World review of fisheries and aquaculture
31
In addition to differences in per capita average outputs between aquaculture and capture fisheries, there are also regional differences. The most populated regions,
Africa and Asia, that together also account for the largest proportion 94 percent or more of fishers and fish farmers, show the lowest outputs with annual averages
of about 1.8 and 2.0 tonnes per person per year, respectively. Those figures contrast with annual average outputs of 24.0 and 20.1 tonnes per person in Europe and North
America, respectively. Latin America and the Caribbean, with annual average outputs of 6.4–11.7 tonnes per person, lies somewhere between the aforementioned low- and
high-output regions. To an extent, production per person reflects the higher degree of industrialization of fishing activities e.g. in Europe and North America as well as the
relative importance of small-scale operators, especially in Africa and Asia.
This contrast is more evident for aquaculture production. In 2011, the annual average production of fish farmers in Norway was 195 tonnes per person, compared
with 55 tonnes in Chile, 25 tonnes in Turkey, 10 tonnes in Malaysia, about 7 tonnes in China, about 4 tonnes in Thailand, and only about 1 tonne in India and Indonesia.
The information provided to FAO still lacks sufficient detail to allow full analyses by gender. However, based on the data available, it is estimated that, 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 is considered far more important, as high as 90 percent, in secondary activities, such as processing.
As stated in The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2012 p. 46,
5
fisheries and aquaculture provide numerous jobs in the secondary sector e.g. fish processing,
trade and marketing as well as in many ancillary services. FAO estimates that, overall, Table 13
Fishery production per fisher or fish farmer by region
Production
1
per person
2000 2005
2010 2011
2012
Tonnesyear
Capture + aquaculture
Africa 1.7
1.9 1.8
1.7 1.7
Asia 1.8
1.9 2.0
2.1 2.2
Europe 23.4
22.7 24.8
24.5 24.7
Latin America and the Caribbean 11.7
10.6 6.4
8.4 6.6
North America 18.7
21.0 19.2
21.0 20.8
Oceania 9.6
13.5 11.3
10.7 11.4
world 2.7
2.7 2.6
2.7 2.7
Capture
Africa 1.7
1.8 1.6
1.5 1.5
Asia 1.6
1.5 1.5
1.6 1.6
Europe 24.0
22.5 24.8
24.2 24.2
Latin America and the Caribbean 12.7
11.2 6.2
8.3 6.2
North America 17.3
19.6 17.7
19.8 19.7
Oceania 9.0
12.8 10.2
9.7 10.4
world 2.7
2.5 2.3
2.4 2.3
Aquaculture
Africa 4.4
4.6 5.6
5.4 5.1
Asia 2.3
2.7 2.9
3.0 3.2
Europe 19.8
23.5 24.9
26.0 27.8
Latin America and the Caribbean 3.9
6.3 7.8
9.0 9.7
North America 91.5
68.2 70.0
59.5 59.3
Oceania 23.1
29.5 33.8
30.4 32.7
world 2.6
2.9 3.2
3.3 3.5
1
Production excludes aquatic plants.
The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2014
32
fisheries and aquaculture assure the livelihoods of 10–12 percent of the world’s population.
tHe StAtUS oF tHe FISHInG FLeet estimate of global fleet and its regional distribution
The total number of fishing vessels in the world was estimated to be about 4.72 million in 2012. The fleet in Asia was the largest, consisting of 3.23 million vessels accounting
for 68 percent of the global fleet, followed by Africa 16 percent, Latin America and the Caribbean 8 percent, North America 2.5 percent and Europe 2.3 percent.
Among the global fleet, 3.2 million vessels 68 percent were considered to operate in marine waters, with the remaining 1.5 million vessels operating in inland waters.
The distinction between inland and marine fishing fleets was made based on: i national reported statistics with sufficient details e.g. China, Indonesia and Japan;
ii integration of fishing fleet data reported for vessels operating on large inland waterbodies e.g. lakes such as Tanganyika, Victoria, Volta, and Titicaca; rivers such
as the Mekong, Amazon and Nile; and iii allocation of whole fleets of landlocked Figure 9
Proportion of ishing vessels in marine and inland waters by region in 2012
Asia Africa
North America Europe
Near East Paciic and Oceania
Latin America and the Caribbean
Inland Marine
Figure 10 Proportion of marine ishing vessels with and without engine by region in 2012
No engine Motorized
Percentage
10 20
30 40
50 60
70 80
90 100
Europe
Paciic and Oceania
Asia Latin America
and the Caribbean North America
Near East Africa
World
World review of fisheries and aquaculture
33
countries to inland waters e.g. Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Kazakhstan, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Zambia.
Compared with 2010 global fishing fleet estimates, the slight apparent increase in the global fleet reflects improved data for vessels operating in inland waters especially
in Africa, which had been misrepresented in the database until recent years. Although the inland fleet represented 32 percent of the global fleet in 2012,
the proportion of vessels operating in inland waters varied substantially by region Figure 9, the highest being in Africa 64 percent, followed by Asia 30 percent and
Latin America and the Caribbean 18 percent. 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. For the marine fleet, there were also large variations
among regions, with non-motorized vessels accounting for about 5 and 6 percent respectively in the Near East and Europe, but up to 64 percent in Africa Figure 10. The
low percentage of non-motorized vessels in North America could be a reflection of the data collection systems in use there, and the low reporting rate from that region.
Globally, the motorized fishing fleet is distributed unevenly among regions. The vast majority of motorized vessels 72 percent were reported from Asia Figure 11.
Size distribution of vessels and the importance of small boats
In 2012, about 79 percent of the motorized fishing vessels in the world were less than 12 m LOA. Such vessels dominated in all regions, particularly Latin America and the
Caribbean, Africa, and the Near East Figure 12. About 2 percent of all motorized fishing vessels corresponded to industrialized vessels of 24 m and larger roughly more
than 100 GT and that fraction was larger in the Pacific and Oceania region, Europe, and North America. The estimated number of industrialized fishing vessels of 24 m
and larger operating in marine waters was about 64 000. This figure is about three times higher than the number of fishing vessels registered with a unique identification
number provided by the International Maritime Organization.
The dominance of small vessels less than 12 m LOA is even higher in inland waters fisheries, where they represent more than 91 percent of all motorized vessels operating
in inland waters. Estimations of the relative importance of the small-scale and industrial components of fisheries for social, economic, and food security purposes are likely to be
skewed owing to an inadequate appraisal of the small-scale segment. The reasons for this are that often small vessels may not be subject to registration, but even where they
are, those figures might not be reflected in national statistics. The lack of information
Figure 11 Distribution of motorized ishing vessels by region in 2012
Paciic and Oceania
1
Near East
4
North America
4
Europe
4
Africa
6
Latin America and the Caribbean
9
Asia
72
