Overview
Generally, tuna catches have had an uncertain pattern - flat,
or in some cases decreasing. However, between 1997 and 1999
catches increased by about 19 percent due to an abundance
of skipjack, especially in the Pacific Ocean. Annual catches
from each ocean between 1995 and 2000 are shown in table 1.
Between 1995 and 1996, catches stayed relatively steady -
between 3.2 and 3.3 million tons. In 1997, the catch reached
3.4 million tons, and continued to increase through 1999 to
3.9 million tons. It slightly decreased to 3.6 million tons
in 2000.
The majority of the tuna supply came from the Pacific Ocean,
and accounted for 2.3 million tons or about 66 percent of
the total world catch. The Indian Ocean represented 20.7 percent,
the Atlantic Ocean 12.5 percent and the Mediterranean and
Black Seas 0.8 percent.
Table 1: Total world tuna catches by ocean, 1995-2000
(1,000 tons)
Area
|
1995
|
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
% of total catching |
diffirence(%) |
| Pacific Ocean |
2,009
|
1,931
|
2,165
|
2,398
|
2,415
|
2,379
|
66.0
|
-1.49 |
Indian Ocean
|
737 |
727 |
734 |
755 |
867 |
746 |
20.7 |
-13.94 |
Atlantic Ocean
|
518 |
499 |
456 |
474 |
512 |
451 |
12.5 |
-12.03 |
Mediterranean and Black Sea
|
40 |
43 |
36 |
30 |
29 |
30 |
0.8 |
2.07 |
World total
|
3,304 |
3,200 |
3,390 |
3,656 |
3,823 |
3,605 |
100 |
|
