GLOBAL FISHERIES COMMODITIES PRODUCTION and TRADE

This dataset presents statistics on world annual international trade and production of fishery commodities.

Data on the quantities of fishery commodities produced and on imports and exports, are expressed in tonnes and refer to the net weight of the commodities. The values in international trade tabulations are expressed in thousands of US dollars.

FAO's International Standard Statistical Classification of Fishery Commodities (ISSCFC), has been used for collation of detailed information on countries or zones. ISSCFC is an expansion of the United Nations Standard International Trade Classification, Revision 4 (SITC Rev.4) and is linked with the Harmonized System of the World Customs Organization. The commodity categories cover products derived from fish, crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic animals and residues caught for commercial, industrial or subsistence uses, by all types of classes of fishing units operating in inland, fresh and brackish waters, in inshore, offshore or high seas fishing areas. Commodities produced from the raw materials supplied by all kinds of aquaculture are also included.

NB: Some commodities (major groups: "Sponges, corals, etc."; "Aquatic plants"; "Inedible") included in this dataset, are excluded from the summary tables contained in the section "Commodities" of the "FAO Yearbook of Fishery and Aquaculture Statistics". To obtain totals compatible with the yearbook, please execute the following steps:


    1. Open the Filter Dialog Box (Data->Filter or F4).
    2. Click the [Commodities] tab.
    3. Click the Groups combo box and select [Custom Group].
    4. Click [Fish, crustaceans, molluscs, etc.].
    5. Click the single left arrow in order to move under the "Include" left panel all selected species belonging to [Fish, crustaceans, molluscs, etc.].
    6. Click [OK]. The program will return you to the Main Window.

In the section "Commodities" of the "FAO Yearbook of Fishery and Aquaculture Statistics", exports and re-exports are grouped and reported as "export". To arrive to the same values as in the yearbook, you have to add exports to re-exports.

Where necessary, any data published in previous releases of this dataset have been revised. Where the figures in the current release differ from those previously published, the amended data represent the most recent version. Some statistics provided to FAO by national offices, in particular those for the last year, are provisional and may be amended in future editions.

SYMBOLS USED
    " ... " = Data not available; unobtainable; data not separately available but included in another category;
    " - " = Nil or zero;
    " 0 " = More than zero but less than half the unit used;
    " F " = FAO estimate from available sources of information.

    " nei " = Not Elsewhere Included;

NOTES ON ANNUAL PERIODS

The annual period used is the calendar year (1 January - 31 December) except for the following countries which report data on a split-year basis as indicated:

    AUSTRALIA - Year ending 30 June (up to 2002; from 1998 only imports)
    BANGLADESH - Year ending 30 June
    GAMBIA - Year ending 30 June (from 2002 to 2013)
    INDIA - Year beginning April (from 2002)
    IRAN I R - Year beginning 20-23 March
    MICRONESIA - Year ending 30 September (up to 2001)
    MYANMAR - Year beginning April (from 2002; only exports)
    NEPAL - Year ending 30 June (from 2002)
    NEW ZEALAND - Year ending 30 June (only 2002)
    PAKISTAN - Year ending 30 June (from 2002)
    SAUDI ARABIA - Islamic lunar (Hegira) year (from 2002)
    SWAZILAND - Year beginning April (from 2002 to 2007)

Where data for split-years are tabulated together with data on a calendar year basis, those for split-years are shown under the calendar years in which the split-years end.

SYSTEMS OF TRADE

Two systems of recording trade are in common use, differing mainly in the way warehoused and re-exported goods are recorded: special trade and general trade.

    a) Special trade is a system of recording imports for domestic consumption on the one hand and exports of domestic goods on the other. Special imports include goods for domestic consumption and withdrawals from bonded warehouses or free zones for purposes of domestic consumption. Special exports comprise exports of goods wholly or partially produced or manufactured in the country, together with exports of «nationalized goods», but not of goods held in bonded warehouses or free zones.


    b) General trade is a system which records total imports and total exports including re-exports. General imports consist of all imports into a country, including goods for domestic consumption and imports into bonded warehouses or free zones. General exports consist of the combined total of national exports and re-exports. Re-exports, in the general trade system, consist of the outward movement of nationalized goods plus goods which, after importation, move outward from bonded warehouses or free zones without having been transformed.

