Fish sticks don’t grow on trees; they are probably made from the fish caught in one of these 8 countries that produce the most fish in the world. Fish and fish products are an important food source from ancient times and one of the primary sources of proteins and other nutrients for humans. Besides being the food source, fish is also used as an input factor in other industrial processes.
Fish production represents an important part of the economy for some countries. It is estimated that “directly or indirectly, the livelihood of over 500 million people in developing countries depends on fisheries and aquaculture”. Fish production can be conducted in two ways: one is capturing wild fish (fishing) and the other is cultivating and farming. Although fishing is still the primary way to produce the fish, cultivating becomes more and more popular way of production.
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The world’s fish production is based primarily on the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Ocean. The Pacific Ocean is responsible for around 70% of all caught fish in the world’s oceans and is rich with species like herring, salmon, sardines, snapper, swordfish, and tuna. The Atlantic Ocean is rich with cod, haddock, hake, herring, and mackerel while the Indian Ocean contains large amounts of tuna and shrimps.
To determine the 8 countries that produce the most fish in the world we used data about global leading fishing nations for the year 2013 collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Data is based on capture production. Also, this is the most recent report available on this topic.
For some further fish inspired reading, be sure to check out our list of 11 countries that consume the most fish as well.
