The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020

partnerships with not-for-profit organizations. 
The use of non-FAO-owned external databases 
is envisaged through partnerships and/or 
specific data-sharing agreements. In these 
new models, FAO acts as custodian, ensuring 
the high quality, neutrality, independence, 
transparency and long-term preservation of the 
knowledge base.
This knowledge base has a high value for 
different users. For example, the Overview 
section of 
The State of World Fisheries and 
Aquaculture
– informed by FAO’s indicators built 
on this knowledge base – is the highest-rated 
section of this FAO flagship publication. 
An analysis of how FAO reaches its target 
audiences illustrates how the flagship publication 
and the knowledge-base products support the 
science–to–policy process of global fisheries 
(Ababouch 
et al.
, 2016). It shows that the statistics 
on production, trade and apparent consumption, 
and the FAO Food Balance Sheets constitute 
main data sources for analysts from academia, 
policymakers and development institutions 
The FAO fisheries and aquaculture knowledge base is 
available as a system of databases integrated through 
a cross-cutting set of reference data (see figure). 
It consists of:
„
12 databases of reference data or terminologies, 
for example, Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries 
Information System List of Species for Fishery 
Statistics Purposes, International Standard 
Statistical Classification of Fishing Gear, 
International Standard Statistical Classification of 
Fishery Commodities, Glossary of Aquaculture;
„
13 global and regional statistics databases on, 
for example, capture and aquaculture production, 
trade, fleet, fishers, and Food Balance Sheets, 
accessible in various formats including PDF, 
yearbook and advanced query interfaces; 
„
34 databases of records or inventories 
disseminated through catalogues or fact sheets 
on, for example, wild and cultured aquatic 
species, fish stocks, statistical fishing areas, port 
State measures, National Aquaculture Sector 
Overview, cultured species;
„
8 geospatial databases accessible through 
map viewers or GeoNetwork catalogue, for 
example, Stocks and Fisheries map viewer, Atlas 
of Tuna and Billfish Catches, Vulnerable Marine 
Ecosystems Database, National Aquaculture 
Sector Overview maps;
„
68 thematic websites; 
„
more than 20 software or special interfaces and 
mobile apps, including online query panel or the 
desktop FishStatJ application offering detailed 
query functionality for fisheries statistical time 
series, specialized data management tools, World 
Aquaculture Performance Indicators; and OPEN 
ARTFISH, Calipseo and SmartForms providing a 
range of desktop, mobile, web and cloud solutions 
for data collection, management and reporting;
„
a repository of more than 15 200 departmental 
publications and meeting reports. 
These semantically connected databases enable users 
to search across themes or download material in 
various formats, and applications to extract relevant 
content (e.g. charts, maps or text) to be embedded in 
enriched information products.
BOX 6
THE FAO FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE KNOWLEDGE BASE IN NUMBERS

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THE STATE OF WORLD FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE 
2020
to project medium-to-long-term supply and 
demand of fish in the broader food security 
landscape, and are of considerable interest to 
long-term planners.
The knowledge base and SDG 14 – an example
of current relevance
The relevance of the knowledge base can also be 
assessed against the data needs of Sustainable 
Development Goal 14 (see the section Reporting 
on fisheries and aquaculture sustainability, 
p. 127). For example, SDG Indicator 14.4.1, which 
requires an understanding of the status of fish 
stocks to improve their management, is supported 
by FAO’s capture fisheries statistics database, 
and FIRMS and its Global Record of Stocks and 
Fisheries (GRSF). Sustainable Development 
Goal 14 Target 14.6 aims at prohibition of 
BOX 6
(CONTINUED)
HOW THE FAO FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE KNOWLEDGE BASE INFORMS THE ECONOMIC, 
ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL PILLARS OF THE SDGs
NOTE: The information assets of the knowledge base (websites, GIS, etc.) might be relevant to one or more thematic dimensions (environment, economic, etc.), or they 
might be theme-neutral. For this reason, there may be discrepancies in the total numbers indicated.
SOURCE: FAO.
WEBSITE
STATISTICS
GIS
RECORDS AND FACT SHEETS
Statistics
•
1
Records 
•
1
Websites
•
3
Websites 
•
1
GIS 
•
3
Records 
•
5
Statistics 
•
9
GIS 
•
1
Websites 
•
4
Records 
•
11
Records 
•
14
Websites
•
4
Statistics 
•
7
Statistics 
•
1
Records 
•
8
GIS 
•
5
Websites 
•
16
Websites 
•
3
Statistics 
•
2
Statistics 
•
1
GIS 
•
1
Records 
•
1
EC
ON
OM
IC
SOC
IAL
Terminologies 
•
4
Reference data 
•
8
Websites 
•
68
Publications 
•
15 200
EN
VI
RO
NM
EN
T
Records 
•
1
GIS 
•
4
Fishin
g com
pliance and
aqua
culture
regulation
s
Fis
hery
and
aq
uac
ultu
re 
res
ou
rce
s 
Pr
od
uc
tio
n
Tra
de
Liv
elih
ood
s
Biodivers
ity and
ecos
yste
ms
securit
y
Foo
d
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PART 2 
SUSTAINABILITY IN ACTION
harmful subsidies, and WTO negotiations 
regularly refer to FAO’s databases on global catch 
and fleets, Global Record, and FIRMS-GRSF as 
sources of evidence.
However, application of SDG Indicator 14.4.1 is 
also confronted with insufficient quality of catch 
data and limited availability of fishing-effort 
data for stock assessment; the actions needed 
to build countries capacities (FAO, 2018a) will 
require an important effort by the international 
community to address problems such as these 
(see also 
Box 23
, p. 184).
Furthermore, SDG Indicator 14.b.1 requires 
greater understanding of the contribution 
of small-scale fisheries to livelihoods, while 
SDG Indicator 14.7.1, which measures the 
economic contribution of sustainable fisheries, 
requires systematic collection of catch value 
as initiated by FAO in 2019. Data on the 
contribution of marine aquaculture to GDP are 
lacking due to limitations in data availability 
on farming systems (a classification of which 
the CWP is developing) and associated 
sustainable practices. These examples 
illustrate the need to improve socio-economic 
The FAO Fishery and Aquaculture Country Profiles 
have long been much in demand as an information 
product.
1
The online profiles cater to all who need 
to quickly obtain a comprehensive yet concise and 
balanced view of the fisheries and aquaculture sector 
in a country. 
This collection exemplifies how FAO addresses the 
challenge of record maintenance and regular updates 
in a context of increasingly constrained budgets. The 
profiles have evolved into a modular assemblage of 
knowledge resulting from distinct workflows, and today 
illustrate the integrated nature of the FAO’s fisheries 
and aquaculture knowledge base. 
A country profile consists of three sections.