Medidas de Gestao das Pescarias Marinhas e Aquicultura 2019 The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018 | Page 21

THE STATE OF WORLD FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE 2018
Farming of fed aquatic animal species has grown
faster than that of unfed species, although the
volume of the latter continues to expand. In 2016,
the total unfed species production climbed to 24.4
million tonnes (30 percent of total farmed food
fish), consisting of 8.8 million tonnes of filter-
feeding finfish raised in inland aquaculture
(mostly silver carp and bighead carp) and 15.6
million tonnes of aquatic invertebrates, mostly
marine bivalve molluscs raised in seas, lagoons
and coastal ponds. Marine bivalves and seaweeds
are sometimes described as extractive species;
they can benefit the environment by removing
waste materials, including waste from fed species,
and lowering the nutrient load in the water.
Culture of extractive species with fed species in
the same mariculture sites is encouraged in
aquaculture development. Extractive species
production accounted for 49.5 percent of total
world aquaculture production in 2016.
greatly reduced catches by distant-water fishing
nations. In contrast to the temperate areas, and
the upwelling areas which are characterized by
high annual variabilit y in catches, tropical areas
have experienced a continuously rising trend in
production as catches of large (mostly tuna) and
small pelagic species continue to increase.
Capture fisheries in the world’s inland waters
produced 11.6 million tonnes in 2016, representing
12.8 percent of total marine and inland catches.
The 2016 global catch from inland waters showed
an increase of 2.0 percent over the previous year
and of 10.5 percent in comparison to the 2005–
2014 average, but this result may be misleading as
some of the increase can be attributed to improved
data collection and assessment at the country
level. Sixteen countries produced almost 80
percent of the inland fishery catch, mostly in Asia,
where inland catches provide a key food source for
many local communities. Inland catches are also
an important food source for several countries in
Africa, which accounts for 25 percent of global
inland catches.
Official statistics indicate that 59.6 million people
were engaged (on a full-time, part-time or
occasional basis) in the primar y sector of capture
fisheries and aquaculture in 2016 – 19.3 million
in aquaculture and 40.3 million in capture
fisheries. It is estimated that nearly 14 percent of
these workers were women. Total employment in
the primar y sectors showed a general upward
trend over the period 1995 –2010, partly
inf luenced by improved estimation procedures,
and then levelled off. The proportion of those
employed in capture fisheries decreased from
83 percent in 1990 to 68 percent in 2016, while
the proportion of those employed in aquaculture
correspondingly increased from 17 to 32 percent.
In 2016, 85 percent of the global population
engaged in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors
was in Asia, followed by Africa (10 percent) and
Latin America and the Caribbean (4 percent).
Employment in aquaculture was concentrated
primarily in Asia (96 percent of all aquaculture
engagement), followed by Latin America and the
Caribbean and Africa.
Aquaculture continues to grow faster than other
major food production sectors although it no
longer enjoys the high annual growth rates of the
1980s and 1990s (11.3 and 10.0 percent, excluding
aquatic plants). Average annual growth declined
to 5.8 percent during the period 2000 –2016,
although double-digit growth still occurred in a
small number of individual countries, particularly
in Africa from 2006 to 2010.
Global aquaculture production in 2016 included
80.0 million tonnes of food fish and 30.1 million
tonnes of aquatic plants, as well as 37 900 tonnes
of non-food products. Farmed food fish
production included 54.1 million tonnes of
finfish, 17.1 million tonnes of molluscs, 7.9
million tonnes of crustaceans and 938 500 tonnes
of other aquatic animals. China, by far the major
producer of farmed food fish in 2016, has
produced more than the rest of the world
combined ever y year since 1991. The other major
producers in 2016 were India, Indonesia, Viet
Nam, Bangladesh, Eg ypt and Norway. Farmed
aquatic plants included mostly seaweeds and a
much smaller production volume of microalgae.
China and Indonesia were by far the major
producers of aquatic plants in 2016.
The total number of fishing vessels in the world in
2016, from small undecked and unmotorized boats
to large sophisticated industrial vessels, was
estimated to be about 4.6 million, similar to that
in 2014. The fleet in Asia was the largest,
consisting of 3.5 million vessels, accounting for
75 percent of the global fleet. In 2016, about
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