Export and import data in this dataset relate to general trade for all countries except those named below, which report/have reported on the basis of special trade:

ALBANIA ALGERIA ANGOLA ARGENTINA
ARUBA AUSTRIA BELGIUM BENIN
BOLIVIA BOSNIA HERZG BOTSWANA BRAZIL
BRUNEI DARSM BULGARIA BURKINA FASO BURUNDI
CABO VERDE CAMBODIA CAMEROON CAYMAN IS
CENT AF REP CHAD CHILE COLOMBIA
CONGO DEM R CONGO COSTA RICA CÔTE DIVOIRE
CROATIA CUBA CZECHIA DENMARK
DJIBOUTI DOMINICA ECUADOR EGYPT
EL SALVADOR FINLAND FRANCE FR GUIANA
FR POLYNESIA FYR MACEDONIA GABON GERMANY
GREECE GUADELOUPE GUATEMALA GUINEA BISSAU
GUYANA HONDURAS HUNGARY ICELAND
INDONESIA IRAN I R IRAQ IRELAND
ISRAEL ITALY JAMAICA JORDAN
KIRIBATI KOREA REP KUWAIT LAO P.DEM.R.
LATVIA LEBANON LIBERIA LITHUANIA
LUXEMBOURG MADAGASCAR MALI MARTINIQUE
MAURITANIA MONTENEGRO MONTSERRAT MOROCCO
MOZAMBIQUE NETH ANTILLES NETHERLANDS NEW CALEDONIA
NIGER PANAMA PARAGUAY PERU
POLAND PORTUGAL QATAR RÉUNION
ROMANIA RWANDA ST LUCIA ST KITTS NEV
ST PIER MQ ST VINCENT SAO TOME PRN SAUDI ARABIA
SENEGAL SLOVAKIA SLOVENIA SOLOMON IS
SOMALIA SPAIN SURINAME SWEDEN
SWITZERLAND SYRIA THAILAND TOGO
TRINIDAD TOB TURKEY TURKMENISTAN UNTD ARAB EM
UK URUGUAY YEMEN

Differences between figures given for total exports and total imports of any one commodity may be due to several factors, e.g. the time lapse between the dispatch of goods from the exporting country and their arrival in the importing country; the use of a different classification of the same product by different countries; or the fact that some countries supply trade data on general trade, while others give data on special trade.

STATISTICAL TREATMENT OF FISH LANDINGS IN THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE

In accordance with the internationally recommended practice, import statistics include fish caught by foreign fishing craft, whether or not processed on board, landed in domestic ports; export statistics include fish caught by domestic fishing craft, whether or not processed on board, landed in foreign ports.

VALUATION

In general export values are f.o.b. and import values are c.i.f.

For the following countries or areas import and export values are both f.o.b.:


    ANTIGUA BARB (cif/cif in 2015)
    AUSTRALIA
    BERMUDA (up to 2011)
    BRAZIL (from 2014)
    CANADA
    DOMINICAN REP (from 2012)
    FYR MACEDONIA (up to 2013)
    GHANA (from 2014)
    ICELAND (from 2012)
    MEXICO (from 2012)
    PAPUA N GUIN (up to 2012)
    PARAGUAY (2012,2013)
    PHILIPPINES (from 2014)
    SOUTH AFRICA
    VENEZUELA

COVERAGE OF STATISTICS ON PRODUCTION OF PRESERVED AND PROCESSED FISHERY COMMODITIES

The data cover the quantities of preserved and processed fishery commodities produced from:

    a) nominal catches of all aquatic animals (except the catches of all aquatic mammals and the production of all aquatic plants) taken for commercial, industrial and subsistence purposes, by all types of fishing units operating in freshwater and marine areas;
    b) aquaculture production;
    c) imported raw materials.

The statistics include the output of processed commodities, produced on board factoryships and by fishermen's families as domestic activities, e.g. drying, salting, smoking, etc.

The statistics include also the preserved and processed fishery commodities produced on board domestic fish factoryships and fishing craft from the reporting country or area, even when landed directly in foreign ports. However, data do not include fishery commodities produced on board of foreign fish factoryships or fishing craft and landed directly in domestic ports.

Production data for "Fish, live, fresh or chilled", "Live crustaceans", "Live molluscs", "Fresh unpeeled crustaceans" and "Fresh unshucked molluscs" are not included in the relevant tables, as these items cannot be considered to be either preserved or processed products.

NOTES ON COUNTRIES OR AREAS

The term country or area used covers territories, cities, land areas, as well as provinces, districts, enclaves, exclaves and other parts of territories or combinations of countries or areas such as economic or customs unions.

Country or area names and designations are subject to nationally announced changes. Name changes announced after 31 December 2016 have not necessarily been incorporated in this dataset but will be reflected in future releases.

Final data have been provided by many national offices; others submitted provisional figures only. Whenever national offices failed to report their annual statistics in time for publication, FAO, in the absence of other information, has generally used as production estimates the national figures available for the most recent years; and as trade estimates the returns of trading partners.

Where national figures in this dataset differ from those previously released by FAO, the most recently published data represent the latest revisions.

CITATION

When quoting FishstatJ data, please use the following reference:

FAO. 2017. Fishery and Aquaculture Statistics. Global Fisheries commodities production and trade 1976-2015 (FishstatJ). In: FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department [online]. Rome. Updated 2017. www.fao.org/fishery/statistics/software/fishstatj/en

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