Fishing Grounds of the World | Geography

In this article we will discuss about some of the fishing grounds found in the world.

Fishing Grounds in North-East Atlantic:

This region extends from Iceland to the Medi­terranean shores and pelagic, demersal and inshore fishing are all done on a highly organized basis by the European countries, especially the U.S.S.R., Norway, Denmark, Spain, Iceland and the U.K. Fishing is carried out all round the year in the shallow waters of the North Sea, the most vigorously exploited area being the Dogger Bank.

Spring is the busiest fishing season, but also the most hazardous because of the stormy weather. Casualty rates in the North Sea are higher than in any other major fishing region. The principal fish caught are herring, cod and mackerel. In the colder northern waters, haddock, turbot and halibut are caught and hake, skate, plaice and sole are also important. Farther south anchovies, pilchards and sardines are the main species and some tuna are found.

The North-East Atlantic region, with an annual catch of around 9 million tonnes, is the greatest fish- exporting region of the world. The European fishing fleets are highly mechanized; trawlers are the most important vessels, especially for demersal fishing. Seiners and liners are extensively employed in the deep-water fishing while herring, which make up the bulk of Europe’s pelagic fish, are caught by drifters.

It is important to bear in mind that fishing in this area is not confined to the countries which border the North Sea and North-East Atlantic. The U.S.S.R. and other nations send many vessels to fish in the area. At the same time, part of the catch of the European nations is derived from further afield, e.g. the Grand Banks.

In terms of tonnage of fish landed by European countries other than the U.S.S.R., Norway leads and Denmark takes second place, followed by Spain, Iceland, Britain, France, Germany-and Portugal. Commercial fishing is less important in such countries as the Netherlands, Sweden and Belgium. Fishing is generally best developed where the opportunities on land for gainful employment are least.

In Iceland fish and fish products make up over 90 per cent (by value) of annual exports. Although Iceland has only about 5,000 fishermen (about 2 per cent of the population), they are the most efficient in the world, each catching 200 tonnes annually or more than five times as much as in any other fishing nation. So great is Icelandic dependence on fishing that since 1948 fishing craft from Britain, Germany and Norway have been forbidden to fish in Icelandic waters.

It is esti­mated that prior to 1948, more than 13 per cent of the north-western European catches came from Ice­landic waters. In 1958, Iceland extended her terri­torial waters, within which no other nations are permitted to fish, from 6 km (4 miles) to 19 km (12 miles). Iceland now claims an exclusive economic zone of 320 km (200 miles), in which it allows only limited fishing quotas to other nations.

Within this limit, however, fishing by Icelandic craft is also controlled and Iceland is attempting to rebuild overfished stocks. Norway, another country that relies heavily on fishing, has also extended its territorial waters partly to protect its own interests and partly to reduce overfishing.

a. Norwegian Fisheries:

Norway is the greatest fishing nation in Europe, accounting for almost 5 per cent of the world’s total catch. Fishing provides employment for 32,500 people (out of a total popula­tion of 4 million) and marine products are important Norwegian exports. Herring form 65 per cent of the catch; they are fished around Bergen in spring and move north to the Lofoten Islands by autumn.

The port of Haugesund is the greatest Norwegian herring port and exports cured or salted herring to many parts of the world. The nearby port of Stavanger specializes in the canning, of brisling, similar to sardines, and has some of the most elaborate canning installations in Europe.

The fiorded sea-coasts from Stavanger to Hammerfest, a distance of over 1,610 km (1,000 miles), are noted for cod (25 per cent of Norway’s catch), mackerel, coalfish, whitefish and prawns. The greatest cod-fishing area is off the Lofoten Islands, from Trondheim to Tromso. Most of the cod are preserved in ice and exported ‘wet’ to the Baltic countries. Salted and dried cod are sent to distant countries in Africa or to Spain or the U.S.S.R.

Inferior or under-sized fish are converted into fish- meal for animal feeding or ground into fish manure and capelin are caught in large quantities for these purposes. The Norwegians were among the earliest people to sail to the Arctic and Antarctic waters for whaling and sealing and Norway was for many years the leading producer of whale oil. In 1967, however, Norway finally withdrew from whaling. The high cost of equipment and high running costs were no longer economic in view of the scarcity of whales, especially the larger species.

b. British Fisheries:

Britain has always been a great fishing nation because of her favourable location on the extensive continental shelf of northern Europe. Fishing for both pelagic and demersal fish is carried out all round the year. Trawling is done in the distant waters of the cold Arctic, Barents, Newfoundland, Faeroes and Icelandic regions.

