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Making an income from
fisheries
The fisheries sector, including aquaculture,
is an important source of employment and income in
the developing world. World aquaculture
production, for example, is dominated by low-income,
food-deficit countries (LIFDCs). Artisanal
fishers increase family food security not only
through their earnings, but also with the discards
they put on the family table. Fishing is often a
part-time or seasonal occupation, peaking when
coastal and offshore resources are most
abundant.
During the past three decades, the number of
fishers and aquaculturists has grown faster than
the world's population, and faster than employment
in traditional agriculture. FAO estimated the
number of fishers and aquaculturists in 1997 at
about 30 million.
Closely reflecting the distribution pattern of
the world's population, 84 percent of fishers and
aquaculturists in 1990 were in Asia, the majority
of them in China. However, India, Indonesia and
Viet Nam also reported more than 1 million
full-time fishers in 1990.
While the number of people employed in fishing
and aquaculture has been growing steadily in most
low- and middle-income countries, the numbers in
most industrialized economies have been declining
or have remained stationary. In Japan and Norway
the numbers of fishers were halved between 1970 and
1990. However, in Europe as a whole, the number
increased in absolute terms between 1980 and 1990
as a result of the emerging aquaculture industry,
which more than offset a decline in the capture
fisheries.
Between 1970 and 1990, the number of fishers
expanded faster in Asia than anywhere else. In
1970, Asian fishers accounted for 77 percent of the
world total. In 1990 they accounted for 83 percent.
During the same period in Africa, where artisanal
fisheries still dominate, the number of fishers
also grew but at a slower rate. African fisheries
accounted for some 6.5 percent of the world total
in 1990.
Part-time fishers on the increase in
Asia
The number of part-time fishers has grown more
rapidly than the number of full-time fishers for
the world as a whole. In 1990, for every ten
full-time fishers, there were nine part-time
fishers. Twenty years earlier, the relationship had
been six part-time to ten full-time fishers.
However, this is largely an Asian phenomenon. For
the rest of the world, the increase in part-time
fishers between 1970 and 1990 was relatively small.
The data for Asia support the view that fisheries
may have been an occupation of last resort during
this period.
In this section
Fish are women's work
too
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