The Status Of Marine Fishery Stock Assessments In The Asian Region And The Potential For A Network Of Practitioners

The global fisheries sector in 2023 is now appreciably different compared to that of the 1970s, as are the dominant fish stocks that comprise most of the current global landings, their location and modes of their exploitation. The fisheries of South and Southeast Asia have also changed over this period and alongside their changing nature, there has been the continuous evolution of the tools and the requirements for calculating and presenting global sustainability information. This has transformed ability to assess fish stocks, use data-poor methodologies, assess multispecies fisheries and also take into account some of the complex interactions between target and non-target species and related ecosystem effects. The countries of the South and Southeast Asia region have not reported the status of stocks in a comprehensive manner to FAO and there is a need to understand how to access existing information and also build capacity to assess the fisheries of the region using appropriate tools. This review provides thematic papers on stock assessment approaches and their application to the region. The country analysis describes the data sources and assessment methods currently being applied in national fishery management areas and in smaller regions. The review contains recommendations on the needs for capacity building and how improved regional networking can provide support to the greater understanding and application of new or improved methods of stock assessment in the region.

This report provides an overview of the biological status of assessed stocks around the world and relates measures of stock status to the strength of fisheries management. Stock assessment outputs, consisting primarily of time series of abundance and fishing pressure relative to target reference points, were compiled for 548 marine fish and invertebrate stocks in the RAM Legacy Stock Assessment Database. Data summary methods included: global and regional mean trends of abundance and fishing pressure relative to target reference points; bivariate plots of relative abundance and fishing pressure; estimates of potential equilibrium yield foregone at current fishing pressure; and proportions of stocks in different biomass status categories. These measures of stock status were summarized at the global level as well as separated by 16 FAO Major Fishing Areas and ocean basin regions for comparison.

The fisheries of China generate the largest catch in the world. However, these fisheries are in generally bad shape, notably due to lack of management systems based on rigorous studies on the dynamics of major stocks exploited by the fisheries of China and neighboring countries. This could be mitigated, at least in part, by the systematic application of newly developed methods for evaluating the status of exploited fish stocks for use in data-sparse situations, focusing on methods for estimating maximum sustainable yield (MSY) from catch informed by a combination of biological knowledge on the species (intrinsic rate of population increase, r, and carrying capacity, k) and what is known about the stock, for instance relative abundance indicators, e.g., catch per unit of effort. The aim of this Research Topic is to create an outlet for the studies that will result from the application of these modern methods to exploited stocks of East Asian marine fish, encouraging the rigorous evaluation of these stocks and providing a basis for their rebuilding, as required especially for Chinese stocks. This would lead to the creation of a cadre of fishery scientists knowledgeable in using the methods in question and interested in collaborating with colleagues in other regions with similar issues. Focusing on East Asia will reinforce to readers in `the West' that these fisheries are not a sideshow to the more interesting fisheries in Europe or North America, but a major source of seafood for people in East Asia. Indeed, the failure of these domestic fisheries would increase the impacts of distant-water fisheries from East Asia in other parts of the world.

In Asia, the fisheries sector is important in terms of food security, livelihoods and foreign exchange earnings. However, as in many parts of the world, there are signs that capture fisheries are fully exploited or overfished. Management of fisheries in the region is often hampered by lack of information on the status of fisheries in terms of biological, social, economic, policy and governance aspects. This regional project documents an alarming decline on coastal fishery resources, based on historic research surveys in South and Southeast Asia. Socio-economic analyses and policy reviews highlight the importance of the fisheries sector but also the challenges facing it. Potential interventions to improve fisheries management in the countries are outlined and defined with environmental, socioeconomic and institutional objectives.

This publication updates the regular reviews of the state of the world's marine fishery resources, based mainly on official catch statistics throughout 2002 and relevant stock assessment and other complementary information available until 2004. It considers the global situation and major trends of world marine capture fish production, with detailed information for each FAO statistical area about catches and current state of exploitation, major trends and developments and stock assessment work undertaken in support of fisheries management. Other issues covered include: tunas and tuna-like species resources, world squid resources, deepwater fisheries, and long-term climate variability.