State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2004 - Library

World review of fisheries and aquaculture
29
pilchard (or sardine). Large catch fluctuations are common in the area as a consequence
of periodic climatic events associated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation affecting
fishing success and stock productivity. For instance, catches of Peruvian anchoveta
dropped severely following the adverse El Niño environmental conditions in 1997–98.
More favourable climatic conditions in 2000 led to one of the highest catches on
record, of around 11 million tonnes, but in 2002 the fishery for Peruvian anchoveta
declined to 9.7 million tonnes, causing a net decrease in total fisheries production in
the area.
The remaining fishing areas of the Pacific have exhibited increasing trends in
catches since 2000. In the Northeast Pacific, fisheries production had been declining
since its peak of 3.6 million tonnes in 1987, but made a slight recovery to 2.7 million
tonnes in 2001 and 2002. Alaska pollock is the single most important stock in the
Northeast Pacific and accounts for most of the fluctuation in total catches. In the
Western Central Pacific, fisheries production has been growing steadily since 1950,
reaching close to 10 million tonnes in 2001. In the Eastern Central Pacific, total catches
have fluctuated between 1.2 and 1.8 million tonnes since 1981. The recent production
increase in the area has been influenced by the California pilchard (or sardine), which
yielded about 670 000 tonnes in 2001 and 2002 – the highest recorded catch of the
species since 1950. Nominal catches in the Southwest Pacific reached a peak of 917 000
tonnes in 1992 and gradually declined to 714 000 tonnes in 2000 before making a slight
recovery.
In the Atlantic, catches have increased in the Northwest and Southeast fishing
areas. Northwest Atlantic fisheries production reached its lowest level in 1994 and
again in 1998 with the collapse of groundfish stocks off Eastern Canada. Catches have
since been increasing slowly, from close to 2 million tonnes in 1994 to 2.26 million
tonnes in 2002. In the Southeast Atlantic, catches have followed an increasing trend
since 1996, with the growth mostly accounted for by small pelagic fish, and reached
close to 1.7 million tonnes in 2002. Fluctuations in catch are common in the area in
response to the substantial environmental variability of the Benguela Current system.
In other areas, such as the Southwest and Eastern Central Atlantic, there has been a
noticeable decline in fisheries production since 2000. The 7 percent decrease in total
catches in the Eastern Central Atlantic falls within the pattern of catch fluctuation from
2.9 to 4.1 million tonnes observed in the region since 1990. This is a consequence of
the combined effect of changes in distant-water fishing effort and environmentally
induced changes in the productivity of the abundant small pelagic stocks. In the
Southwest Atlantic, the decline in catches can largely be attributed to the fall of
around 45 percent in the catches of Argentine shortfin squid from 2000 to 2002. This
species made up 33 percent of the total catches in the Southwest Atlantic in 2001 and
squid catches have been declining since 1999, when around 1.1 million tonnes were
reported.
Monitoring the status of fisheries in the Indian Ocean has been difficult because of
a generally poor system of fisheries statistics collection in the region, reflected in the
relatively high proportion of catches reported as “miscellaneous marine fishes” in the
official statistics. This is also a significant problem in other areas, such as the Southwest,
Eastern and Western Central Atlantic and the Northwest and Western Central Pacific.
However, both the Western and Eastern Indian Ocean areas show a continuing increase
in total reported catches, with fisheries production in 2002 being the highest on record
for both areas.
Fisheries production in the high seas is considerably higher in the Pacific,
followed by the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans. Tunas comprise the single most
important resource exploited in the high seas. In some areas of the Atlantic and
Pacific, straddling stocks of jack mackerel and squids and demersal fish on seamounts
contribute significantly to production. The contribution of sharks to the total reported
catches is minor compared with that of other oceanic resources; moreover, bycatch
underreporting and discards are a source of concern when dealing with this species
group. The world catches of the seven principal market species of tunas increased from
less than 0.5 million tonnes in the early 1950s to a peak of 4 million tonnes in 2002,