The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020

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PART 1 
WORLD REVIEW
TABLE 13
REPORTED NUMBER OF MOTORIZED AND NON-MOTORIZED VESSELS BY LOA CLASS IN FISHING FLEETS
FROM SELECTED COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES, 2018
Non-motorized
< 12 m
Non-motorized
12–24 m
Non-motorized
> 24 m
Motorized
< 12 m
Motorized
12–24 m
Motorized
> 24 m
Africa
Angola
5 244
83
188
3 585
–
–
Benin
40 869
–
–
582
7
21
Mauritius
130
–
–
1 800
44
2
Senegal
–
–
–
–
29
94
Sudan
–
–
–
1 120
–
60
Tunisia
6 506
–
–
5 469
1 198
303
Latin America and the Caribbean
Bahamas
–
–
–
751
160
23
Chile
1 607
–
–
10 873
1 765
136
Guatemala
–
–
–
75
22
2
Guyana
19
–
–
728
475
–
Mexico
–
–
–
74 339
1 728
240
Saint Lucia
–
–
–
815
7
–
Suriname
69
–
–
926
439
68
Asia
Bangladesh
34 810
–
–
32 859
45
210
Cambodia
39 726
–
–
172 622
–
–
Kazakhstan
916
–
–
605
23
3
Lebanon
119
–
–
2 048
46
–
Myanmar
6 802
–
–
15 228
1 858
971
Oman
4 899
62
2
23 084
1 362
121
Republic of Korea 
790
27
–
55 470
8 283
1 336
Sri Lanka
28 546
3
–
29 212
2 578
20
Taiwan Province of China
368
1
1
14 493
6 207
837
Europe
Iceland
–
–
–
1 192
173
171
Norway
–
–
–
4 936
779
303
Poland
68
–
–
597
113
49
Oceania
New Caledonia
–
–
–
707
21
4
New Zealand
4
–
–
665
427
72
Vanuatu
119
–
–
95
7
59
SOURCE: FAO.
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THE STATE OF WORLD FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE 
2020
is under way to improve this through efforts 
such as those described in the section 
Illuminating Hidden Harvests, p. 176, focusing 
on small-scale fisheries and ongoing FAO 
work conducted on improving data quality 
and reporting. Information on vessels (best 
collected through registries) not only allows 
countries to report on the numbers of vessels, 
supporting the development of more informed 
fisheries management, but also constitutes a 
critical first step in recognizing and formalizing 
small-scale fishery activities and their actors at 
the regional and global level.
Table 13
shows the number of vessels reported 
by selected countries and territories from 
each region, categorized by LOA class and 
motorization status. These selected countries 
and territories provide reliable data and offer 
a good regional representation. While these 
figures are not necessarily representative of the 
average for each region, it is notable that only 
7 of the 28 countries and territories shown in the 
table had 200 or more vessels over 24 m LOA. 
Usually, non-motorized vessels were a minor 
component of the total national fleet, with the 
exception of Benin, where they constituted the 
large majority, and Cambodia and Sri Lanka, 
where they were up to 50 percent of the total. 
Of the selected countries in Latin America and 
the Caribbean, the great majority of the vessels 
were motorized, and a similar pattern was 
observed with Oceania and Europe. A recent 
study (Rousseau 
et al.
, 2019) has confirmed that 
although the small vessels in the motorized 
category make up a significant share of the 
global motorized fleet in numbers, they still do 
not represent the largest share of total engine 
power. The study also found that the large 
vessels making up about 5 percent of the fleet 
constituted more than 33 percent of the total 
engine power. 
n
THE STATUS OF
FISHERY RESOURCES
Marine fisheries
Status of fishery resources
Based on FAO’s assessment,
6
the fraction of fish 
stocks that are within biologically sustainable 
levels
7
decreased from 90 percent in 1974 to 
65.8 percent in 2017 (
Figure 19
). In contrast, the 
percentage of stocks fished at biologically 
unsustainable levels increased, especially in the 
late 1970s and 1980s, from 10 percent in 1974 to 
34.2 percent in 2017. This calculation treats all 
fish stocks equally regardless of their biomass 
and catch. In terms of landings, 78.7 percent 
of current landings come from biologically 
sustainable stocks.
In 2017, the maximally sustainably fished stocks 
accounted for 59.6 percent and underfished stocks 
for 6.2 percent of the total number of assessed 
stocks. The underfished stocks decreased 
continuously from 1974 to 2017, whereas the 
maximally sustainably fished stocks decreased 
from 1974 to 1989, and then increased to 
59.6 percent in 2017. 
In 2017, among the FAO’s 16 Major Fishing 
Areas, the Mediterranean and Black Sea 
(Area 37) had the highest percentage 
(62.5 percent) of stocks fished at unsustainable 
levels, followed by the Southeast Pacific 
54.5 percent (Area 87) and Southwest Atlantic 
53.3 percent (Area 41) (
Figure 20
). In contrast, the 
Eastern Central Pacific (Area 77), Southwest 
Pacific (Area 81), Northeast Pacific (Area 67), 
and Western Central Pacific (Area 71) had the 
lowest proportion (13–22 percent) of stocks 
fished at biologically unsustainable levels. 
Other areas varied between 21 percent and 
44 percent in 2017 (
Figure 20
).
The temporal pattern of landings differs from 
area to area depending on the productivity of 
ecosystems, fishing intensity, management and 
fish stock status. In general, after excluding 
6
For the methodology for the assessment, see FAO Fisheries and 
Aquaculture Technical Paper No. 569 (FAO, 2011). 
7
For definitions regarding stock status, see Box 2 on p. 39 of 
The 
State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018
(FAO, 2018a).