Medidas de Gestao das Pescarias Marinhas e Aquicultura 2019 The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018 | Page 31

THE STATE OF WORLD FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE 2018
Eastern Central Atlantic and Southeast
Atlantic), but their share in total catches has
been dropping (from 57.5 percent in 1977 to
16.9 percent in 2016 in area 34, and from 65.3
percent in 1978 to 6.4 percent in 2016 in area
47), increasing the availabilit y of fish for
coastal states and local populations. The overall
trends in the two areas are opposite: In area 34
catches have grown to a peak of 4.8 million
tonnes, and in area 47 they have progressively
decreased from the overall maximum reached
in 1978, although they have been recovering in
the past three years. caught in neighbouring areas. No catches from
the Central Arctic Ocean should be expected in
the coming years, as at the end of 2017 five
bordering countries (Canada, Denmark
[Greenland], Norway, the Russia Federation and
the United States of America) and other possible
fishing countries (China, Iceland, Japan, the
Republic of Korea and the European Union)
agreed on a fishing ban for the next 16 years to
give scientists time to understand the region’s
marine ecolog y – and the potential impacts of
climate change – before fishing becomes
widespread (Hoag, 2017).
Despite annual variabilit y, since 2000 total
catches in area 77, the Eastern Central Pacific,
have stabilized between 1.6 and 2 million tonnes.
In contrast, total catch in area 87, even if
analysed excluding anchoveta, has been
decreasing dramatically since its peak in 1991.
The decrease was mostly caused by the drop in
catches of Chilean jack mackerel (Trachurus
murphyi), which were 0.4 million tonnes in 2016,
only 8 percent of those landed in 1995. This drop
was partially compensated by the high-value
catches of jumbo f lying squid, which have been
growing significantly since the 2000s. Inland waters capture production
Total global catch in inland waters was 11.6
million tonnes in 2016, representing 12.8 percent
of total global capture fisher y production. The
2016 global catch shows an increase of
2.0 percent over the previous year and of 10.5
percent in comparison to the 2005 –2014 average.
The continuously increasing trend of inland
fisheries production may be misleading,
however, as some of the increase can be
attributed to improved reporting and assessment
at the countr y level and may not be entirely due
to increased production. The improvement in
reporting may also mask trends in individual
countries where fisheries are declining.
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), by far the
most caught species in the Antarctic areas, has
seen an increasing catch trend since the mid-
1990s. Since 2005, catches of Patagonian
toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) have stabilized
between 10 500 and 12 400 tonnes. This valuable
species was previously largely targeted by illegal,
unreported and unreg ulated (IUU) f leets, whose
estimated catches were curbed from over 30 000
tonnes in 1997 to less than 1 500 tonnes in 2014.
These positive outcomes ref lect management
measures implemented by the Commission for
the Conser vation of Antarctic Marine Living
Resources (CCA MLR), often taken as a model by
other regional fisheries management
organizations (R FMOs).
Sixteen countries produce almost 80 percent of
the inland fisher y catch (Table 5), mostly in Asia,
where inland catches provide a key food source
for many local communities. Asia as a whole has
a consistent share of two-thirds of global inland
production (Table 4). Inland catches are also
important for food securit y in several countries in
Africa, which accounts for 25 percent of the
global catches. Europe, the Americas and Oceania
account for 9 percent.
The total inland water catches for 2014 have been
adjusted to 11.3 million tonnes from the 11.9
million tonnes reported in The State of World
Fisheries and Aquaculture 2016 (2016c) because of
the replacement of Myanmar’s official statistics
with FAO estimates. Myanmar, which had ranked
second among global producers of inland fish –
thanks to an unreliable average growth of 15
percent per year – now more realistically ranks
fourth (Table 5).
Catch statistics for area 18, the Arctic Sea, have
only been officially reported to FAO in some
years by the Russian Federation (and formerly by
the Soviet Union) and Canada (marine mammals)
as other countries bordering the parts of the
Arctic Sea accessible to fisheries have probably
registered their minor catches from area 18 as
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