Figure 13: Catch of living marine resources (million tonnes) by region and global, 1970–2002

Issue: Unsustainable use of living marine resources
Indicator: Marine capture

Exploitation of fisheries and other living marine resources threatens not only human food security but also the sustainability of marine ecosystems. Three-quarters of fisheries stocks are maximally exploited, and many have collapsed as a result of years of unsustainable harvests (FAO 2002).

In 2001, reported global marine capture amounted to about 84 million tonnes of fish, crustaceans and molluscs (Figure 13) (but see Annex on data reliability). Since the late-1980s, this figure has not changed dramatically at the global level, with oscillations in the second half of the 1990s having been attributed to the 1997–1998 El Niño event.