Until now, there has been only one source of data on global fishery catches: information reported to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations by member countries. An extensive, ten-year study conducted by The Sea Around Us Project of the University of British Columbia shows that this catch data is fundamentally misleading. Many countries underreport the amount of fish caught (some by as much as 500%), while others such as China significantly overreport their catches. The Global Atlas of Marine Fisheries is the first and only book to provide accurate, country-by-country fishery data. This groundbreaking information has been gathered from independent sources by the world's foremost fisheries experts, and edited by Daniel Pauly and Dirk Zeller of the Sea Around Us Project. The Atlas includes one-page reports on 273 countries and their territories, plus fourteen topical global chapters. National reports describe the state of the country's fishery, by sector; the policies, politics, and social factors affecting it; and potential solutions. The global chapters address cross-cutting issues, from the economics of fisheries to the impacts of mariculture. Extensive maps and graphics offer attractive and accessible visual representations. While it has long been clear that the world's oceans are in trouble, the lack of reliable data on fishery catches has obscured the scale, and nuances, of the crisis. The atlas shows that, globally, catches have declined rapidly since the 1980s, signaling an even more critical situation than previously understood. The Global Atlas of Marine Fisheries provides a comprehensive picture of our current predicament and steps that can be taken to ease it. For researchers, students, fishery managers, professionals in the fishing industry, and all others concerned with the status of the world's fisheries, the Atlas will be an indispensable resource.
Foreword Acknowledgements Preface
PART I. Global Accounts Chapter 1. On the Importance of Fisheries Catches, with a Rationale for Their Reconstruction \ D. Pauly Chapter 2. Marine Fisheries Catch Reconstruction: Definitions, Sources, Methodology and Challenges \ D. Zeller and D. Pauly Chapter 3. Global Catches of Large Pelagic Fishes, with Emphasis on the High Seas \ F. Le Manach, A. Cisnero-Montemayor, A. Padilla, L. Schiller, D. Zeller, and D. Pauly Chapter 4. Distribution of Biodiversity in the Seas Around Us, with Emphasis on Exploited Fish and Invertebrate Species \ M.L.D. Palomares, W.W.L. Cheung, V. Lam, and D. Pauly Chapter 5. The Sea Around Us Catch Reconstruction Database and Its Spatial Expression \ V. Lam, A. Tavakolie, D. Knip, D. Zeller, and D. Pauly Chapter 6. The Economics of Global Marine Fisheries \ Sumaila, R. V. Lam, D. Zeller, and D. Pauly Chapter 7. Global Evaluation of High Seas Fisheries Management \ S. Cullis-Suzuki and D. Pauly Chapter 8. Global-scale Responses and Vulnerability of Marine Species and Fisheries to Climate Change \ W.W.L. Cheung and D. Pauly Chapter 9. Modelling the Oceans with Ecopath, Ecosim, and Ecotroph: A Brief Review \ C. Colleter, A. Valls, V. Christensen, and D. Pauly Chapter 10. Jellyfish Fisheries: A Global Assessment \ L. Brotz Chapter 11. Changes in Global Seabird Population and Food Consumption \ M. Paleczny, V. Karpouzi, and D. Pauly Chapter 12. A Global Analysis of Mariculture Production and Its Sustainability, 1950-2030 \ B. Campbell, J. Alder, P. Trujillo, and D. Pauly). Chapter 13. Nutrients and Pollutants in the Seas Around Us \ S. Booth, W. Cheung, A. Wallace, V. Lam, S. Watkinson, D. Zeller, V. Christensen, and D. Pauly Chapter 14. Global and Regional Catch Trends in Marine Fisheries \ D. Pauly and D. Zeller
PART II Countries & Territories Accounts
Albania to Yemen
Acronyms and Glossary Taxonomic index Geographic index Authors' index
"This timely publication makes a very significant contribution to our understanding of what is actually happening with the world's fisheries and effectively makes the case that improved management requires more holistic approaches and less institutional and disciplinary fragmentation."
