Living Blue Planet Report

Chapter 2: Our ocean under pressure page 27

in 2007 (FAO, 2014b). For some species, the increased fishing

pressure has had an adverse effect, as seen in the overall decline in

the utilized fish species index presented in Chapter 1, and the even

steeper 74 per cent decline in the Scrombridae group.

Small-scale fisheries are not immune to overcapacity,

overfishing or destructive fishing practices. In some cases, the

activities of the small-scale fleets themselves have been a root cause

of depletion and environmental degradation. In many other cases,

the difficulties faced by small-scale fleets have been compounded (or

even initially caused) by the arrival of industrial-scale fleets in their

traditional waters. These factors are not exclusive to small-scale

fisheries. In many developing countries, fisheries continue to

have open access with no effective controls on the quantities of

fish harvested or the techniques used. Lack of political will, data

deficiencies and inadequate financial and human resources are often

blamed for weak governance and management (CSR, 2006; FAO

and OECD, 2015).

The fisheries sector is often a buffer for populations

marginalized by conflicts, climate events, poverty or unemployment

2006

1950

Figure 19: The
huge increase in
the proportion of
primary production
requirement (PPR)
extracted by fisheries
globally between
1950 and 2006. PPR
indicates the total
amount of food
necessary to sustain
fish populations in a
certain area (Watson,
Zeller and Pauly 2011).

Key

At least 10%

PPR extraction

At least 30%

PPR extraction

At least 20%

PPR extraction