Book Description

Excessive fishing capacity is largely responsible for the degradation of marine fisheries resources, for the dissipation of food production potential and for significant economic waste, especially manifest in the form of redundant fishing inputs. The globalization of this phenomenon and the impact of excessive fishing capacity on the biological and economic condition of many fisheries throughout the world have been a matter of increasing concern in recent years. This led FAO to organize a Technical Working Group on the Management of Fishing Capacity in La Jolla, USA, from 15 to 18 April 1998. Selected papers prepared as reference material for this meeting are presented in this FAO Fisheries Technical Paper. Chapter 1 reviews underlying economics and methods of control. Specific aspects of high seas fisheries are addressed in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 explores extensively the many issues raised in measuring fishing capacity and capacity utilization. Chapter 4 briefly discusses the difficulties associated with the assessment of fishing capacity at global level.