Thefishing industry includes any industry or activity that takes, cultures, processes, preserves, stores, transports, markets or sells fish or fish products. It is defined by theFood and Agriculture Organization as includingrecreational,subsistence andcommercial fishing, as well as the related harvesting,processing, andmarketing sectors.[1] The commercial activity is aimed at the delivery offish and otherseafood products for human consumption or as input factors in other industrial processes. The livelihood of over 500 million people indeveloping countries depends directly or indirectly onfisheries andaquaculture.[2]
The fishing industry is struggling with environmental and welfare issues, includingoverfishing andoccupational safety.[3] Additionally, the combined pressures ofclimate change,biodiversity loss and overfishing endanger the livelihoods andfood security of a substantial portion of the global population.[4] Stocks fished within biologically sustainable levels decreased from 90% in 1974 to 62.3% in 2021.[5]
Commercially important finfish fisheries |
The industry has three principal sectors that includerecreational,subsistence or traditional, andcommercial fishing.[1][6]
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Commercial fishing is the activity of catchingfish and otherseafood forcommercialprofit, mostly fromwild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often pursue fish far into the ocean under adverse conditions. Large-scale commercial fishing is calledindustrial fishing.
The major fishing industries are not only owned by major corporations but by small families as well.[7] In order to adapt to declining fish populations and increased demand, many commercial fishing operations have reduced the sustainability of their harvest by fishing further down the food chain. This raises concern forfishery managers and researchers, who highlight how further they say that for those reasons, the sustainability of the marine ecosystems could be in danger of collapsing.[7]
Commercial fishermen harvest a wide variety of animals. However, a very small number of species support the majority of the world's fisheries; these includeherring,cod,anchovy,tuna,flounder,mullet,squid,shrimp,salmon,crab,lobster,oyster andscallops. All except these last four provided a worldwide catch of well over amilliontonnes in 1999, withherring andsardines together providing a catch of over 22 million metric tons in 1999. Many other species are fished in smaller numbers.
In 2016, of the 171 million tonnes of fish caught, about 88 percent or over 151 million tonnes were utilized for direct human consumption. This share has increased significantly in recent decades, as it was 67 percent in the 1960s.[8] In 2016, the greatest part of the 12 percent used for non-food purposes (about 20 million tonnes) was reduced to fishmeal and fish oil (74 percent or 15 million tonnes), while the rest (5 million tonnes) was largely utilized as material for direct feeding in aquaculture and raising of livestock and fur animals, in culture (e.g. fry, fingerlings or small adults for ongrowing), as bait, in pharmaceutical uses and for ornamental purposes.[8]
Fish are harvested bycommercial fishing andaquaculture. Stocks fished within biologically sustainable levels decreased from 90% in 1974 to 62.3% in 2021.[5]
Theworld harvest increased over the 20th century and, by 1986, had stabilized around 85–95 million metric tons (94×10^6–105×10^6 short tons) per year.[9] According to theFood and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the world harvest in 2005 consisted of 93.3 million metric tons (102.8×10^6 short tons) captured bycommercial fishing inwild fisheries, plus 48.1 million metric tons (53.0×10^6 short tons) produced byfish farms. In addition, 1.3 million metric tons (1.4×10^6 short tons) ofaquatic plants (seaweed etc.) were captured in wild fisheries and 14.8 million metric tons (16.3×10^6 short tons) were produced byaquaculture.[10] The number of individual fish caught in the wild has been estimated at 0.97–2.7 trillion per year (not counting fish farms or marine invertebrates).[11]
Following is a table of the 2011 world fishing industry harvest intonnes (metric tons) by capture and byaquaculture.[10]
| Capture (ton) | Aquaculture (ton) | Total (ton) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 94,574,113 | 83,729,313 | 178,303,426 |
| Aquatic plant | 1,085,143 | 20,975,361 | 22,060,504 |
| Aquatic animal | 93,488,970 | 62,753,952 | 156,202,922 |
Once fish is caught, especially in commercial sectors, bringing the fish to consumers require a complex series of related industries.
Fish processing is the processing of fish delivered by commercial fisheries and fish farms. The larger fish processing companies have their own fishing fleets and independent fisheries. The products of the industry are usually soldwholesale togrocery chains or to intermediaries.
Fish processing can be subdivided into two categories: fish handling (the initial processing of raw fish) and fish products manufacturing. Aspects of fish processing occur onfishing vessels,fish processing vessels, and atfish processing plants.
