This edition of the OECD Review of Fisheries is the latest in a longstanding series of OECD reports covering developments in both production and policies in fisheries and aquaculture. This version broadly covers the period 2015-16 and includes 35 countries and economies, comprising 28 OECD countries as well as a regional chapter covering developments in the European Union. Also participating in this edition are Argentina, the People’s Republic of China, Colombia, Indonesia, Lithuania, Chinese Taipei, and Thailand. Together, the participants in this Review represent nearly half of global fisheries production, and the majority of production of aquaculture.

Countries are advancing reforms in their fisheries management systems to improve the profitability and sustainability of their fisheries. They are also working actively to promote the development of aquaculture, which is seen as the future of fish production. These efforts include regulatory improvements and increased spending on research, as well as cost-sharing with the private sector to encourage investment in the sector.

This chapter provides an overview of recent trends in fisheries and aquaculture production. The continuing importance of aquaculture’s contribution to total production is clear and the average rate of growth in aquaculture output has been 2.1% per year since 2011 for the OECD region. The value of OECD level aquaculture output has grown even faster, averaging 6% per year since 2006, driven by price increases of 4% per year as producers have focused on higher value species. Capture fisheries landings at the OECD level have continued following the long-observed trend of decline and are now at the lowest level observed since 1995. This is the result of both declining stocks and more restrictive fishing policies aimed at ensuring sustainable exploitation. The value of capture landings, which was historically supported by price increases as the quantity of landings fell, has also started to decline more recently as prices have also started falling. Following a long period of decline, recent evidence seems to indicate that the number of fishing vessels has been stabilising at the OECD level in recent years.

This chapter provides an overview of the latest major policy developments for countries covered by the Review. Countries are advancing reforms in their fisheries management systems to improve both the profitability and sustainability of their fisheries sectors. In the pursuit of these objectives, and on the basis of their experience to-date, a number of countries are currently reviewing and revising the way in which fishing rights and quotas are both allocated and administered. Countries are also working actively to promote the sustainable development of aquaculture, which is seen as the primary source of future growth in fish production. These efforts include regulatory improvements and increased spending on research, as well as cost-sharing with the private sector to encourage investment in the sector.

This chapter provides the latest available data on support to capture fisheries. The Fisheries Support Estimate (FSE) database now inventories budgetary support to fisheries that totals USD 13 billion (EUR 11.7 billion) in 33 countries and economies in 2015. For the first time, data for the People’s Republic of China (hereafter “China”) is included in the database, revealing the scale of policies in this important fishing nation. Nearly 88% of all support transferred to individual fishers recorded in the database originates in China, and the majority of this is a fuel subsidy programme for fishing vessels. In a positive development, China has announced plans to progressively reduce this subsidy. For most other countries and economies in the database, support to general services to the sector, rather than transfers to individual fishers, dominate. Governments invest a significant amount of resources to this kind of support, which includes management, enforcement, research, infrastructure and marketing. On average, these expenditures by governments equal 16% of the value of landings; that is, USD 1 in every 6 earned by the sector. While some governments recoup these costs from fishers, this approach is not commonly applied and accounts for only a small percentage of the total outlay on general services to the sector.

This chapter provides additional country-level data and details on institutions and policies based on contributions by participating countries and economies.