Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission

Regional overview of capture fisheries in Asia and the Pacific2012

Simon Funge-SmithSecretary, Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission

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“Regional Overview of Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Asia-Pacific 2012”

• APFIC resource book– promote ecosystem thinking

• Organize information into meaningful geographical, biological and governance units – ecoregion/LME/SME, not FAO statistical area– higher level of detail than aggregated national

catches

• Capture fisheries review divided into three sub-regions– South China sea– Bay of Bengal – Sulu-Sulawesi/Timor Arafura

• Aquaculture overview covers different commodity groupings across the region.

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Marine capture fisheries

• The principal fishery indicators:• Resource related:

– Catch composition; catch trends; status of species groups; fishmeal; surimi

• Effort related: – CPUE - gears and target species groups;

vessel numbers & types

• Socio-economic related indicator: – employment

• Management related: – Zoning; management measures;

classifications of small-scale and commercial fisheries; protected areas; closed seasons/areas

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General trend in capture fisheries

• Asia-Pacific region continues to be the world’s largest producer of fish. – >50% of world production since 2006 – 48.7 million tonnes– declined slightly from 2004 to 2006– >2007 started to increase

– á 3.5% 2009 to 2010

• 5 APFIC members are in top 10 world producers

• China largest production in region– 15.7 million tonnes – 32 % of total regional production

19501954

19581962

19661970

19741978

19821986

19901994

19982002

20062010

0

10,000,000

20,000,000

30,000,000

40,000,000

50,000,000

60,000,000

70,000,000

80,000,000

90,000,000

100,000,000

World Total

APFIC Total

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Stable or declining production

• China – very stable, rising and falling by only

one or two percent over the past decade

– total decadal rise of 4%.

• Other Asia – relatively stable with an overall

decline of 16% over the decade.

• Oceania– rather large decreases in production

over the past 5 years– decadal trend still an increase of 9%.

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 20100

2,000,000

4,000,000

6,000,000

8,000,000

10,000,000

12,000,000

14,000,000

16,000,000

18,000,000

China Other Asia

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Rising production in South Asia & South East Asia

• Consistent increases in capture fishery production

• Southeast Asia á29% past decade– consistent slight annual increases of 2

to 4%,

• South Asia á28% past decade– fluctuations more dramatic increasing

and decreasing by 5 to 8%

• Several effects– increase in fishing effort and capacity– expansion of the geographical range of

fishing activities – Increase in biomass by fishing down

effects– removing larger longer lived species – higher biomass of short-lived small fast

recruiting species

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 20100

2,000,000

4,000,000

6,000,000

8,000,000

10,000,000

12,000,000

14,000,000

16,000,000

18,000,000

20,000,000

SouthEast Asia

South Asia

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DO WE REALLY KNOW THE STATUS OF OUR FISHERIES?

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Nature of fishing is constantly changing

• Fishing operations are highly mobile– expansion into new areas – transhipment of fish between fishing

areas– IUU catches

• complicates trend reporting by area and the determination of the status of stocks in specific localities

• this may also lead to the false assumption that there remains significant potential for further expansion of fishing

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Aggregated reporting hides underlying effects• 32% of the region’s capture production not

identified at the species level– 15.8 million tonnes– >2008 (30% , 14.3 million tonnes)

• APFIC region ~30% nei past six years– South East Asia 42%– South Asia 36% – China 32% – China has improved its reporting

• High reporting of nei marine fish – 9.6 million tonnes (~20% total regional production) – strong trend towards capture of small low-value

species?– hides impact of overfishing on capture of juveniles

of higher value species

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SUB-REGIONS

South China SeaBay of BengalArafura-Timor/Sulu-Sulawesi

China Sea and Gulf of Thailand

• Ecosystem level effects– Majority of impact between 1975 and 1985 – Large composition shifts of previous decades – Loss of higher value larger species– Settled down to favour an ecosystem

dominated by small species– Lower value species utilized variously (surimi,

canned fish, fishmeal, aquaculture feeds),

• Fishing capacity increasing– Expanding fishing area sustains production

level

• CPUE is low (and declining)– working harder for lower value catch

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Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea• Total catches steadily increasing

– reaching 6.86 million tonnes.

• Resources more diverse than South China Sea – less shelf area, more pelagic resources

• Until recently catch of large/valuable spp.– resources still subject to overfishing and

depletion in some areas– last 5-10 years increasingly been composed of

lower value and smaller fish– especially coastal trawl fisheries– pelagic resources generally in good shape

• CPUE – Overall CPUE is declining with few exceptions– Coastal over-capacity

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Sulu-Sulawesi/Timor Arafura Seas

• Majority of area within EEZ– Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Timor Leste

• Resources– generally fully fished– declining catches of larger species– Increasing catches of small pelagics, anchovies

• CPUE is generally stable– Increasing in well-managed Australian Prawn

fishery

• Vessel numbers– ~160,000 + artisanal (~250 000?)– Catches landed all over sub-region, plus

transhipment outside

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Recommendation• Routine assessments are required

– % catch composition– landings– Vessels/gears numbers

• Must assess ecosystem changes in species compositions– shifting trophic levels in response to fishing

pressure

• Will allow determinations of appropriate fishing effort/capacity levels in both nearshore and offshore fisheries.

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FISHERY MANAGEMENT

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Can we say our fisheries are managed?

• Across the whole region• Management of individual stocks is rare

– Mixed gear fisheries– range of vessel size & type– Many species targeted, all utilized– Some resources have specific measures applied –

enforcement?