Trawlers operate from the leading British fishing ports of Hull, Grimsby and Fleetwood. They account for about two-thirds of the annual British catch, cod being the most numerous fish, then haddock and plaice. In the North Sea and other waters at medium distance, vessels using drift or seine nets catch both pelagic and demersal fish.

Herring is the dominant species landed. Inshore fish­ing, chiefly for crabs, lobsters, prawns and shrimps is important and many kinds of shellfish (cockles, winkles, whelks, mussels) are gathered. Oysters are also farmed, especially in the Thames estuary and in Essex. Inland fishing is commercially insignificant but fishing as a sport or pastime, using rod and line, is important. Angling is the most important sport (in terms of numbers participating) in Britain.

The annual British catch amounts to about one million tonnes, the majority of which is demersal fish. Most of the fish is absorbed by the home market, either distributed fresh through Billingsgate Market, one of the world’s largest fish markets, or frozen and packaged in the ports, e.g. Hull. The chief by-products include fish-meal, fish liver oil, and ferti­lizers. Some cured fish is still exported to Europe but this is largely offset by huge imports of canned fish, especially salmon and sardines.

Although the value of the British catch is still great the importance of fishing has declined relative to other sectors of the economy and to other fishing nations. This is partly due to overfishing in the North. Sea, exclusion from Icelandic waters and competition from other European nations particularly Denmark in the Common Market’s joint 320-km (200-mile) EEZ, comprising mainly waters which surround the shores of Britain.

c. Fishing in the Rest of Europe:

The waters off southern Europe and of the Mediterranean Sea are noted for sardine and anchovy fisheries. These small fish form a large proportion of the catch in Spain, Portugal and Italy. They can be easily canned for export or processed in many other ways. Sardines are also caught off the coast of southern France, and are marketed through the town of Beaucaire in the Rhone delta.

Pilchards, mackerel and other pelagic fish are caught in the coastal waters of Mediterranean Europe. Tuna is caught in large numbers off the Atlantic coasts of Spain and Portugal and also in the Mediterranean off Sicily and Sardinia. This large and valuable fish is usually canned.

On the whole fishing in southern Europe is on a smaller scale, using smaller vessels and less efficient techniques than in the major fishing nations. Never­theless fishing is an important occupation in both Spain and Portugal. The Portuguese have a long seafaring tradition and have long participated in fisheries far from their own shores, e.g. on the Grand Banks. Spain has only risen to prominence relatively recently. This is the result of government policy which has improved fishing ports, processing and transportation facilities and encouraged the use of modern vessels and equipment.

The fishing industry of France is relatively unimpor­tant despite the long and often indented coastline. Agricultural opportunities in most parts of France have lessened interest in the sea, though France par­ticipates in the North Atlantic fisheries, the chief ports being Boulogne and Dieppe. Inshore fishing is particu­larly important in Brittany and oysters are a major product.

Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland all participate in the North Sea and Baltic Sea fisheries. Pelagic, demersal and inshore fishing are carried out and the chief ports include Ostend (Belgium); Flushing, Ijmuiden (the Netherlands); Esbjerg, Copenhagen (Denmark); Bremerhaven, Lubeck (W. Germany); Goteborg, Malmo (Sweden); Szczecin, Gdansk (Poland). The Liim Fjord of Jutland, Denmark, has notable plaice hatcheries and a number of the European countries have taken to fish culture.

Fishing Grounds in North-West Atlantic:

Within two decades of the discovery of North America by Christopher Columbus in the south and John and Sebastian Cabot in the north, fishermen from many parts of Europe began to frequent the waters of the north-west Atlantic from Newfoundland to the New England states. This was traditionally the world’s richest cod fishing region, though catches have declined as a result of overfishing, and borders Canada and the United States.

The region has a 8,000-km (5,000-mile) long coastline, with a fishing area of no less than 520,000 sq. km (200,000 sq. miles), centred on the Grand Banks. For more than 450 years the Newfoundland fishing grounds have been visited by the fishing fleets of Britain, France, Spain and Portugal and these have now been joined by those of Japan and the U.S.S.R.

