 17 per cent. In the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea catch volumes are steadily increasing. This practice gives cause for concern because it is then impossible to assess the stocks of the different fish species in this heavily exploited region. Even when the total catch is increasing in one particular area, the trend for stocks of individual sub-areas can be the exact opposite.

As far as the protection of fish stocks goes, Australia and New Zealand are now regarded as models of best practice. The trigger was a ministerial decision which ended overfishing in the EEZ and made it possible for stocks to recover.

The Western Indian Ocean has long been considered an area in which the catches have increased appreciably. A temporary peak was reached in Since then, catch volumes have slightly decreased.

The volume for was 4. Current investigations show that the widespread Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel Scomberomorus commerson found in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and off India and Pakistan, is overfished. Catch figures from these areas are incomplete, making it difficult to estimate the population.

Attempts are being made to gather valid data in other regions. The Southwest Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission responsible for the southwestern sub-area of the Western Indian Ocean carried out a systematic estimate of species in Overall, 65 per cent of the stocks in the Western Indian Ocean are fully exploited, 29 per cent overexploited and 6 per cent non-fully exploited.

Alien species add to the pressure Already weakened fish stocks in some maritime regions are faced with the additional threat of alien species. Predators which feed on the fish, eggs and larvae of weakened stocks are particularly problematic, and competitors for food can play further havoc with depleted stocks. The situation becomes critical when the alien species thrives under its new living conditions and begins to reproduce vigorously. For example, alien species migrate from the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean.

Some of them are apparently supplanting the native species of the eastern Mediterranean. The anchovy and sprat stocks of the Black Sea collapsed in the s. This was due partly to overexploitation and partly to a type of fist-sized comb jellyfish introduced in the ballast water from ship tanks further undermining the already low fish stocks.

The swarms of jellyfish ate the fish eggs and larvae en masse, biologists believe. Stocks have still not fully recovered. They are considered either fully exploited or still overexploited. A closer look at the different species Taking a closer look at the individual fishing areas of the world, it becomes clear that there is no simple response to the question of how the fish are faring. Without doubt many stocks are overexploited or have collapsed.

But others are recovering thanks to sustainable fisheries management regimes. By way of illustration, the following section describes some individual fish species and their status — including the most important species with the highest total catch volumes.

Most of their stocks are considered fully exploited or overexploited. Tins of tuna generally contain the flesh of widespread species such as the skipjack tuna. Nonetheless, consumers should ensure that the products they buy are from sustainable fisheries. The Peruvian anchovy — sometimes more, sometimes less The development of the Peruvian anchovy Engraulis ringens is interesting.

In terms of catch, it is the most important fish in the world. Large amounts are processed into fishmeal and fish oil to be fed to larger farmed fish in aquaculture operations. The largest volume ever caught, around 13 million tonnes, was landed in Today this would equate to a quarter of the global fish catch — excluding catches of other marine fauna such as mussels and squid.

The stocks later recovered. A new annual record of This anchovy example clearly shows the extent to which stocks can fluctuate. It also illustrates the vast amounts of fish which humans are removing from the seas; when adverse environmental conditions are added to the equation even vast stocks can be decimated. This example also teaches us that a stock can regenerate rapidly due to the ability of the fish to reproduce profusely.

Other species of fish and stocks, however, are not capable of recovering so quickly from overfishing. One example of this is the Northeast Atlantic mackerel.

The ten most important ocean fish species and their worldwide catch totals. Each has its own spawning grounds. The North Sea mackerel spawn along the east coast of Britain, the southern component in the Bay of Biscay and off the Iberian Peninsula and the western component to the west of the British Isles and Ireland. In spring, when the plankton proliferates in response to rising temperatures, the mackerel of all three stocks gather in large hunting schools and migrate to the region between the Shetland Islands and Norway.

They later gradually leave this nutrient-rich summer feeding area to spawn in the three regions mentioned above. They display an amazing swarming instinct: by no means all the first-time spawners return to their traditional spawning grounds, but often follow the majority of the mackerel.

The North Sea mackerel used to be the largest component, so many first-time spawners were attracted to the North Sea. However, stocks of this component collapsed in the s due to overfishing. Although the fishery was completely closed, the component has still not recovered. The western stock component then became the most prominent.

The repercussions are clear: many mackerel which today begin their lives in the North Sea follow the main flow of fish towards the west when they first spawn. This occurs even in good years. Even when there are plenty of young fish in the North Sea most of them migrate westwards to spawn. The question is whether a major mackerel stock will ever again be able to establish itself in the North Sea.

It is interesting that the Northeast Atlantic mackerel has apparently been increasingly orienting itself towards the west in recent years. The early-summer migration has been taking them more regularly into Icelandic waters. Scientists are worried about the development because for years now too many mackerel have been caught. The reason is that the littoral states — the Faroes, Iceland, Norway, Russia and the European Union — cannot agree on lower catches.

Each nation sets its own limits. When added together the total catch far exceeds the annual tonnage recommended by scientists. Fears that Northeast Atlantic mackerel stocks will be completely overexploited in the coming years are therefore justified. The European hake southern stock — haggling over catch numbers The future of the European hake southern stock in the Bay of Biscay and west of the Iberian Peninsula is also uncertain.

This is a classic example of how difficult it is to accurately assess a stock. And it also shows that if in doubt, a fishing nation tends to continue fishing rather than protect a fish population. The hake debate is difficult, mainly because the species seems to have been proliferating more rapidly over the past two years than had been observed previously.

Its spawning biomass levels are increasing. ICES scientists, however, believe that for some time now, probably since the turn of the century, the stock has been overfished. The ICES fish abundance estimates have revealed that three times more hake has probably been caught than the stock can sustain over the long term.

Much of the world's catch, especially from the high seas, is being purchased by wealthy nations for their people; poorer countries simply can't afford to bid for high-value species, the article says. Citizens in poor nations also lose out if their governments enter into fishing or trade agreements with wealthier nations. In these cases, local fish are sold abroad and denied to local citizens -- those who arguably have the greatest need to eat them and the greatest right to claim them.

Humanity's demand for seafood has now driven fishing fleets into every virgin fishing ground in the world, the scientists say. A report by the World Bank and United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization suggests that even if the number of boats, hooks and nets now used were cut by half, the world would still end up catching too many fish to be sustainable for the future. The scientists favor treaties among nations setting seafood-consumption targets as well as ocean havens to safeguard resources.

Materials provided by Pew Environment Group. Note: Content may be edited for style and length. Science News. ScienceDaily, 23 September Pew Environment Group. China tops world in catch and consumption of fish.