Fisheries and aquaculture biomass production within a sustainable and circular bioeconomy
Brief me
In 2021, the EU Maritime living resources sector generated more than €22.0 billion in GVA. While gross profits reached €9.7 billion, the reported turnover was about €126 billion, and the sector directly employed more than 543 000 persons.
Capture fisheries production has been relatively stable globally since the late 1980s, fluctuating between 86 and 93 million tonnes/ year. By contrast, world aquaculture production has been growing by 5.2 % from 2000 to 2022, up to 94 million tonnes.
As of 2022, the EU is the eighth largest producer of fishery and aquaculture products, covering around 2% of global production.
In the Northeast Atlantic, reduced fishing pressure improved the status of stocks in recent years. 79.4 % of the assessed stocks were fished within biologically sustainable levels in 2021.
In the Mediterranean and Black Seas, only 37.5 % of the stocks were within biologically sustainable levels in 2021.
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