Small-scale fisheries catches in Socotra, an archipelago that belongs to Yemen and is located off the north-eastern tip of Africa in the western Indian Ocean, reached an all-time high of 12,000 tonnes in 2000, declined to about 3,300 tonnes by 2014 and then slightly increased to 3,700 tonnes by 2019.
Black and white snapper in the Red Sea, Egypt. Photo by Derek Keats, Wikimedia Commons
Warmer water than that to which a fish is used becomes an aggressor of sorts that impacts internal biochemical processes and forces the fish to stop growing at a smaller size than it would normally do in optimal habitat conditions, new research shows.
Since 1999, the Sea Around Us – under the leadership of Dr. Daniel Pauly – has been the purveyor of fisheries catch data and associated indicators that have allowed researchers, NGOs, government agencies, and intergovernmental organizations, among others, to conduct a variety of studies that support efforts to protect our global ocean and the marine biodiversity that lives within it.
To celebrate World Oceans Day 2023, we prepared a short, guided tour through our database to help you quickly familiarize yourself with its main features.
Sardines at the Rameswaram fishing port in India. Image by Rudolph A. Furtado, Wikimedia Commons
Indian Ocean marine fisheries catches have been consistently rising since the 1950s, a recent study by researchers with the Sea Around Us – Indian Ocean initiative at the University of Western Australia shows. This contrasts with global trends.