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By Shizue Tomoda
Japan and Hong Kong, having imported 401,000 and 357,000 metric tons, respectively, in 1993, were the world's two largest importers.12 Demand continued to rise in Japan for the first quarter of 1995 by over 40 per cent, compared with the same period in 1994.13
This information indicates that the poultry meat industry has become more important than ever in terms of turnover. Its rapid expansion affects the employment and working conditions of an increasing number of workers in many countries.
Table 1.1.5. Export of fresh poultry meat by region (1,000 metric tons)
| Region | 1989 | 1991 | 1993 | |||
| World | 2 214. 3 | 2 742. 0 | 3 684.6 | |||
| Africa | 0.9 | 2.7 | 8.6 | |||
| North and Central America | 490. 7 | 650. 7 | 1 034.6 | |||
| South America | 260. 9 | 368. 1 | 541.5 | |||
| Asia | 239. 3 | 372. 1 | 510.5 | |||
| Europe | 1 221. 1 | 1 345. 8 | 1 582.4 | |||
| Oceania | 1.4 | 2.6 | 7.0 | |||
| Source: FAO: Trade Yearbooks 1990 and 1993, Vols. 44 and 47, Rome, 1991 and 1994. | ||||||
Table 1.1.6 presents the nominal catches of fish, crustaceans, mollusca, etc. in the world by major fishing countries. The total world catches peaked in 1989 and then declined and stagnated. A similar pattern occurred in many countries, but the catches in China, India, Indonesia and Norway continued to increase.
Table 1.1.7 presents the major importers and exporters of fishery commodities for 1990-92. Despite a decline in many countries since 1989, exports continued to rise for many of the exporting countries in terms of US dollar values. The United States, for example, saw its catch decline by 270,000 metric tons between 1990 and 1992, while its exports increased by US$560 million.
Table 1.1.6. Fish, crustaceans, mollusca, etc.: Nominal catches by principal producers and world total (in 1,000 metric tons)
| Country | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | ||||||
| World total | 94 403 | 99 086 | 100 311 | 97 556 | 97 052 | 98 113 | ||||||
| China | 9 346 | 10 359 | 11 220 | 12 095 | 13 135 | 15 007 | ||||||
| Japan | 11 858 | 11 966 | 11 173 | 10 354 | 9 301 | 8 460 | ||||||
| Peru | 4 587 | 6 642 | 6 854 | 6 875 | 6 949 | 6 843 | ||||||
| Chile | 4 815 | 5 210 | 6 454 | 5 195 | 6 003 | 6 502 | ||||||
| Russian Federation | | 1 | | 1 | | 1 | | 1 | 6 894 | 5 611 | ||
| United States | 5 992 | 5 956 | 5 778 | 5 870 | 5 489 | 5 603 | ||||||
| India | 2 907 | 3 125 | 3 640 | 3 794 | 4 044 | 4 175 | ||||||
| Indonesia | 2 584 | 2 795 | 2 948 | 3 044 | 3 252 | 3 358 | ||||||
| Thailand | 2 779 | 2 642 | 2 670 | 2 786 | 2 968 | 2 855 | ||||||
| Korea, Republic of | 2 877 | 2 732 | 2 841 | 2 843 | 2 521 | 2 696 | ||||||
| Norway | 1 949 | 1 840 | 1 910 | 1 911 | 2 096 | 2 549 | ||||||
| Philippines | 1 989 | 2 010 | 2 099 | 2 209 | 2 213 | 2 272 | ||||||
| Denmark | 1 708 | 1 974 | 1 929 | 1 518 | 1 796 | 1 995 | ||||||
| Iceland | 1 633 | 1 758 | 1 502 | 1 508 | 1 050 | 1 577 | ||||||
| Spain | 1 526 | 1 593 | 1 560 | F | 1 400 | F | 1 320 | F | 1 330 | F | ||
| Canada | 1 565 | 1 610 | 1 573 | 1 624 | 1 535 | 1 251 | ||||||
| Mexico | 1 419 | 1 373 | 1 470 | 1 401 | 1 453 | 1 248 | ||||||
| 1 Data not available. F _ FAO estimate.
