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Fishing Industry

• The total marine fish catch in 1950 was about 14 million tonnes. By 1994 it had risen to about 73 million tonnes.
  
  
• An estimated 27 million tonnes of fish are discarded every year as unwanted by-catch because they are either species of low commercial value compared to the target species or juveniles which cannot be kept legally.
  
  
• Total fish production from marine and freshwater sources was 112.4 million tonnes in 1995. About 70 per cent of this was available for direct human consumption, or about 14kg for each person on Earth.
  
  
• In 1985, the total value of international fish exports was about US$17 billion. By 1994 it had reached US$47 billion. The increase is due to higher trade in low-value products such as fishmeal, so that the net value of exports has increased less than the volume.
  
  
• Japan is the world's largest importer of fish products, accounting for some 30 per cent of the global total.
  
  
• A study of the top 200 marine fish resources showed that in 1994 about 35 per cent had declining landings, presumably due to over-fishing, about 25 per cent were in a mature phase of high exploitation, and 40 per cent were still 'developing', with increasing landings.
  
  
• In 1994 bottom dwelling fish accounted for about 30 per cent of the total marine fish catch by weight and about 50 per cent of the total value of the catch.
  
  
• Ten countries accounted for 70 per cent of the world total fish production, by weight, in 1994. Low-income food-deficit countries accounted for 35 per cent of the total world production
  
  
• The projected demand for fish in the year 2010, for all uses, is 140 to 150 million tonnes, compared to the 1995 production of 112 million tonnes. The most optimistic estimate is that marine capture fisheries could produce 10 million tonnes in addition to the 70 to 80 million tonnes produced in recent years.