Abstract

Status of exploitation of the main world fisheries is analyzed under the premise that they are not over exploited. Unfortunately, sustainability in many fisheries has not been achieved. The Fishing mortality is usually referred to the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) and is being adopted as a target in many fisheries; which is the threshold of overexploitation, fisheries often face the risks of being overfished. In many cases, the MSY is overpassed, or the stocks are under the condition of overexploitation of recruits, and consequently current yields and stock biomasses are quite below their MSY. The perspective suggests that world fish production will fall into depletion if no action is taken to ensure exploiting the stocks in a sustainable way. Findings suggest that nine out of the ten most important word fisheries examined are overexploiting their juvenile stages. Results suggest that the main fish stocks still withstand further catch rise by increasing the age of first catch, and their potential contribution to the overall yield may grow, from the current 22.9Mt to 84.4Mt. In reference to the world human population, this means a potential increase of up to 12.5Kg per capita annually, almost four times higher than current yields.

Keywords:Stock assessment; Optimum yield; Pelagic fisheries; Potential world production; World fisheries; Potential yields; MSY; Overfishing