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| | | Fisheries and Aquaculture |
Maintained by FAO-FI
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|  Marine capture fisheries and marine aquaculture together produce about just below 100 million tonnes of fish (in round weight equivalent), or about 80 % of the total quantity of fish produced by the inland and marine aquatic ecosystems. Ocean fisheries provide directly and indirectly livelihoods to a large proportion of the 140 million people who, globally, are estimated to depend on fisheries and aquaculture for a living. Recreational fisheries contribute also substantially to the global economy, tourism development, and quality of life. Fish and fish products provide a variable but significant proportion of humanity's animal protein needs. For many of the world's most vulnerable people living on coastal zones or islands it is a particularly important and often vital source of protein and of many micronutrients necessary for a healthy life. | | |  The intrinsic value of marine life and the socio-economic importance of the fishery sector underpin the necessity for governments, to establish effective management systems in their exclusive economic zones and in the high seas. The available information on the state of the fishery resources indicate that, in 2000, about 50% of marine fish stocks are close to their maximum biological production level (or maximum sustainable yield), about 25% are overfished, and about 25% could possibly sustain higher exploitation rates. However, those stocks being fished at their maximum level of production could rapidly become overfished if fishing pressure is not effectively controlled. Historical data indicate that the proportion of stocks being overfished has increased significantly since the early seventies, underlining the need for an improvement in fisheries governance. Additional stress on the fisheries production system is added by pollution and environmental degradation from non-fisheries developments, including land-based ones, with long-lasting and possibly irreversible consequences for fisheries.The contribution of aquaculture and coastal aquaculture is increasing rapidly, filling the gap between supply and demand of fishery products. This development meets with problems related inter alia to water use rights ; pollution; diseases; invasive species; and modification of wild genetic pools. An excellent review of the present global status of aquaculture is available courtesy of Dr. Albert G.J. Tacon of the Hawaiian Institute of Marine Biology. A very large PDF file (10 MB) with pictures and a smaller (2 MB) PDF file without pictures, but with complete graphics, are available. | | |  Careful and thoughtful improvement in the governance of fishing and aquaculture, and its integration with other sectors'management (e.g. in the coastal areas) could bring about greater reliability of supply, improved economic viability and the generation of increased benefits for fishers and for society as a whole. Failure to establish effective governance in fisheries and in coastal areas could result in a further deterioration in food security, particularly for the most vulnerable people in the developing world; increasing impoverishment of fishers; and destabilization of social structures in remote coastal areas. New forms of governance are being tested, including various forms of fishing rights as well as precautionary and ecosystem-based approaches. | | | | |
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