Fishing, Commercial
SIC 0910
NAICS 1141
This industry includes commercial harvesters of finfish, shellfish, and miscellaneous marine products from open waters, as opposed to aquaculture, which harvests fish from captive waters. For discussion of fish production from controlled habitats see Aquaculture.
Global fishery production between 1950 and 2003 increased from an estimated 20 million metric tons (mmt) to 90.3 mmt, with a record high of 95.4 mmt in 2000, according to Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO)of the United Nations statistics. During this period, the number of participants in the industry also grew rapidly. As a result, more fishermen were attempting to catch fewer fish as fish stocks declined. Consequently, commercial fishing experienced accelerated competition from aquaculture fish farming because of greater control over fish production and because of strained natural resources. By 2003, major fishing countries such as China, Peru, and Chile were posting declines in total catches, while less developed fishing industries, such as those in Morocco and South Africa, saw significant increases in production.
Two ocean regions play the largest roles in the commercial fishing industry. The world's three most productive areas, according to statistics compiled by the FAO, were the Pacific Northwest, the Pacific Southeast, and the Atlantic Northeast. These areas have large continental shelves with the ability to support substantial stocks of important fish species. After 1971, the Pacific Northwest was the most productive region for commercial fishing. The amount of fish caught in this region in 2000, according to FAO statistics, was 23 mmt, double the amount harvested there in the 1970s. The North Atlantic region and Pacific Southeast were also major fishing sites. In addition to their topography, the social conditions in the bordering coastal nations contributed to the development of robust fishing industries in the Northwest Pacific and North Atlantic. Japan, the Russian Federation, China, and South Korea were in close proximity to the Northwest Pacific. Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Canada, and the United States bound the North Atlantic. Other major fishing regions were located in the Southeast Pacific, West Central Pacific, and inland Asia.
As a result of years of unrestrained fishing, the number of fish available began to shrink drastically in the 1990s as fisheries caught fish faster than they could reproduce. In particular, the number of ground fish (including black cod, ocean perch, lingcod, and dover sole) plummeted in the 1990s. Furthermore, the FAO reported that companies had overfished two-thirds of the world's most popular marine species, including lobster, prawns, cod, and snapper. In response, national governments and the international community developed policies to make the industry sustainable. In order to meet the international demand for seafood, many of the leading seafood-producing countries started to promote aquaculture with government subsidies. Asia, the leading aquaculture region, achieved considerable success with the transition from catching to raising fish. Other countries, such as the United States, France, Peru, Chile, and Canada, also increased their aquaculture industries in response to dwindling wild fish stocks.
FAO studies concluded that the outlook for the global commercial fishing industry depended on the remedial measures taken to improve overfished regions. If fisheries could manage their production in a sustainable manner that allowed species to reproduce faster than they are caught, then the fishing industry was expected to have a chance to produce 105 million metric tons by 2010. However, if the global industry failed to improve fishing conditions worldwide, then the industry's output might drop to 80 million metric tons. Therefore, the commercial fishing industry could only expect slight growth at best through 2010, as aquaculture would most likely play a greater role in the world's overall fish output. In the twenty-first century, according to the FAO, it would be increasingly important to pay attention to the replacement of inadequate fleets, particularly in artisan waters, where post-harvest losses could total 20 to 50 percent of the annual catch. The fleets were expected to provide equipment to retard spoilage and to keep the catch fresh until brought to shore for processing and consumption.
While it was clear that some 30 percent of all popular food fishes in the sea were threatened and that at least some would never recover, the industry was expected to rebound as wasted catches were eliminated and stricter management controls were enforced by the seafood industry. "The demise of the fish industry has been proclaimed more than once, but in all likelihood, in 50 years our grandchildren will still be making a living from the sea and feeding an increasingly hungry world," according to the National Fisherman. However, should the industry tarry too long and allow the seas to be overfished by the unscrupulous, "the ocean's bounteous fisheries may become a distant memory," cautioned Business Week.
Traditionally, fishing was practiced by independent fishermen, often operating family-owned boats and fishing in the waters where their ancestors had fished. These fishermen operated under the control of fishing associations, local authorities, national governments, and regional treaties. When the industry became mechanized, larger corporate-owned vessels sailed to more distant waters. As a result, commercial fisheries came under the supervision of conventions, which existed by treaty, governing specific areas of the seas. One of the first conventions to be created was the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATCC), established by treaty, in 1949, for the purpose of studying tuna and tuna-like species in the eastern Pacific. The commission's first task was to make recommendations regarding efficient use of the Pacific's tuna resources.
The North Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), established in 1979, was given the task of governing fishing in the international waters of the northwest Atlantic. Contracting parties to the NAFO treaty included Bulgaria, Canada, Cuba, Denmark (in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland), Estonia, the European Community, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, the Russian Federation, and South Korea. One of NAFO's responsibilities was to protect overfished species—such as cod and flatfish—from exploitation. To preserve sustainable fish stocks, NAFO established and allocated catch quotas.
The South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), also established in 1979, was created to help increase cooperation among those fishing in the South Pacific, primarily for tuna. The FFA Convention comprised 16 independent member nations: Australia, the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Western Samoa. The FFA provided its members with help in establishing fisheries policies, developing a system of licensing, and monitoring the activities of distant water fleets.
The Northeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) was established in 1982. Its origins, however, extend to 1946 when the Convention for the Regulation of Meshes of Fishing Nets and the Size Limits of Fish was established. NEAFC membership included Cuba, Denmark (in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland), the European Community, Iceland, Norway, Poland, and Russia. (Bulgaria formally discontinued membership in the commission in January 1995.) The commission's responsibilities included conservation and ensuring optimum utilization of fishery resources within its jurisdiction, which included parts of the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans and the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas. Specific regulations governed types of permitted fishing gear, mesh sizes, fish size limits, area closures, fishing seasons, and catch quotas. Non-member nations operating within its territory included Belize, the Cayman Islands, Honduras, Panama, Sierra Leone, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the United States, and Venezuela.
The European Community (subsequently known as the European Union) instituted its Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in 1983. CFP ruled governed access to fishing grounds, set catch limits, restricted time spent at sea, determined the number and type of vessels authorized to fish in certain areas, established the type of fishing gear able to be used, set minimum sizes, and created incentives to reduce by-catch losses. In January 1995, a licensing policy was created requiring that all boats operating in EC waters be licensed.
The Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC), formed as a result of the Pacific Salmon Treaty between the United States and Canada, was signed in 1985. PSC was created to provide recommendations and advice regarding catches of migratory salmon in western U.S. and Canadian waters. The commissioners represented the interests of commercial fishermen as well as the interests of tribal governments and recreational fishermen.
Many other organizations operate to monitor fishery activities. For example, the International Baltic Sea Fishery Commission, with eight contracting parties—Estonia, the European Community (subsequently known as the European Union), Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Russian Federation, and Sweden—governed operations in the Baltic Sea. The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living...
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