ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF THE WORLD'S FISHERIES 195 



Europe. Waters contiguous to the coast of Norway, the Faroes, Shethuids, and 

 Orkneys, Iceland, Jan Mayen, and Bear Island, and the areas covered by the 

 Bay of Biscay, and the North, Baltic, Barents, Kara, and Black Seas. 



Australia, New Zealand, East Indies. Waters contiguous to the central and 

 southern New Zealand coasts, Tasmania, and the southern and eastern Australian 

 coasts. 



The greatest development of the world's fisheries has occurred where the re- 

 sources have been abundant, markets for the product readily available, and the 

 nations inclined toward maritime activities. As might be expected, the first signs 

 of depletion have been noted in those areas where a combination of factors per- 

 mitted intensive fishing, and in connection with those species whose reproductive 

 cycle or habitat made them particularly susceptible. 



Promise of greater development is most apparent in such southern hemisphere 

 areas as South America, Africa, and Oceania. Asia also has possibilities. And, in 

 all probability, we still have much to look forward to in the northern hemisphere 

 in the way of new banks, migratory pelagic species, and even in the deeper un- 

 tested waters. 



Production by Countries 



Accurate figures on world fisheries production are not available (Anon., 1945; 

 Anon., 1948; Fiedler and Frank, 1944; Sandberg, 1945a). The best estimates in- 

 dicate that in prewar years the catch amounted to about 37 billion pounds valued 

 at about 1 billion dollars. These figures exclude whale products and an estimated 

 2 billion pounds of fish taken (a) for subsistence, (b) while angling, and (c) un- 

 recorded as commercial production. Postwar production is estimated to be equal 

 to or greater than the prewar volume, because the fisheries of most countries 

 have returned at least to normal and in some there have been expansions. If the 

 value of the postwar catch tripled in all countries, as it did in the United States, 

 world production in 1948 would be worth about 3 billion dollars at the fisher- 

 men's level. 



The first fifteen countries listed in Table 24 and Figure 12-2 produce about 

 90 per cent of the world catch (Sandberg, 1945a). Japan remains the principal 

 fishing nation. In 1938 it landed 3,078,344 metric tons, not including 442,714 

 tons of seaweed. Preliminary figures for 1948 still indicated that it held the leading 

 position, with 2,085,760 metric tons (Anon., 1949a). The 1948 production came 

 only from the greatly curtailed area to which Japanese fishing was limited by the 

 Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, and excluded unreported landings 

 estimated at about 15 per cent or 368,074 tons. The United States production 

 was next largest in 1948, with an estimated 2,075,220 metric tons. Its fisheries 

 have apparently been second to those of Japan in volume since about 1934. The 

 fisheries of the U.S.S.R., China, and Korea have been large, but recent reliable 

 data on the catch have not been available. 



Table 25 includes information from a number of sources on the fisheries of 

 nearly 100 countries of the world (Sandberg, 1945a). As might be expected, data 

 on the number of fishermen and fishing craft is less adequate than information 

 on the volume or value of the fisheries. Much more accurate world fishery statistics 

 are being obtained, however, as a result of the efforts of FAO's Division of 



