The DOI matches its Crossref record; 14 of the 15 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Systematic distortions in world fisheries catch trends
Open accessAbstract
Over 75% of the world marine fisheries catch (over 80 million tonnes per year) is sold on international markets, in contrast to other food commodities (such as rice). At present, only one institution, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) maintains global fisheries statistics. As an intergovernmental organization, however, FAO must generally rely on the statistics provided by member countries, even if it is doubtful that these correspond to reality. Here we show that misreporting by countries with large fisheries, combined with the large and widely fluctuating catch of species such as the Peruvian anchoveta, can cause globally spurious trends. Such trends influence unwise investment decisions by firms in the fishing sector and by banks, and prevent the effective management of international fisheries.
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“Globally, although there has been little or no increase in sea fish consumption per capita since the 1960s, catches per year have risen exponentially (75) and freshwater fish intake has intake has increased during this time (71).”
From Food Consumption and its Impact on Cardiovascular Disease: Importance of Solutions Focused on the Globalized Food System (2015) · cites this paper as [75]
Citations
Cites
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1 of the 15 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 3
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Cited by
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Towards sustainability in world fisheries.
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Self-citationRapid worldwide depletion of predatory fish communities
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Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Watson, R., & Pauly, D.
- Affiliations
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Watson, Reg
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2001-11
- Volume
- 414
- Issue
- 6863
- Pages
- 534-536
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2029579385
- Cited by
- 646
- References
- 15
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 33 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 21 · 2013: 31 · 2012: 38
- FWCI
- 36.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- figshare.com
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eCite Digital Repository (University of Tasmania) (submittedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Pew Charitable Trusts
- National Science Council
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Marine and fisheries research
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › General Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Fisheries and Aquaculture Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Fish Ecology and Management Studies
- Keywords
- catch statistics, catch trends, Peruvian anchoveta, fisheries management
- MeSH terms
- Agriculture, Animals, China, Conservation of Natural Resources, Fisheries, Fishes, International Cooperation, United Nations
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