Fishing by foreign countries in Icelandic waters 2009 and the world catch 2008

Statistics Iceland has released a new issue of Statistical Series in the topical category of fisheries. This issue presents Fishing by foreign countries in Icelandic waters 2009 and the world catch 2008, reports www.megafishnet.com with reference to Statistics Iceland.

The catch by foreign vessels in Icelandic waters (region Va) decreased from 59 thousand tonnes in 2008 to 11 thousand tonnes in 2009. The Atlantic herring is the most dominant species in the catch of the foreign vessels in 2009. The Faroese was the most active foreign fishing nation in Icelandic waters in 2009 with catch of 9 thousand tonnes.

The world catch amounted to nearly 90 million tonnes in 2008 which is an increase from previous year by 158 thousand tonnes. The greatest volume came from the Pacific Ocean or 48.1 million tonnes which is 53.6% of the world catch. The second in rank came the Atlantic Ocean with 19.2 million tonnes, or 21.4% of the world catch. Of individual species the Peruvian anchovy was the largest, 7.4 million tonnes or 8.3% of total world catch. The catch of Alaska pollock, the second in rank, was 2.7 million tonnes. The biggest fishing nation in 2008 was China catching 14.8 million tonnes or 16.5% of the world catch. Iceland ranked number 18 on the world list with catch of 1.3 million tonnes or 1.4% of the world catch.