Fisheries and aquaculture provided livelihoods and income for an estimated54.8 million people engaged in the primary sector of fish production in 2010, of whoman estimated 7 million were occasional fishers and fish farmers.

Asia accounts for more than 87 percent of the world total with China alone having almost 14 million people (26 percent of the world total) engaged as fishers and fish farmers.

Asia is followed by Africa (more than 7 percent), and Latin America and the Caribbean (3.6 percent).

About 16.6 million people (about 30 percent of the world total) were engaged in fishfarming, and they were even more concentrated in Asia (97 percent), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (1.5 percent), and Africa (about 1 percent).

Employment in the fisheries and aquaculture primary sector has continued to grow faster than employment in agriculture, so that by 2010 it represented 4.2 percent of the 1.3 billion people economically active in the broad agriculture sector worldwide, compared with 2.7 percent in 1990.

In the last five years, the number of people engaged in fish farming has increased by 5.5 percent per year compared with only 0.8 percent per year for those in capture fisheries, although capture fisheries still accounted for 70 percentof the combined total in 2010.

It is apparent that, in the most important fishing nations, the share of employment in capture fisheries is stagnating or decreasing while aquaculture is providing increased opportunities.

Europe experienced the largest decrease in the number of people engaged in capture fishing, with a 2 percent average annual decline between 2000 and 2010, and almost no increase in people employed in fish farming.

In contrast, Africa showed the highest annual increase (5.9 percent) in the number of people engaged in fish farming in the same period, followed by Asia (4.8 percent), and Latin America and the Caribbean (2.6 percent).

Overall, production per person is lower in capture fisheries than in aquaculture, with global outputs of 2.3 and 3.6 tonnes per person per year respectively, reflecting the huge numbers of fishers engaged in small-scale fisheries.

Fishers and fish farmers

Millions of people around the world find a source of income and livelihood in the fisheries sector. The most recent estimates indicate that in 2010 there were 54.8 million people engaged in the primary sector of capture fisheries and aquaculture.

Of these, an estimated 7 million people were occasional fishers and fish farmers (of whom 2.5 million in India, 1.4 million in China, 0.9 million in Myanmar, and 0.4 million each in Bangladesh and Indonesia).

More than 87 percent of all people employed in the fisheries sector in 2010 were in Asia, followed by Africa (more than 7 percent), and Latin America and the Caribbean (3.6 percent).

Approximately 16.6 million (about 30 percent of all people employed in the fisheries sector) were engaged in fish farming, and they were even more concentrated in Asia (97 percent), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (1.5 percent), and Africa (about 1 percent).

In the period 20052010, employment in the fisheries sector continued to growfaster (at 2.1 percent per year) than the worlds population (at 1.2 percent per year) and than employment in the traditional agriculture sector (at 0.5 percent per year).

However, the relative proportion of those engaged in capture fisheries within the sector actually decreased from 87 percent in 1990 to 70 percent in 2010, while the proportion of those engaged in fish farming increased from 13 to 30 percent.

It is apparent that, in the most important fishing nations, the share of employment in capture fisheries is stagnating or decreasing while aquaculture is providing increased opportunities.

Moreover, as many countries still do not report employment data separately for thecapture and farming sectors, the relative importance of employment in aquaculturemay be underestimated.

The trends in employment vary according to the regions. Europe experienced thelargest decrease in the number of people engaged in capture fishing with a 2 percentaverage annual decline between 2000 and 2010, and almost no increase in peopleemployed in fish farming in the same period. The employment statistics for selected countries, including China, where almost 14 million people (26 percent of the world total) are engaged as fishersand fish farmers.

In general, employment in fishing has been decreasing in capital intensive economies, in particular in most European countries, North America, andJapan.

Several factors may account for this, including the application of policiesto reduce overcapacity and less reliance on human power owing to technologicaldevelopments.

Although 87.3 percent of the worlds fishers and fish farmers were in Asia, the region accounted for only 68.7 percent of global production with an average of 2.1 tonnes per person per year in 2010, compared with 25.7 tonnes in Europe, 18.0 tonnes in North America, and 6.9 tonnes in Latin America and the Caribbean. Production per person is considered to reflect a certain degree of industrialization of fishing activities as well as the relative importance of small-scale operators, especially in Africa and Asia.

As a general global trend, while productivity has dropped slightly from 2.8 to 2.3 tonnes per person in capture production, aquaculture has increased its productivity from 3.1 to 3.6 tonnes per person in the last decade.

The fisheries and aquaculture sector provides numerous jobs in ancillary activities in addition to fishers and fish farmers, such as processing, packaging, marketing and distribution, manufacturing of fish processing equipment, net and gear making, ice production and supply, boat construction and maintenance.

Assuming that for each person directly engaged in fisheries production in 2010 about three to four related jobs were generated in secondary activities, and further assuming that, on average, each job holder provided for three dependants or family members, then fishers, fish farmers and those supplying services and goods to them would have assured the livelihoods of about 660820 million people, or about 1012 percent of the worlds population.