Archive:Fishery statistics

Data from May 2014, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database. Planned article update: May 2015.

Figure 1: Fishing fleet, 2010 (1) - Source: Eurostat (fish_fleet)

Table 1: Total catches in all fishing regions, 2000-2010
(1 000 tonnes live weight) - Source: Eurostat (fish_ca_00)

Figure 2: Catches by fishing region, EU-27, 2011 (1)
(%, based on tonnes) - Source: Eurostat (fish_ca_main)

Table 2: Aquaculture production, 2000-2010
(1 000 tonnes live weight) - Source: Eurostat (fish_aq_q) and (fish_aq_08)

This article gives an overview of recent statistics relating to fishing fleets, fish catches and aquaculture production in the European Union (EU). Fish are a natural, biological, mobile (sometimes over wide distances) and renewable resource. Aside from fish farming, fish cannot be owned until they have been caught. For this reason, fish stocks continue to be regarded as a common resource, which needs to be managed collectively. This has led to a range of policies that regulate the amount of fishing, as well as the types of fishing techniques and gear used in fish capture.

Main statistical findings

By far, the largest fishing fleets among the EU Member States, in terms of power, were those from Italy, France, Spain and the United Kingdom. In 2012, the fishing fleets of each of these countries had a total power of between 0.8 million kW and 1.0 million kW. In terms of gross tonnage, however, the Spanish fishing fleet was by far the largest (388 thousands of gross tonnes); this was close to two times as high as the next largest fleet, that of the United Kingdom. The fishing fleets of Norway was also very large as it had more power (1.2 million kW) than any of the fleets from the EU Member States, while in gross tonnage terms, it was only slightly smaller than the Spanish one — see Figure 1.

Having peaked in 1995 at 7.6 million tonnes of live weight, the total EU-28 catch (calculated as the sum of catches in the seven regions covered by legal acts and shown in Table 1) fell almost every year, with a relative stagnation between 2007 and 2011. The total catch in 2012 was 28.0 % less than 10 years earlier (see Table 1) and 42.1 % lower than in 1995. Total catches by the fishing fleets of Denmark, Spain, the United Kingdom and France accounted for just over half (53.1 %) of all the catches made by EU-28 fishing fleets in 2012, roughly in line with their combined share in recent years. Among the 14 EU Member States that had a catch of at least 100 000 tonnes in 2002, the largest percentage falls in the catch between 2002 and 2012 were recorded in Denmark (-65.1 %), Lithuania (-53.0 %) and Sweden (-48.9 %), while the total catch fell by about one third in France, one quarter in Italy and the Netherlands and one fifth in Latvia. Among these 14 Member States, Finland recorded the only substantial increase, its catch rising by 26.6 %. For comparison, during the same period of time the Icelandic catch fell by 32.3 % while that in Norway fell by 25.3 %; the combined Icelandic and Norwegian catch was equivalent to 79.2 % of the EU-28 catch in 2012, a ratio that was almost the same as it had been 10 years earlier, despite having fallen as low as 68.5 % in 2006 and 69.0 % as recently as 2011.

Some 74 % of the catches made by the EU-28 in 2012 were in the north-east Atlantic, with the Mediterranean and Black sea the second largest fishing area — see Figure 2.

The level of aquaculture production in tonnage in the EU-28 remained almost stable during the period from 2002 to 2012, with annual output between 1.24 and 1.36 million tonnes. The five largest aquaculture producers among the EU Member States were Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Greece, which together accounted for around three quarters (76.0 %) of total aquaculture production in 2012. Among the non-member countries included in Table 2 aquaculture production was extremely high in Norway where, in 2012, its output exceeded that of the whole of the EU-28. The aquaculture output of Turkey was also quite substantial, larger in 2012 than that of every EU Member State, exception made of Spain.

The development of aquaculture production in tonnage between 2002 and 2012 followed different patterns across the EU Member States. Among the larger producers, Ireland, France, Germany and the Netherlands reported production in 2012 that was at least 10.0 % lower than in 2002, while growth in excess of 10.0 % was recorded for Greece and the United Kingdom. The level of output in 2012 in Spain, Poland, Denmark and the Czech Republic was quite similar to the level recorded 10 years earlier. Among the smaller producers, the most remarkable growth was recorded for Malta where aquaculture production increased more than six fold and for Bulgaria where output trebled. Norwegian aquaculture production more than doubled between 2002 and 2012.

Data sources and availability

Fishery statistics are collected from official national sources either directly by Eurostat for the members of the European Economic Area (EEA) or indirectly through other international organisations for other countries. The data are collected using internationally agreed concepts and definitions developed by the coordinating working party on fishery statistics (CWP), comprising Eurostat and several other international organisations with responsibilities in fishery statistics. The flag of the fishing vessel is used as the primary indication of the nationality of the catch, though this concept may vary in certain circumstances.

In general, the data refer to the fishing fleet size on 31 December of the reference year. The data are derived from national registers of fishing vessels which are maintained pursuant to Regulation 26/2004 which contains information on the vessel characteristics — the administrative file of fishing vessels is maintained by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

There has been a transition in measuring the tonnage of the fishing fleet from gross registered tonnage (GRT) to that of gross tonnage (GT). This change, which has taken place at different speeds within the national administrations, gives rise to the possibility of non-comparability of data over time and of non-comparability between countries.

Catches of fishery products include items taken for all purposes (commercial, industrial, recreational and subsistence) by all types and classes of fishing units operating in inshore, offshore and in high-seas fishing areas. The catch is normally expressed in live weight and derived by the application of conversion factors to the landed or product weight. As such, catch statistics exclude quantities which are caught and taken from the water (that is, before processing) but which, for a variety of reasons, are not landed.