Source: FAO: Fishery statistics, catches and landings, 1992, Vol. 74, Rome, 1994. | ||||||||||||
Table 1.1.7. International trade in fishery commodities by principal importers and exporters (in million US$)
| Country /area | Import | Country/area | Export | |||||||||||||
| 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | |||||||||||
| Japan | 10 66 8 | 12 08 6 | 12 83 2 | United States | 3 020 | 3 28 2 | 3 583 | |||||||||
| United States | 5 57 3 | 6 00 0 | 6 02 4 | Thailand | 2 265 | 2 90 1 | 3 072 | |||||||||
| France | 2 80 9 | 2 92 6 | 2 93 5 | Norway | 2 060 | 2 28 2 | 2 437 | |||||||||
| Spain | 2 36 1 | 2 74 9 | 2 89 8 | Denmark | 2 165 | 2 30 2 | 2 320 | |||||||||
| Italy | 2 45 8 | 2 69 0 | 2 64 3 | Canada | 2 270 | 2 16 8 | 2 085 | |||||||||
| Germany | 1 90 0 | 2 11 4 | 2 19 1 | Other Asia | 1 517 | 1 52 5 | 1 803 | |||||||||
| United Kingdom | 1 91 1 | 1 91 1 | 1 90 7 | China | 1 302 | 1 18 2 | 1 560 | |||||||||
| Hong Kong | 1 11 2 | 1 23 2 | 1 39 8 | Netherlands | 1 333 | 1 35 6 | 1 410 | |||||||||
| Denmark | 1 11 6 | 1 14 9 | 1 19 7 | Korea, Republic of | 1 363 | 1 50 0 | 1 366 | |||||||||
| Netherlands | 84 4 | 97 7 | 99 9 | Iceland | 1 240 | 1 28 0 | 1 253 | |||||||||
| Thailand | 79 4 | 1 05 2 | 94 2 | Chile | 866 | 1 06 7 | 1 252 | |||||||||
| Belgium | 75 4 | 77 6 | 83 7 | Indonesia | 989 | 1 18 6 | 1 179 | |||||||||
| Portugal | 60 6 | 75 8 | 78 5 | United Kingdom | 962 | 1 12 2 | 1 148 | |||||||||
| Canada | 62 0 | 67 6 | 68 7 | France | 931 | 92 6 | 955 | |||||||||
| China | 20 7 | 43 9 | 68 0 | Russian Federation | | 1 | | 1 | 826 | |||||||
| World total | 39 58 5 | 43 65 4 | 45 45 2 | World total | 35 752 | 38 89 2 | 40 276 | |||||||||
| 1 Data not available.
Source: FAO: Fishery statistics, commodities, 1992, Vol. 75, Rome, 1994. | ||||||||||||||||
Table 1.1.8 shows the global export of various fishery commodities for 1987-92 in metric tons. Except for frozen, dried and salted fish, other fish exports grew steadily. The figures show that the demand for fishery products continues to rise globally and has accelerated competition among fishing countries, which has unfortunately led to the gradual depletion of world fish stocks.
Fish stock in the ocean was once believed to be inexhaustible. A declining world catch in recent years is a warning to many fishing countries to enforce certain rules multilaterally to conserve the stocks. Today, the most valuable stocks, such as Atlantic cod and blue-fin tuna, as well as Indian Ocean shrimp, are said to be nearly depleted, so an increasing share of the global catch is made up of species previously ignored, or of small fry of the big species. Catches in the North Sea, for example, are as small as in the 1970s.14
Surprisingly, and contrary to the trend of a declining catch experienced globally, the world fish catch reached a new record of 106 million tons in 1994. This was due partly to strong growth in aquaculture output in China, and partly to the expansion of distant water catches by some countries, including China.15
Fish-producing countries should not be overly encouraged by this new record. They still need to intensify their efforts to protect global fish stocks. "Technical conservation measures", urged by many experts, include the use of fishing nets with larger mesh sizes and panels that allow certain species and young and small fish to escape. Improved fish farming techniques are also recommended.16
Notes:
12 FAO: Trade Yearbook, op. cit.
13 FAO: Food Outlook, op. cit.
14 Newsweek, 25 Apr., 1994, pp. 30-35, and The Economist, 19 Mar., 1994, pp. 15-16.
15 FAO: Food Outlook, op. cit.
16 Financial Times, 8 Feb., 1996.
