Graph of Day: Catch Trends by Valuable Marine Species Groups, 1970-2008

Growth of tuna fisheries halted in 2008 as catches of this species group decreased by 2.6 percent after the 2007 global record of almost 6.5 million tonnes. While maximum tuna catches in the Pacific Ocean (which represents about 70 percent of the global catches) and in the Indian Ocean were reached in 2007 and 2006, respectively, the peak of Atlantic tuna catches dates back to 1993. Shark catches decreased by almost 20 percent from their 2003 peak at 0.9 million tonnes. It is hoped that this reduction is partially due to the effectiveness of the management measures (e.g., finning ban) implemented at the national and regional levels to regulate both fisheries targeting sharks and shark bycatch, rather than to stock decline resulting from overfishing of sharks. The decline of the gadiformes (“cods, hakes, haddocks” in Figure 7) seems relentless. In 2008, catches of this species group as a whole did not total 8 million tonnes, a level that had been until then consistently exceeded since 1967 and that reached a peak of almost 14 million tonnes in 1987. In the last decade, catches of Atlantic cod, the iconic species of this group, have been somewhat stable in the Northwest Atlantic at about 50 000 tonnes (very low by historical standards), but in the Northeast Atlantic catches have further decreased by 30 percent. Cephalopod catches set a new record in 2008, although their growth seems to have levelled off. This is the species group that has shown the strongest performance in recent years, with a gain of more than 1 million tonnes since 2002 (Figure 7). Crabs are another group of invertebrates that reached a maximum in 2008, with overall catches growing by one-quarter in the last six years. On the other hand, shrimp catches have decreased slightly but remained at more than 3 million tonnes in 2008 (Figure 7). The four groups of bivalves as a whole were very steady in 2005–08, although different trends are shown by the groups. Oyster and mussel catches have been declining since 2000, whereas scallops and clams have recently recovered from previously negative trends.

The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2010 [pdf], FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS, Rome, 2010