Another natural subdivision is into primary processing involved in the filleting and freezing of fresh fish for onward distribution to fresh fish retail and catering outlets, and the secondary processing that produces chilled, frozen and canned products for the retail and catering trades.[14]
Fisheries are estimated to currently provide 16% of the world population'sprotein. The flesh of many fish are primarily valued as a source of food; there are many edible species of fish. Other marine life taken as food includesshellfish,crustaceans,sea cucumber,jellyfish androe.
Fish and other marine life can also be used for many other uses:pearls andmother-of-pearl,sharkskin andrayskin.Sea horses,star fish,sea urchins andsea cucumber are used intraditional Chinese medicine.Tyrian purple is a pigment made from marine snails, andsepia is a pigment made from the inky secretions ofcuttlefish.Fish glue has long been valued for its use in all manner of products.Isinglass is used for theclarification ofwine andbeer.Fish emulsion is afertilizeremulsion that is produced from the fluid remains of fish processed forfish oil andfish meal.
Fish derivedproteinhydrolysates have been identified to exhibit a wide range ofbioactivities making them important to food and health care industries.[15] Hydrolysates derived from fish processing by-products likeswim bladder, skin,scale, bones andfins displayblood pressure regulatory,[16]anti-inflammatory,[17]neuroprotective,[18]immunomodulatory andanti-cancer activity.[19] Fish hydrolysates are also on the rise for commercial purposes in food industries due to theirlipid peroxidation inhibition, highemulsification activity and large water retention capacity making them effective food matrixstabilization andshelf life enhancement agents.[20][21][22]
In the industry, the termseafood products is often used instead offish products.
Fish markets aremarketplace used for thetrade in and sale of fish and otherseafood. They can be dedicated towholesale trade betweenfishermen and fishmerchants, or to the sale of seafood to individualconsumers, or to both. Retail fish markets, a type ofwet market, often sellstreet food as well.
Mostshrimp are sold frozen and aremarketed in different categories.[23] Thelive food fish trade is a global system that links fishing communities with markets.
Theenvironmental impact of fishing includes issues such as the availability offish,overfishing,fisheries, andfisheries management; as well as the impact ofindustrial fishing on other elements of the environment, such asbycatch.[24] These issues are part ofmarine conservation, and are addressed infisheries science programs. According to a 2019FAO report, global production of fish, crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic animals has continued to grow and reached 172.6 million tonnes in 2017, with an increase of 4.1 percent compared with 2016.[25] There is a growing gap between the supply of fish and demand, due in part toworld population growth.[26]
Fishing and pollution from fishing are the largest contributors to the decline in ocean health and water quality.[citation needed] Ghost nets, or nets abandoned in the ocean, are made of plastic and nylon and do not decompose, wreaking extreme havoc on the wildlife and ecosystems they interrupt. Overfishing and destruction of marine ecosystems may have a significant impact on other aspects of the environment such asseabird populations. On top of the overfishing, there is a seafood shortage resulting from the mass amounts of seafood waste, as well as themicroplastics that are polluting the seafood consumed by the public. The latter is largely caused by plastic-made fishing gear likedrift nets andlonglining equipment that are worn down by use, lost or thrown away.[27][28]
The journalScience published a four-year study in November 2006, which predicted that, at prevailing trends, the world would run out of wild-caughtseafood in 2048. The scientists stated that the decline was a result ofoverfishing,pollution and other environmental factors that were reducing the population of fisheries at the same time as their ecosystems were being annihilated. Many countries, such asTonga, theUnited States,Australia andBahamas, and international management bodies have taken steps to appropriately manage marine resources.[29][30]
Reefs are also being destroyed byoverfishing because of the huge nets that are dragged along the ocean floor whiletrawling. Many corals are being destroyed and, as a consequence, theecological niche of many species is at stake.A conventional idea of asustainable fishery is that it is one that is harvested at a sustainable rate, where the fish population does not decline over time because of fishing practices.Sustainability infisheries combines theoretical disciplines, such as thepopulation dynamics of fisheries, with practical strategies, such as avoidingoverfishing through techniques such asindividual fishing quotas, curtailingdestructive andillegal fishing practices by lobbying for appropriate law and policy, setting up protected areas, restoring collapsed fisheries, incorporating allexternalities involved in harvesting marine ecosystems into fishery economics, educating stakeholders and the wider public, and developing independent certification programs.