Besides cod, herring and mackerel are caught in the surface waters; halibut, haddock, hake and flounder in the deeper waters. Inshore fishing for shellfish and crustaceans is also important and serves a vast market in the urbanized north-east of U.S.A. Fishing and marine industries are an important sector of the economy of the Maritime Provinces of Canada (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island).

In Newfoundland, fishing provides employment for the vast majority of the population. Fish in all its various forms, fresh, cured, preserved or canned, is sent in large quantities to mainland America or exported to Latin America, southern Europe and North Africa. Modern trawlers and drifters, equipped with trawls, seines, drift nets and long lines exploit the ‘banks’ and coastal waters of the North-West Atlantic to the fullest extent.

But for the abundance of plankton and marine life, the region would have been desperately overfished long ago; in fact it has survived for over 400 years but stocks have now been dangerously depleted by the in­tensive fishing methods of recent years.

The following are some of the reasons for the development and importance of fishing in the North- West Atlantic:

(a) The vast continental shelf of the North-West Atlantic provides an excellent breeding ground for fish. They feed on the plankton which is abundant here because of the cool waters and shallow seas. Besides the famous Grand Banks, south-east of New­foundland, there are other lesser banks including Green Bank, Sable Bank, St. Pierre Bank and Georges Bank. Fish come in enormous shoals to spawn in the shallow seas off the Canadian-American coast and are caught all round the year.

(b) Off Newfoundland at about latitude 45° to 55°N is the zone of convergence of the cold Labrador Current and the warm Gulf Stream. While the icebergs that come south on the Labrador Current bring minerals from the land on which plankton thrive, they also constitute a navigational hazard.

At one time, fishing was also hampered by poor visibility be­cause of the dense fog formed over the water surface where warm and cold currents converge. Ships and dories often ran into one another or were wrecked on icebergs under such weather conditions and many were lost. Today, however, vessels are equipped with radar which can see through the fogs. Wireless services keep them in constant contact with their headquarters on land.

(c) Lack of natural resources on land has driven the people to the sea. There are few minerals, agricul­tural land is restricted and the growing season is short.

(d) When the early settlers first sailed across the Atlantic and made their homes in Canada and the U.S.A., they had no difficulty in finding shipbuilding materials. There were large stretches of virgin, tem­perate forests which provided timber for the con­struction of sailing vessels and fishing craft.

The New England states were noted for their shipbuilding industries. Ports such as Boston, Gloucester, Portland, and Saint John’s and Halifax in Canada are still im­portant for shipbuilding. The timber also provides material for barrels and boxes for the packing and preservation of fish.

(e) The cool temperate climate not only favours large-scale commercial fishing, but also the preser­vation and storage of fish. Modern canning and refrig­erating facilities accelerated the fish export trade.

Fishing Grounds in the North-East Pacific:

The seas adjoining the western shores of North America from Alaska to California, form another prosperous fishing region. Along its highly irregular and indented coastline of about 11 200 km (7,000 miles) and in some of the Pacific-bound rivers such as the Skeena and Fraser, are many fish. Salmon is the most valuable fish caught; it is mostly exported as canned salmon.

Since salmon come back to the freshwater rivers to spawn, they are easily caught by purse seines, pound nets or gill nets. Salmon have been caught for the past 100 years in such numbers that stocks have been greatly depleted. With the construction of dams and the pollution of river water even those salmon which escape being caught may be either killed or prevented from reaching their spawning ground.

There are now few salmon left in most of the American and Canadian rivers and the bulk of the haul comes from the newer sources in Alaska. Most salmon canned in Alaska are shipped to Vancouver and Seattle for export. Attempts have been made to prevent further depletion of the salmon by artificial fertilization of salmon eggs in hatcheries and their subsequent redistribution to the overfished rivers; by clearing streams and providing ladders or weirs to assist salmon in their run upstream for spawning; and by legislation against excessive salmon fishing, but only time will show whether these are successful.

Amongst the demersal fish caught in the North- East Pacific, hake is the most important. The halibut was once important but has been almost fished to extinction and catches are half what they were ten years ago. Although scientific control over the Pacific halibut fishery has resulted in some increase in its numbers, these are still not as great as originally. The other fish caught include herring, cod and flounder.

