WORLD OVERVIEW 



World harvests offish and shellfish peaked at a record 100 million metric tons in 1989, but declined to 

 slightly under 97 million metric tons by 1992. A ceiling to what was once drought to be a limitless resource 

 poses critical challenges to both fishermen and fishery administrators around the globe. A total 23,718 liigh- 

 seas fishing vessels registering 11 million-gross registered tons (GRT) operated world-wide in 1992. Tliese 

 high-seas vessels were responsible for catching much of the approximately 82 million tons of marine fish and 

 shellfish harvested in 1992. Medium-sized (100- to 499-GRT) and small coastal vessels (under 100-GRT) 

 also caught large quandties of fish and shellfish in 1992. 



Managers of national fisheries or regional fisheries (such as the European Community) have reacted to 

 declining catches in recent years by imposing stricter management regimes or by seeking opportunities in 

 distant waters. The waters around Africa, for example, are an important source of fish for fishermen fi-om 

 Asia and Europe alike. Many fishermen are looking at Latin American as a possible future area for 

 investment. As the possibility for expansion grows smaller, there is growing pressure to seek opportunities 

 through the creation of joint venture operations in cooperation with other countries. Reflagging is another 

 avenue being used by some fishermen to gain access to distant-water fishing grounds. 



CONTENTS 



I. WORLD OVERVIEW 2 



IL REGIONAL SUMMARIES 3 



A. Africa 3 



B. Asia 3 



C. Baltic States 4 



D. Canada 5 



E. Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) 5 



F. Eastern Europe 6 



G. Latin America 7 



H. Western Europe 10 



III. APPENDIX SECTION 13 



A. Maps 13 



B. Photographs 17 



C. Statistical Tables 33 



D. Graphs 40 



