Tag: underreporting

Fisheries catch re-estimates for the Baltic Sea

Another piece in the puzzle of true global fish catches is now in press at the journal Fisheries Research. The work re-estimates total catches for the nine countries fishing in the Baltic Sea. The new estimates, a team effort by several Sea Around Us members and led by Dirk Zeller, are 30% higher than official reports for 1950-2007.

The full reference for the work is: Zeller, D., Rossing, P., Harper, S., Persson, L., Booth, S. and Pauly, D. (in press) The Baltic Sea: estimates of total fisheries removals 1950-2007. Fisheries Research.

Arctic Fish Catches Underreported

Fisheries catches in the Arctic totaled 950,000 tonnes from 1950 to 2006, almost 75 times the amount reported to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) during this period, according to a new Sea Around Us led study out this week in Polar Biology. The Arctic is one of the last and most extensive ocean wilderness areas in the world. The extent of the sea ice in the region has declined in recent years due to climate change, raising concerns over loss of biodiversity as well as the expansion of industrial fisheries into this area. This study offers a more accurate baseline against which to monitor changes in fish catches and to inform policy and conservation efforts. Find the full press release that accompanies the research here and coverage in Nature News here.

Colombian Fisheries Bigger Than Reported

colombian_flagA new study published online in Marine Policy last week shows that Colombia, like many other countries around the world, has been underreporting its marine fisheries catches. From 1950–2006, the Colombian catch may have been almost twice the landings reported by FAO on behalf of the country (2.8 times higher in the Atlantic Ocean fisheries; 1.3 times higher in the Pacific Ocean fisheries). Jeffrey Wielgus, a former visiting researcher with the Sea Around Us Project, is lead author of the study and Sea Around Us members Dirk Zeller and Rashid Sumaila are co-authors. The fourth author, Dalila Caicedo-Herrera, is a Colombia-based fisheries researcher. The article is titled: Estimation of fisheries removals and primary economic impact of the small-scale and industrial marine fisheries in Colombia.