New Release: FAO's State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2010

The FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) just released the 2010 update of the State of the World's Fisheries and Aquaculture. Time to update the statistics in my thesis...

Fun Fish Facts

Overfishing

• The proportion of marine fish stocks estimated to be underexploited or moderately exploited declined from 40% in the mid-1970s to 15% in 2008 (the lowest proportion recorded since the mid-1970s) and the proportion of overexploited, depleted, or recovering stocks increased from 10% to 32% (the highest since the mid-1970s). 53% of stocks are estimated to be fully exploited, with no room for expansion.
• Global marine fish catch production peaked in 1996 at 74.7 million tonnes. Although many studies predicted a rapid decline in production, the catch has remained relatively stable

• The same species have dominated marine catches since 2003, with the top ten species accounting for 30% of all marine catches. The fully exploited stocks in this list are the two main stocks of anchoveta (Engraulis ringens), Alaska pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou), Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) (some stocks are depleted), Japanese anchovy (Engraulis japonicus), Chilean jack mackerel (Trachurus murphyi). It may be possible to expand some stocks of chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus). The largehead hairtail (Trichiurus lepturus) was estimated to be overexploited.

• 60% of the tuna stocks are fully exploited and up to 35% are overexploited or depleted and only a few appear underexploited (skipjack). Although the Atlantic bluefin was refused listing under CITES Appendix I, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) has had some success in reducing the exploitation rates in some areas.

Consumption

• In 2008, 115 millions tonnes of fish was consumed by humans, which is 17kg (live weight) per person, an all-time high.
• In 2007, fish accounted for 16% of the global population's intake of animal protein and 6% of all protein consumed. In low-income food-deficit countries (LIFDCs), fish is 20% of the total animal protein consumed and is probably higher than the statistics indicate because of underreporting from small-scale and subsistence fisheries.
• Consumers of fish, particularly in the world's richer economies are increasingly demanding that retailers guarantee that their fish is high quality and also that it comes from sustainable sources. Several large-scale retailers are demanding certification to their own private standards schemes in food safety, quality, and sustainability. Traceability initiatives are growing, being initiated by NGOs, governments, or RFBs (regional fishery bodies)

Aquaculture

• Aquaculture now makes up 46% of the total food fish supply, which is slightly lower growth than than predicted but has grown from 43% in 2006 and is set to overtake capture-based fisheries in production.
• Latin America and the Caribbean has experienced the highest growth rate in aquaculture from 1970 to 2008 (21%).

Employment

• In 2008, 44.9 million people were engaged in the fish sector, and at least 12% were women. This is a 167% increase since 1980. For each person employed directly by fishing or aquaculture production, about three jobs are produced in secondary activities. Each job-holder provides for three dependents or family members on average. Therefore, fisheries support about 540 million people or 8% of the world population.

Small-scale Fishery Management

• The role of RFBs in international fisheries governance is growing but strengthening their performance is a major challenge. Their major tasks are regulating unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, effective implementation of monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) and overcapacity in fishing fleets. Many RFBs have been unable to control IUU fishing, implementing the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF), the control of bycatch and the promotion of economic development in member countries.
• Small-scale fisheries contribute to more than half of the world's marine and inland fish catch, almost all of which is destined for direct human consumption. These fisheries employ more than 90% of the world's 35 million capture fishers and support another 84 million people in secondary jobs. Almost half of these people are women. More than 95% of small-scale fishers and related workers live in developing countries. Poverty remains widespread for millions of these communities, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia.
• Overfishing are a threat but social structures and institutional arrangements play a central role in engendering poverty. Critical factors that contribute to poverty in these communities are insecure access rights to fishery resources, poor or absent health and educational services, lack of social safety nets, vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change, and exclusion from wider development processes owing to weak organizational structures and inadequate representation and participation in decision-making.
• Policy makers are suggesting a human rights approach to include marginalized groups in institutional processes, which would include measures such as: strengthening the capacity of fishing communities to be aware of, claim and exercise their rights effectively; requiring duty-bearers, including states, to fulfill their human rights obligations, including through legislation; the delegation of management responsibilities and the creation of comanagement arrangements that involve local resource users together with the state, which require human capacity on the local level as well as legal, practical, and community-based arrangements.

Data Collection

• The number of non-reporting countries increased this year due to the economic crisis.

Abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG)

• Magnets have been attached to longlines to repel sharks.
• Acoustic beacons and reflectors in gillnets and set net fishing gear to reduce catch of non-target species such as cetaceans, turtles, and seabirds.
• Trials are testing lines made from substances that reflect sound, such as barium sulphate, which don't affect the performance or appearance of the net in anyway

FAO Abbreviations

ALDFG- Abandoned, Lost, or otherwise Discarded Fishing Gear

CITES- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

EAF- Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries

EEZ- Exclusive Economic Zone

FAO- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

ICCAT- International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas

IUU- Unreported and Unregulated Fishing

LIFDC- Low-Income Food-Deficient Country

MCS- Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance

NGO- Non-Governmental Organization

RFB- Regional Fishery Bodies

RFBN- Regional Fishery Bodies Secretariat Network