In recent years huge catches of Alaska pollack, a pelagic fish used for both food and meal, have been the main catch due to reduced stocks of the tradi­tionally caught species. Further south, in the warmer waters off California, tuna and sardine fishing assume greater prominence. Large quantities of crabs, shrimps and oysters are also caught for the North American market. Catches in the North-East Pacific by the U.S.A. and Canada are far smaller than by Japan and the U.S.S.R.

a. Fishing in the United States:

The United States of America takes fifth place in the annual fish output of the world, with an annual catch of around 3 million tonnes, mainly from the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards. The fishing grounds extend from Alaska to California on the Pacific side, and from Maine to Florida on the Atlantic side. The leading fishing states are Alaska, Massachusetts, California, Delaware and New Jersey.

The shallow waters of the Atlantic seaboard yield menhaden, mackerel, herring, cod, ocean perch, flounder, whiting and many other species. The major landing ports are Gloucester, New Bedford, New Haven, Baltimore, Beaufort and Jacksonville. On the Pacific side, Alaska pollack and salmon are the lead­ing species, followed by tuna, sardine and pilchard off the Californian coast.

In recent years menhaden, has been increasingly caught, especially in the Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic, mainly for the extrac­tion of oil which is used widely as a substitute for vegetable oil in the manufacture of tin-plate and lino­leum. The bones and fish wastes are made into fish meals or fertilizers.

Crustaceans and shellfish are an important part of the American fishing industry. Shrimps, crabs, prawns, lobsters and oysters are the most important. The shrimp and prawn fisheries are based on ports border­ing the Gulf of Mexico. Lobsters are caught in the coastal waters of New England, while crabs are found in Chesapeake Bay and off the Gulf states.

The oyster fishery of Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound is probably the greatest in the world. The sponges harvested in the shallow tropical waters of the reefs in Key West, off the coast of Florida, support a thriving sponge industry. By-products of the shellfish include the manufacture of poultry grit, lime and pearl buttons. Many Americans take to fishing as a sport especially in inland lakes and rivers.

b. Fishing in Canada:

The annual output of the Canadian fisheries is a little larger than that of Britain. Canadian fisheries were increasingly threatened by overseas trawlers during the early 1970s and stocks were seriously overfished. Canada and the U.S.A. were both among the first countries to claim the 320- km (200-mile) EEZs in 1976-7 to protect their fish­eries.

The chief fish are salmon, cod, lobsters, herring, haddock, scallops, halibut, flounder, sole, sardine and whitefish. Canada’s small population cannot absorb the entire catch and much of the fish is exported ‘wet’ to the United States and ‘dry’ to Latin America and south-western Europe.

Canadian fish come from two major areas. New­foundland, with Labrador, remains the leading fishing ground. Cod is the traditional catch on the banks, while the lobsters of Nova Scotia have attained great prominence in recent years. The revolution of fishing methods during the twentieth century using trawl nets and powered boats has increased catches tremendous­ly, at the same time widening the fishing areas to the deeper parts of the Atlantic Ocean.

Salmon is caught in fairly large quantities in the Maritime Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. In eastern Canada, fishing and its related industries provide a valuable source of employment and export earnings especially in Newfoundland, where there are 40 freezing plants and nearly 60 salt-fish plants.

British Columbia on the Pacific seaboard has smaller catches than the east coast. Herring, salmon, hake and crabs are the main catches. Halibut catches have declined sharply. Vancouver is the heart of the western Canadian fishing industry, with many canneries and large fishing fleets. Fish conservation measures are being undertaken to maintain yields.

The inland freshwater fisheries of Canada produce salmon, trout, eel and whitefish which are caught in the chief rivers and lakes, e.g. R. Skeena, R. Fraser, Great Lakes, Great Slave Lake.

Fishing Grounds in the North-West Pacific:

The north-west Pacific from the Bering Sea to the East China Sea is the world’s greatest fishing region. Computed in total tonnage of fish caught, the annual yield is well over 17 million tonnes, of which Japan alone accounts for about 8.5 million. The rest is shared by China, South and North Korea, and eastern U.S.S.R. Within the enclosed seas, e.g. the Sea of Okhotsk, Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea and the East China Sea are found intensive forms of inshore as well as deep-sea fishing.

There are probably more people engaged in fishing here than in any other part of the world. Commercial fishing is best developed in Japan where the industry is very highly organized and the fishing methods are modern.