The data presented in this article for the total catch refer to seven geographical fishing areas. These are the following Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) major fishing areas:

21 — Atlantic, Northwest which is the region that is roughly the area to the west of longitude 42° West and north of latitude 35° North;
27 — Atlantic, Northeast which is roughly the area to the east of longitude 42° West and north of latitude 36° North, including the waters of the Baltic Sea;
34 — Atlantic, Eastern Central which is the region to the east of longitude 40° West between latitudes 36° North and 6° South;
37 — Mediterranean and Black Sea which comprises the Mediterranean Sea and the adjacent Black Sea;
41 — Atlantic, Southwest which is the region that is roughly the area to the west of longitude 20° West and between 5° North and 50° South of latitude;
47 — Atlantic, Southeast which is the region that is roughly the area to the east of longitude 20° West and between 6° South and 50° South of latitude;
51 — Indian Ocean, Western which is the region that is roughly the area to the west of longitude 80° East and North of latitude 45° South.

Aquaculture is the farming of aquatic organisms including fish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants. Farming implies some form of intervention in the rearing process to enhance production, such as regular stocking, feeding and protection from predators. Farming also implies individual or corporate ownership of, or rights resulting from contractual arrangements to, the stock being cultivated.

Context

The first common European policy measures in the fishing sector date from 1970. They set rules for access to fishing grounds, markets and structures. All these measures became more significant when, in 1976, the EU Member States followed an international movement and agreed to extend their rights to marine resources from 12 to 200 miles from their coasts.

After years of difficult negotiations, the common fisheries policy (CFP), the EU’s instrument for the management of fisheries and aquaculture, was born in 1983. The CFP sets maximum quantities of fish that can be safely caught every year: the total allowable catch (TAC). Each country’s share is called a national quota.

The CFP was reformed in 2002 to deal with the environmental, economic and social dimensions of fishing. The 2002 reform identified the need to limit fishing efforts, the level of catches, and to enforce certain technical measures. To ensure sustainable fishing, it is not only the quantity of fish taken from the sea that is important, but also their species, size, and the techniques used in catching them, as well as the areas where they are caught.

The CFP was considered, by many, to be in need of further reform, essentially because of the depletion of fish stocks, the overall threat to the marine ecosystem and the resulting impact on the fishing industry and dependent communities. The latest reforms of the CFP were adopted in December 2013 and became effective on 1 January 2014. The legislative package included three Regulations concerning:

the common fisheries policy (Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013;
the common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products (Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013).
the European maritime and fisheries fund (Regulation (EU) No 508/2014).

The CFP aims to ensure that fishing and aquaculture are environmentally, economically and socially sustainable and that they provide a source of healthy food for EU citizens. Its goal is to foster a dynamic fishing industry and to ensure a fair standard of living for fishing communities. The CFP has four main policy areas:

fisheries management, for example managing fish stocks;
international policy, for example concerning fishing outside of the EU;
market and trade policy for fishery and aquaculture products;
funding of the policy through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.

The current policy stipulates that between 2015 and 2020 catch limits should be set that are sustainable and maintain fish stocks in the long term.

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Agriculture, forestry and fishery statistics — 2013 edition
Agriculture, fishery and forestry statistics — Main results — 2010–11 — 2012 edition
Agriculture and fishery statistics — Main results — 2009–2010 pocketbook
Fishery statistics — Data 1995–2008 (Pocketbook)
Fishery statistics — Data 1990–2006 (Pocketbook)
Statistical data on the landings of fishery products in Member States and European Economic Area countries for 2008 — Data in focus 16/2010
The EU-27 fishing fleet continued to decline in 2008 — Data 2005–2008 — Statistics in focus 49/2009

Main tables

Fisheries (t_fish)

Fishery production in al lfishing regions (tag00117)

Catches in all fishing regions (tag00076)

Catches in the north-west Atlantic (tag00079)

Catches in the north-east Atlantic (tag00078)

Catches in the eastern central Atlantic (tag00080)

Catches in the Mediterranean (tag00081)

Aquaculture production in tonnes and value (tag00075)

Fishing fleet, total engine power (tsdnr420)

Fishing fleet, Total tonnage (tag00083)

Fishing Fleet, Number of Vessels (tag00116)

Database

Fisheries (fish)

Total Fishery Production (Catch + Aquaculture) (fish_pr)

Catches by fishing area (fish_ca)

Aquaculture production by species (fish_aq)

Landings of fishery products (fish_ld)

Fishing fleet (fish_fleet)

Dedicated section

Fisheries

Methodology / Metadata

Aquaculture production [ESMS metadata file — fish_aq_esms]
Catches by fishing area [ESMS metadata file — fish_ca_esms]
Fishing fleet [ESMS metadata file — fish_fleet_esms]
Landings of fishery products [ESMS metadata file — fish_ld_esms]
Total Fishery Production (Catch + Aquaculture) [ESMS metadata file — fish_pr_esms]

Other information

Catch statistics:

Regulation 216/2009 on the submission of nominal catch statistics by Member States fishing in certain areas other than those of the North Atlantic
Regulation 217/2009 on the submission of catch and activity statistics by Member States fishing in the North-West Atlantic
Regulation 218/2009 on the submission of nominal catch statistics by Member States fishing in the north-east Atlantic

Aquaculture:

Regulations 788/96 and 762/2008 on the submission by Member States of statistics on aquaculture production

Landings:

Regulation 1921/2006 on the submission of data on the landings of fishery products in Member States

Fishing fleet:

Regulation 26/2004 on the Community fishing fleet register

Source data for tables and figures (MS Excel)

Fishery statistics: tables and figures

External links