Global Fisheries Catch Data: Overview, Issues, and Solutions

Studies conducted by my group over the last decade show that official marine fisheries catch data are often substantially incorrect and generally underestimate true total catches. We use a variety of data sources and local expert knowledge to reconstruct total marine catches for all countries around the world, leading to more comprehensive accounting of total extractions from marine ecosystems. We make this new data baseline available to stakeholders through the Sea Around Us Project website, dedicated publications and outreach, and thereby aim to set a new basis for policies related to global fisheries.