FAO Fisheries Circular No. 990

World Markets and Industry of Selected Commercially-Exploited Aquatic Species with an International Conservation Profile

by
Camillo Catarci
Consultant
FAO Fisheries Department

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ISSN 0429-9329

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© FAO 2004

Catarci, C.

World markets and industry of selected commercially-exploited aquatic species with an international conservation profile.

FAO Fisheries Circular. No. 990. Rome, FAO. 2004. 186p.

ABSTRACT

Over time, the international community has launched initiatives aimed at improving the conservation status of commercially-exploited aquatic species. The four separate studies in this report target four species or groups of species with an international conservation profile and which are traditionally under-represented in market and industry literatures. These species are sturgeons (Acipenseriformes), Caribbean queen conch (Strombus gigas), sharks (Chondrychthyes) and Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides). The sturgeon and caviar industry is a commercial one, with traditionally high capture and export patterns. The queen conch fishery is an important provider of employment and income among fishing communities in the Western Central Atlantic area. The shark fishery is a relatively large and financially important one. Sharks are mainly taken as bycatch of other commercial fisheries such as tuna and billfishes. The Patagonian toothfish is exploited by an industrial fishery which is concentrated in the southernmost areas of the Atlantic and the Pacific and in Antarctic waters.