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. 2019 Jun 18;116(25):12238-12243.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.1820344116. Epub 2019 May 28.

Evolution of global marine fishing fleets and the response of fished resources

Yannick Rousseau  1   2   3 , Reg A Watson  4   2 , Julia L Blanchard  4   2 , Elizabeth A Fulton  2   3
Affiliations

Evolution of global marine fishing fleets and the response of fished resources

Yannick Rousseau et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

Previous reconstructions of marine fishing fleets have aggregated data without regard to the artisanal and industrial sectors. Engine power has often been estimated from subsets of the developed world, leading to inflated results. We disaggregated data into three sectors, artisanal (unpowered/powered) and industrial, and reconstructed the evolution of the fleet and its fishing effort. We found that the global fishing fleet doubled between 1950 and 2015-from 1.7 to 3.7 million vessels. This has been driven by substantial expansion of the motorized fleet, particularly, of the powered-artisanal fleet. By 2015, 68% of the global fishing fleet was motorized. Although the global fleet is dominated by small powered vessels under 50 kW, they contribute only 27% of the global engine power, which has increased from 25 to 145 GW (combined powered-artisanal and industrial fleets). Alongside an expansion of the fleets, the effective catch per unit of effort (CPUE) has consistently decreased since 1950, showing the increasing pressure of fisheries on ocean resources. The effective CPUE of most countries in 2015 was a fifth of its 1950s value, which was compared with a global decline in abundance. There are signs, however, of stabilization and more effective management in recent years, with a reduction in fleet sizes in developed countries. Based on historical patterns and allowing for the slowing rate of expansion, 1 million more motorized vessels could join the global fleet by midcentury as developing countries continue to transition away from subsistence fisheries, challenging sustainable use of fisheries' resources.

Keywords: CPUE; artisanal; effort; fishing capacity; industrial.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Number of vessels in the global fishing fleet by country (A) and power class (B), total engine power of the global fishing fleet by country (C), power class (D), powered-artisanal (E), and industrial (F) sectors 1950–2015. Country labels [except for the European Union (EU)] are expressed in ISO 3166–1 standards.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Snapshots of the ratio of motorization (A–C) and average engine power in kilowatts (D–F) of the national motorized fishing fleet in 1950, 1980, and 2015, respectively. Motorization levels in European countries in 1950 might be overestimated due to the lack of data post-World War II. No data for the unmotorized fleet of Finland was found, but it was assumed that the motorization level was close to 100% since the 1970s, similar to other Scandinavian countries.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Yearly nominal (black) and effective (red) fishing effort by region and sector, 1950–2015. The effective effort assumes a 2.6% increase in technological creep per annum. The dashed lines represent the artisanal fishing sector (including powered and unpowered), and the dotted lines represent the industrial sector.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
Yearly change in nominal (black) and effective (red) CPUE and stock abundance (dotted blue) by region, 1950–2015, indexed to 1950. The effective CPUE assumes a 2.6% increase in technological creep per annum. The gray and dark pink shaded areas correspond to one SD error (68% confidence interval) based on the uncertainty of the engine power alone, the light pink shaded area corresponds to one SD error based on the uncertainty of the engine power and technological creep combined. Abundance was expressed in terms of the total assessed biomass or spawning biomass. The y axes were aligned to facilitate comparison.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5.
Mean yearly change in nominal CPUE per country between 2000 and 2015, total (A) and for the artisanal (B) and industrial (C) sectors. Countries in black do not have enough information to meaningfully calculate the rate of change according to sectors.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 6.
Snapshots of the 2015 relative change in nominal (A) and effective (B) CPUE, indexed to 1950. The technological creep estimated at 2.6% per annum.
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