Atlantic Cod Catch (million tonnes - live weight)

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Published in: "Environment and Security, Transforming risks into cooperation - The Case of Central Asia and South Eastern Europe", 2003
Copyright © UNEP/DEWA/GRID-Geneva. All Rights Reserved.

Global Trends in Marine Fisheries and Aquaculture

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Published in: "Overfishing, a Major Threat to the Global Marine Ecology", Aug. 2004
Copyright © UNEP/DEWA/GRID-Geneva. All Rights Reserved.

World Fishermen and Fish Farmers by Continent

Description: Large economic losses have plagued the global fisheries sector for more than a decade. However, national governments have traditionally heavily subsidised the fishing industry, since it is an important source of employment, food and export earnings. Such subsidies have often been used with little consideration for their long-term damage to natural resources. Global subsidies, which reach about US$ 13 billion per year, encourage fishermen to remain in a depleted fishery even though it may no longer be profitable, thus further depleting marine resources. About 50 million people (including 35 million fishermen) worldwide depend directly on fishing for their living. According to the FAO, reducing the large - and medium - scale fishing industry by half might eliminate several hundreds of thousands of jobs. Reducing the small-scale, artisan-fishing sector by half would eliminate several million jobs.
Published in: "Overfishing, a Major Threat to the Global Marine Ecology", Aug. 2004
Copyright © UNEP/DEWA/GRID-Geneva. All Rights Reserved.

Reefs Threatened by Destructive Fishing

Description: Cyanide fishing is a popular method to capture live reef fish for the seafood and aquarium markets. It is widely practiced in Southeastern Asia and the South Pacific (see map) and is now spreading to other parts of the world. Cyanide fishermen squirt cyanide into coral holes and crevices, where reef fish seek refuge. The cyanide stuns the fish, making it easy for fishermen to capture their prey. Cyanide poisons reefs and is extremely harmful to coral polyps and other reef organisms. Furthermore, less than half the fish caught with cyanide survive long enough to be sold to aquariums or restaurants. Destructive cyanide fishing practices are spreading from currently over-harvested and devastated reefs in the Philippines - where an estimated 65 tonnes of cyanide are sprayed each year - to remote coral reefs in eastern Indonesia and other nations of the western Pacific.
Fishing with explosives, also known as "blast fishing", has probably been in existence for centuries and is apparently spreading. Explosions can produce fairly large craters, devastating 10 to 20 m2 of sea-bottom. Explosions kill both the target fish and the accompanying flora and fauna, the blasts being indiscriminate to size or species. Explosives and raw materials used as components, such as fertilisers and sugar, are cheap and easily available. Commercial explosives are often obtained from mining or building activities. Fishermen often only need to extract the explosive charges from munitions left over from on-going or past armed conflicts. In other areas, fishermen can access army munitions through illegal channels.
Published in: "Overfishing, a Major Threat to The Global Marine Ecology", Aug. 2004
Copyright © UNEP/DEWA/GRID-Geneva. All Rights Reserved.

Global Fisheries' Statistics

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Published in: "Overfishing, a Major Threat to the Global Marine Ecology", Aug. 2004
Copyright © UNEP/DEWA/GRID-Geneva. All Rights Reserved.