Some primary concerns around sustainability are that heavy fishing pressures, such asoverexploitation andgrowth orrecruitment overfishing, will result in the loss of significantpotential yield; thatstock structure will erode to the point where it loses diversity and resilience to environmental fluctuations; that ecosystems and their economic infrastructures will cycle between collapse and recovery; with each cycle less productive than its predecessor; and that changes will occur in thetrophic balance (fishing down marine food webs).[31]The ocean covers 71% of the earth's surface and 80% of the value of exploitedmarine resources are attributed to the fishing industry. The fishing industry has provoked various international disputes as wild fish capture rose to a peak about the end of the 20th century, and has since started a gradual decline.[32] Iceland, Japan, and Portugal are the greatest consumers ofseafood per capita in the world.[citation needed]
Chile andPeru are countries with highfish consumption, and therefore had troubles regarding their fish industries. In 1947, Chile and Peru first adopted the 200nautical mile standard as theirexclusive economic zone (EEZ), and in 1982, theUN formally adopted this term. In the 2000s, Chile and Peru suffered a serious fish crisis because of excessive fishing and lack of proper regulations, and nowpolitical power play in the area is rekindled[clarification needed].[33] From the late 1950s, offshore bottom trawlers began exploiting the deeper part, leading to a large catch increase and a strong decline in the underlying biomass. The stock collapsed to extremely low levels in the early 1990s and this is a well-known example of non-excludable, non-rivalrouspublic good in economics, causingfree-rider problems.[citation needed]
Following thecollapse of the Atlantic northwest cod fishery in 1992, a dispute arose between Canada and the European Union over the right to fishGreenland halibut (also known as turbot) just outside of Canada's exclusive economic zone in theGrand Banks of Newfoundland. The dispute became known as theTurbot War.[34][35] On 9 March 1995, in response to observations of foreign vessels fishing illegally in Canadian waters and using illegal equipment outside of Canada's EEZ, Canadian officials boarded and seized the Spanish trawlerEstai in international waters on the Grand Banks.[36] Throughout March, theSpanish Navy deployed patrol ships to protect fishing boats in the area,[37] and Canadian forces were authorized to open fire on any Spanish vessel showing its guns.[citation needed] Canada and the European Union reached a settlement on 15 April which led to significant reforms in international fishing agreements.[38]
Iceland is one of the largest consumers in the world and in 1972, a dispute occurred betweenUK and Iceland because of Iceland's announcement of anExclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to reduce overfishing. This dispute is called theCod Wars, direct confrontations between Icelandic patrol vessels and British warships.[citation needed]
Nowadays in Europe in general, countries are searching for a way to recover their fishing industries. Overfishing ofEU fisheries is costing 3.2 billion euros a year and 100,000 jobs according to a report. So Europe is constantly looking for some collective actions that could be taken to prevent overfishing.[39]
Japan,China andKorea are some of the greatest consumers of fish, and have some disputes overExclusive Economic Zone.[40]In 2011, due to a serious earthquake, the nuclear power facility inFukushima was damaged. A huge amount of contaminated water leaked and entered the ocean.Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) admitted that around 300 tonnes of highly radioactive water had leaked from a storage tank on the site. In theKuroshio Current, the sea near Fukushima, about 11 countries catch fish. Not only the surrounding countries such as Japan, Korea and China, but also the countries likeUkraine,Spain andRussia have boats in the Kuroshio Current. In September 2013,South Korea banned all fish imports from eight Japanese prefectures, due to the radioactive water leaks from the Fukushima nuclear plant.[39]
TheNorth Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission: NPFC was established in 2015 to manage fish stocks against increasing demand.Members areCanada,Japan,Russia, theUnited States, andSouth Korea.China,Taiwan, andVanuatu also participated in the meeting.The NPFC imposes catch limits on member countries and countries participating in the conference. A crackdown onIllegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) vendors was also requested.
International policy to attempt to address these issues is captured inSustainable Development Goal 14 ("Life below water") and its Target 14.4 on "Sustainable fishing":[41] "By 2020, effectively regulate harvesting and endoverfishing,illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing anddestructive fishing practices and implement science-based management plans, in order to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible, at least to levels that can produce maximumsustainable yield as determined by their biological characteristics".
TheMarine Stewardship Council (MSC) is an independentnon-profit organization which sets a standard forsustainable fishing. Fisheries that wish to demonstrate they are well-managed and sustainable compared to the MSC's standards are assessed by a team of experts orConformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) who are independent of both the fishery and the MSC.[42][43]
Despite safety gains in many other industries, fishing continues to have the highest fatality rate of any employment sector in Canada.
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