• If no stock focus, then what?– Separate the scales of fishery– Limit the habitat impacts– Close seasons or areas– Area focus , not stock focus

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Spatial measures most common

• All countries have zoning of their EEZ– two or more zones, some have up to four zones – closed areas and closed seasons common in the

near shore zone– Gear restriction and licensing, – Size limits (e.g. fish length) and quotas are not

used, or poorly enforced

• Closed areas & MPAs– many forms – (MPAs) are the most common – almost never

actually protect fishery resources – artificial reefs popular intervention

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Recommendation

• Better assessment of spatial and seasonal measures in terms of their fishery effect

• More science-based establishment of protected areas, artificial reefs

• Science and local knowledge used to determine key habitats or areas that should be protected/closed etc

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RESOURCE GROUPS

Trash fish/low value fishSurimi speciesFish meal

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Low value/trash fish production• China Sea and Gulf of Thailand

– ~20 % of total catch (~1.7 million tonnes )– Trawl fisheries ~40 to 60 % of catch– Nearly 65% reduction in past 2-4 years– improved reporting of small demersals, anchovies, sardines

and small pelagic species?– increased preservation/utilization for human food?

• Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea– total production of trash/low value fish < 941 000 tonnes – overall 4 to 65% of catch– typical range of 14-64%. – principal source of this is reported from trawlers.

• Sulu-Sulawesi/Timor Arafura Seas– relative catches are increasing in the region, except Timor

Arafura sea. – ~1-9 % of the total catch in some areas…– ….but 26-35% of catch in Indonesia FMAs: 714, 573 & 718

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Recommendation

• Report the composition (species) and locations of capture of the low value and trash fish component

• Important where used for fish meal or feeds

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Production of surimi species• Dramatic increase in production of surimi in the

region over the past decade – reached >321 250 tonnes in the South China Sea – APFIC figure has not recently updated

• Several drivers– improved processing techniques – increasing use of species previously regarded low

value trash fish category.

• China Sea and Gulf of Thailand– overfished in all areas of SCS

• Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea– Surimi species are overfished or fully fished in

Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand– Relatively little surimi production in South Asia

• Sulu-Sulawesi/Timor Arafura Seas– surimi species fully or moderately fished – overfished in Indonesia FMA 718,713

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Recommendation

• Surimi production is reported both in terms of final product and the raw fish equivalent.

• Sources of fish for surimi should be clearly identified to assist with food safety, traceability and catch documentation.

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Fish meal production• China Sea and Gulf of Thailand

– ~576 000 tonnes – assuming IFFO estimate of only 5 000 tonnes for south

China provinces

• Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea– ~152 000 tonnes (excl. Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand

• Concern over fishmeal in aquaculture feeds– All trawl fisheries will generate some low value or trash

fish– Impacts on fishery and ecosystem.

• Concern over increased targeting of trash low value fish– how to minimize catch commercial value species?

• Production of fishmeal from processing wastes from capture fisheries and aquaculture – significant in the region. – ~56 percent of the East Asian fishmeal from trimmings?– globally this figure is only 25%…..

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Recommendation

• Fish species composition of fishmeal is

identified according the fishery/ area of production

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CAPACITY & EMPLOYMENT

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Vessel numbers and employment

China Sea and Gulf of Thailand• Total vessel numbers are over 1.74

million in the South China Sea, • Mainly (86%) of small scale vessels • Mostly confined to shallower nearshore

coastal fishing• 3.73 million people employedBay of Bengal and Andaman Sea• 460 000 vessels operating in the Bay of

Bengal,• 67% small scale, no engine/using

outboard• 1.93 million fishers Sulu-Sulawesi/Timor Arafura Seas

Asia

Pacific/Oceania

N. America

Near East

Europe

Africa

Latin AmericaCaribbean

World mechanizedfishing fleet

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Recommendation

• Investigate the relative fishing effort in coastal and other waters

• Harmonize the recording of fishing vessel employment to reflect employment in large and small scale fishing

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Inland fisheries • APFIC region contributes 68 % of global

inland fisheries production• 7.6 million tonnes in 2010

• Inland capture fisheries production in the region continues to increase– á 13.7% more than 2008 – excluding China, region rose 19.7% over the 2008

level

• 10 countries produce 97% of the region’s inland capture of inland fish

• South Asia 37% , South East Asia 30%, China 30%

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Overall rapid increase in inland fisheries

• No large increase in catch per fisher• Increasing population/effort in

SouthEast Asia and South Asia• More enhancement of inland waters • Significant re-evaluation of the

contribution of inland fisheries • upward revision of previous

underestimates • Some inland fisheries declining?

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Recommendation

• Assess household consumption of inland fishery products as a proxy estimate of production

• Better valuation of role in food security/rural economies

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Some closing thoughts

• Aquaculture now produces more fish for food than capture fisheries in the region– Significant % of the regions capture fishery is

directed to feed/fishmeal– 50% or more fish meal comes from trimmings– Most fish meal is directed to coastal

aquaculture (freshwater species use relatively little)

• The success of coastal aquaculture and mariculture, is driven by the failure to manage marine trawl fisheries

• Can we develop a vision for more effective management of the trawl sector in Asia?

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Some other closing thoughts

• Freshwater aquaculture is huge success and delivers directly to rural/domestic food security

• Inland fisheries are another major contributor to food security in the region– Especially in rural areas

• Can we develop visions for how to sustain the production and contribution of these two sub-sectors?