The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2010 - FAO

World review of fisheries and aquaculture
33
have engines of 50 HP or less, the corresponding figure for Sweden is only about
38 percent.
In terms of the areas of operation of the small Asian vessels, about 38 percent of
them are dedicated to fishing on inland waters. In Africa and in Latin America and the
Caribbean, small vessels constitute that vast sector of artisanal and subsistence fisheries
on which the livelihoods of a great number of fisher households depend. In this
context, efforts are being made in Africa as well as Central America to establish vessel
registers as part of fishery resources management plans and policies.
Effect of overcapacity reduction efforts
Several countries have tried to resolve the issues of overcapacity by establishing
reduction targets. However, data from other countries indicate a continuing expansion
of their fleets. For example, the number of motorized fishing vessels in Cambodia
increased by 16 percent from 38 253 in 2006 to 44 420 in 2008. Indonesia’s fleet of
motorized fishing vessels increased by 15 percent from 337 188 in 2005 to 387 178 in
2007. Viet Nam reported a 6 percent increase in offshore fishing vessels (those with
engines of more than 90 HP) from a total of 21 232 in 2006 to 22 529 in 2008, and
Malaysia reported an 8.6 percent increase in licensed fishing vessels from 23 376 to
25 376 for the same period. The case of Sri Lanka illustrates the potential for overshoot
in efforts to re-establish a fishing fleet partly destroyed by the tsunami that swept the
region in 2004. Sri Lanka had a pre-tsunami fishing fleet of 15 307 motorized vessels,
which according to official reports was reduced to about 6 700 vessels (a 44 percent
reduction) by the tsunami. By 2007, the fishing fleet numbered 23 464 motorized
Table 10
Percentage of small vessels in selected nations with reference to engine
power and tonnage
Country
Date
of data
Powered
vessels
< 50
horsepower
< 50
gross tonnage
< 100
gross tonnage
(Number)
(Percentage)
Cambodia 1 2008 44 420 98.9 – 99.0
Chile 1 2008 6 801 – – 97.8
Egypt 1 2007 4 543 43.1 – 80.7
Indonesia 2 2007 387 178 – 97.8 98.9
Japan 3 2007 296 576 – – 99.6
Thailand 1 2007 13 056 – 71.0 97.0
Viet Nam 4 2008 130 377 77.0 – 89.0
EU (selected) 5
Denmark 2009 2 861 57.7 92.3 95.5
Finland 2009 3 253 64.6 98.6 99.5
Greece 2009 17 255 82.1 97.9 99.0
Ireland 2009 2 098 57.3 85.9 92.0
Italy 2009 13 625 50.3 92.2 97.1
Portugal 2009 8 565 73.3 96.4 97.5
Spain 2009 11 143 64.7 87.5 91.9
Sweden 2009 1 454 37.8 89.8 93.1
1
Response to FAO questionnaire 2008, national authorities.
2
Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries and Japan International Cooperation Agency. 2009. Indonesian Fisheries
Statistics Index 2009 (available at www.dkp.go.id/upload/jica/book_file/02_statindex2009.pdf).
3
Fisheries Agency, Government of Japan. 2008. Statistic Tables of Fishing Vessels. General Report No. 60.
4
National Directorate of Aquatics and Resource Exploitation and Protection. 2009. Briefing document on the current
status of Viet Nam’s fishery sector. DECAFIREP official figures, from POSMA, FSPS II. Prepared by the Post-Harvest and
Marketing Component of the Fishery Sector Programme Support Phase II.
5
Fleet Register On the Net (available at ec.europa.eu/fisheries/fleet/index.cfm?method=Download.menu).