The Chinese under the communist regime have laid greater emphasis on the importance of marine harvests, but China still specializes in inshore fishing and inland fish culture. With an estimated population of around 865 million the demand for fish, which forms an essential part of the Chinese diet, is continually grow­ing. Fishermen from the overcrowded provinces of Guangdong (Kwangtung), Fujian (Fukien), Zhejiang (Chekiang), and Jiangsu (Kiangsu) have had a tradition of seafaring for many centuries.

They sail in junks and tongkangs into the East China Sea and bring home a rich variety of fish, shellfish and other marine food. In the inland rivers and lakes, fishermen use all sorts of nets, traps and lines, including the use of fishing birds (cormorants) to catch fish.

a. The U.S.S.R.:

The U.S.S.R. is continually ex­panding its sea fisheries. On the Pacific border, the Japanese fishing fleets have been excluded from the Sea of Okhotsk since 1946 and in 1956 the Conven­tion for High Seas Fisheries of the north-west Pacific Ocean was concluded with Japan to restrict the freedom of open fishing.

The drive for increased fish output has now made the U.S.S.R. the second greatest fishing nation with an annual production of 9 million tonnes (13 per cent of world output). This can be compared with the catch of 2.3 million tonnes in 1960 and 7 million tonnes in 1970. The U.S.S.R. fishing fleets are not confined to the Pacific however.

They make huge catches in the Arctic, off northern Norway and northern U.S.S.R.; in the North- East Atlantic region; off eastern North America; in the Antarctic and even in the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean. The bulk of the catch in the North­west Pacific is made up of salmon, from the Kuriles, Sakhalin and Kamchatka. Other fish caught include Alaska pollack, tuna, bonito, sardine, cod, mackerel, sharks and whales.

The U.S.S.R. is the leading whaling nation. Large quantities of freshwater fish including sturgeon, eels, carp, trout and salmon are also caught in the Siberian rivers and the Caspian Sea. The ex­pansion of the Russian fishing industry has often been to the detriment of longer-established fishing nations, especially Norway.

b. The Fishing Industry of Japan:

Japan, whose annual catch amounts to 14.5 per cent of world output has a long-established fishing industry. Fishing villages, large and small, are found all along the rugged coastline from Hokkaido to Kyushu. Fishermen on western Honshu exploit the shallow waters of the Sea of Japan as far west as the Chinese and Korean waters and return with heavy hauls of sardines, herring, mackerel, salmon, yellowtail, cuttlefish, shellfish, and crustaceans, of which crabs and lobsters are the most important.

Inshore fishing is very well-developed in the coastal waters of Japan. Fishermen do not sail more than a few kilometres out to sea in their small fishing craft. They fish either as a full-time occupa­tion or only seasonally to supplement their farm come. Deep-sea fishing for cod, Alaska pollack, herring, tuna, bonito and mackerel has developed more recently. Large modern vessels fish the Pacific Ocean and operate in every ocean.

The fishing fleets are owned by large corporations and are complete with refrigeration plants, floating canneries and processing facilities. Tuna, salmon and demersal fishes are caught and processed on the spot. About a third of the annual haul now comes from deep sea sources.

Many restrictions have been imposed on Japanese fleets. To the north, vessels are not permitted to fish the Soviet controlled Sea of Okhotsk; to the west, the Rhee-Line drawn up by the South Korean Govern­ment, keeps the Japanese fishermen away from the Korean waters.

The world-wide acceptance of a 320- km (200-mile) EEZ will further limit Japanese fish­ing fleets and this is in part a penalty to be paid for excessive efficiency since Japanese depradations have reduced fish stocks and forced other countries to protect their fisheries in the interests of conservation and their own fishing fleets.

In whaling, Japan is the second largest whaling nation. The Japanese hunt whales in the nearby North Pacific as well as in Antarctica. Pearling in the Arafura Sea and the artificial pearl culture at Ise Bay forms yet another aspect of the Japanese fishing industry. There are more than 10,000 Japanese employed in this unique industry. Fishermen also practise seaweed collection and seaweed farming.

The edible seaweeds are largely consumed by the Japanese and the Chinese, while the industrial seaweeds are converted into iodine, gelatine and fertilizers. The fish wastes and inferior fish are turned into fish-meals for animal fodder or ground into fish manure and are used extensively in Japanese farms.

Fish and other marine products play a vital part in the Japanese economy. Fishing fleets and methods are highly developed and Japan has become a centre for fish research. The development and importance of the Japanese fishing industry are the results of many combined factors.