The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020

PERCENTAGE
Mediterranean and Black Sea
Pacific, Southeast
Atlantic, Southwest
Atlantic, Northwest
Atlantic, Eastern Central
Atlantic, Western Central
Pacific, Northwest
Tunas
Atlantic, Southeast
Indian Ocean, Western
Indian Ocean, Eastern
Pacific, Western Central
Atlantic, Northeast
Pacific, Northeast
Pacific, Southwest
Pacific, Eastern Central
NOTE: Tuna stocks are singled out as they are largely migratory and straddling across statistical areas.
SOURCE: FAO.
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PART 1 
WORLD REVIEW
Status and trends by fishing area
The Northwest Pacific has the highest 
production among the FAO areas, producing 
25 percent of global landings in 2017. Its total 
catch fluctuated between 17 million tonnes 
and 24 million tonnes in the 1980s and 1990s, 
and was about 22.2 million tonnes in 2017. 
Historically, Japanese pilchard (
Sardinops 
melanostictus
) and Alaska pollock
(
Theragra 
chalcogramma
) used to be the most productive 
species, with peak landings at 5.4 million and 
5.1 million tonnes, respectively. However, their 
catches have declined significantly in the 
last 25 years. In contrast, landings of squids, 
FIGURE 21
THE THREE TEMPORAL PATTERNS IN FISH LANDINGS, 1950–2017