93.7 Aquaculture State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture – FAO

The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2014 6 Catches of tuna and tuna-like species set a new record of more than 7 million tonnes in 2012. The annual global catch of the sharks, rays and chimaeras species group has been about 760 000 tonnes since 2005. In 2012, capture production of shrimp species registered a new maximum at 3.4 million tonnes, and the total catch of cephalopods exceeded 4 million tonnes. Global inland waters capture production reached 11.6 million tonnes in 2012, but its share in total global capture production still does not exceed 13 percent. Global aquaculture production attained another all-time high of 90.4 million tonnes live weight equivalent in 2012 US144.4 billion, including 66.6 million tonnes of food fish and 23.8 million tonnes of aquatic algae, with estimates for 2013 of 70.5 million and 26.1 million tonnes, respectively. China alone produced 43.5 million tonnes of food fish and 13.5 million tonnes of aquatic algae that year. Some developed countries, e.g. the United States of America, have reduced their aquaculture output in recent years, mainly owing to competition from countries with lower production costs. World food fish aquaculture production expanded at an average annual rate of 6.2 percent in the period 2000–2012 9.5 percent in 1990–2000 from 32.4 million to 66.6 million tonnes. In the same period, growth was relatively faster in Africa 11.7 percent and Latin America and the Caribbean 10 percent. Excluding China, production in the rest of Asia grew by 8.2 percent per year 4.8 percent in 1990– 2000. The annual growth rate in China, the largest aquaculture producer, averaged 5.5 percent in 2000–2012 12.7 percent in 1990–2000. In 2012, production in North America was lower than in 2000. The fifteen main producer countries accounted for 92.7 percent of all farmed food fish production in 2012. Among them, Chile and Egypt became million-tonne producers in 2012. Brazil has improved its global ranking significantly in recent years. However, Thailand’s production fell to 1.2 million tonnes in 2011 and 2012 owing to flood damage and shrimp disease. Following the 2011 tsunami, Japanese aquaculture recovered slightly in 2012. Some 58.3 million people were engaged in the primary sector of capture fisheries and aquaculture in 2012. Of these, 37 percent were engaged full time. In 2012, 84 percent of all people employed in the fisheries and aquaculture sector were in Asia, followed by Africa more than 10 percent. About 18.9 million were engaged in fish farming more than 96 percent in Asia. In the period 2010–2012, at least 21 million people were capture fishers operating in inland waters more than 84 percent in Asia. Employment in the sector has grown faster than the world’s population. In 2012, it represented 4.4 percent of the 1.3 billion people economically active in the broad agriculture sector worldwide 2.7 percent in 1990. Overall, women accounted for more than 15 percent of all people directly engaged in the fisheries primary sector in 2012. The proportion of women exceeded 20 percent in inland water fishing and up to 90 percent in secondary activities e.g. processing. FAO estimates that, overall, fisheries and aquaculture assure the livelihoods of 10–12 percent of the world’s population. The total number of fishing vessels was estimated at 4.72 million in 2012. The fleet in Asia accounted for 68 percent of the global fleet, followed by Africa 16 percent. Some 3.2 million vessels were considered to operate in marine waters. Globally, 57 percent of fishing vessels were engine-powered in 2012, but the motorization ratio was much higher 70 percent in marine-operating vessels than in the inland fleet 31 percent. The marine fleet shows large regional variations, with non-motorized vessels accounting for 64 percent in Africa. In 2012, about 79 percent of the world’s motorized fishing vessels were less than 12 m length overall LOA. The number of industrialized fishing vessels of 24 m and larger operating in marine waters was about 64 000. Several countries have established targets to tackle national overcapacity of fishing fleets and implemented restrictions on larger vessels or gear types. Although China may have reduced its vessel numbers, its fleet’s total combined power has increased, and its mean engine power rose from 64 to 68 kW between 2010 and 2012. Reduced by the 2011 tsunami, Japan’s marine fishing fleet showed a net increase from 2011 to