{"chart":{"title":"Wild fish catch by gear type","subtitle":"Volume of wild fish caught by gear type: bottom trawl, pelagic trawl, purse seine, gillnets, longline, small-scale fishing, and other/unknown gear.","citation":"Sea Around Us (2022)","originalChartUrl":"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/wild-fish-catch-gear-type","selection":["World"]},"columns":{"Wild fish catch from bottom trawling":{"titleShort":"Wild fish catch from bottom trawling","titleLong":"Wild fish catch from bottom trawling - Sea Around Us","descriptionShort":"Estimated catch of fish and other marine animals caught by industrial fishing with bottom trawls, large nets dragged along the seafloor.","descriptionKey":"- Sea Around Us attempts to reconstruct the full catch of each country. It starts from the official figures that countries report to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and adds estimates of the catch these figures leave out, such as much of the catch by small-scale, subsistence, and recreational fishers, unreported catch by industrial fleets, and the fish thrown back into the sea. These estimates draw on scientific studies, government reports, and local experts.\n- The catch of each country is the catch of its own fishers and fleets, wherever they fish: in its own waters, in other countries’ waters, or on the high seas. The world total also includes catch whose fishing country is unknown.\n- This data covers marine fish and invertebrates (such as shrimp, squid, and crabs). It does not include marine mammals, reptiles, corals, sponges, seaweed, freshwater fishing, or fish farming (aquaculture).","descriptionProcessing":"Sea Around Us data goes up to 2019, but its 2019 figures look unfinished for several large fishing countries. For example, it counts almost all of Peru’s anchoveta catch, which is mostly turned into fishmeal and fish oil, as eaten directly by people; it doesn’t say which gear caught large parts of the catch of Peru, Indonesia, and India; and Japan’s catch is about 20% higher than Japan’s and FAO’s official figures. Because of this, we only show on our charts data up to 2018.\n\nSea Around Us lists some overseas fleets separately from the country they belong to. We add them to that country: the Azores and Madeira to Portugal; Ascension and Tristan da Cunha to Saint Helena; and Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius to Bonaire Sint Eustatius and Saba.","shortUnit":"t","unit":"tonnes","timespan":"1950-2018","type":"Numeric","owidVariableId":1354489,"shortName":"bottom_trawl","lastUpdated":"2026-10-24","nextUpdate":"2029-10-23","citationShort":"Sea Around Us (2022) – with minor processing by Our World in Data","citationLong":"Sea Around Us (2022) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. “Wild fish catch from bottom trawling – Sea Around Us” [dataset]. Sea Around Us, “Sea Around Us reconstructed marine fisheries catch” [original data].","fullMetadata":"https://api.ourworldindata.org/v1/indicators/1354489.metadata.json"},"Wild fish catch from purse seines":{"titleShort":"Wild fish catch from purse seines","titleLong":"Wild fish catch from purse seines - Sea Around Us","descriptionShort":"Estimated catch of fish and other marine animals caught by industrial fishing with purse seines, large nets that encircle a school of fish and are then closed at the bottom.","descriptionKey":"- Sea Around Us estimates which fishing gear caught each part of the catch, based on the gears each country’s fleets use for each species. Catch by industrial fishing is split into bottom trawls, pelagic trawls, purse seines, longlines and other lines, gillnets, and other gear. Catch by small-scale fishing (artisanal, subsistence, and recreational) is counted as “small-scale gear”, whatever gear is used.\n- Sea Around Us attempts to reconstruct the full catch of each country. It starts from the official figures that countries report to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and adds estimates of the catch these figures leave out, such as much of the catch by small-scale, subsistence, and recreational fishers, unreported catch by industrial fleets, and the fish thrown back into the sea. These estimates draw on scientific studies, government reports, and local experts.\n- The catch of each country is the catch of its own fishers and fleets, wherever they fish: in its own waters, in other countries’ waters, or on the high seas. The world total also includes catch whose fishing country is unknown.\n- This data covers marine fish and invertebrates (such as shrimp, squid, and crabs). It does not include marine mammals, reptiles, corals, sponges, seaweed, freshwater fishing, or fish farming (aquaculture).","descriptionProcessing":"Sea Around Us data goes up to 2019, but its 2019 figures look unfinished for several large fishing countries. For example, it counts almost all of Peru’s anchoveta catch, which is mostly turned into fishmeal and fish oil, as eaten directly by people; it doesn’t say which gear caught large parts of the catch of Peru, Indonesia, and India; and Japan’s catch is about 20% higher than Japan’s and FAO’s official figures. Because of this, we only show on our charts data up to 2018.\n\nSea Around Us lists some overseas fleets separately from the country they belong to. We add them to that country: the Azores and Madeira to Portugal; Ascension and Tristan da Cunha to Saint Helena; and Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius to Bonaire Sint Eustatius and Saba.","shortUnit":"t","unit":"tonnes","timespan":"1950-2018","type":"Numeric","owidVariableId":1354501,"shortName":"purse_seine","lastUpdated":"2026-10-24","nextUpdate":"2029-10-23","citationShort":"Sea Around Us (2022) – with minor processing by Our World in Data","citationLong":"Sea Around Us (2022) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. “Wild fish catch from purse seines – Sea Around Us” [dataset]. Sea Around Us, “Sea Around Us reconstructed marine fisheries catch” [original data].","fullMetadata":"https://api.ourworldindata.org/v1/indicators/1354501.metadata.json"},"Wild fish catch from pelagic trawling":{"titleShort":"Wild fish catch from pelagic trawling","titleLong":"Wild fish catch from pelagic trawling - Sea Around Us","descriptionShort":"Estimated catch of fish and other marine animals caught by industrial fishing with pelagic trawls, large nets towed through open water, above the seafloor.","descriptionKey":"- Sea Around Us estimates which fishing gear caught each part of the catch, based on the gears each country’s fleets use for each species. Catch by industrial fishing is split into bottom trawls, pelagic trawls, purse seines, longlines and other lines, gillnets, and other gear. Catch by small-scale fishing (artisanal, subsistence, and recreational) is counted as “small-scale gear”, whatever gear is used.\n- Sea Around Us attempts to reconstruct the full catch of each country. It starts from the official figures that countries report to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and adds estimates of the catch these figures leave out, such as much of the catch by small-scale, subsistence, and recreational fishers, unreported catch by industrial fleets, and the fish thrown back into the sea. These estimates draw on scientific studies, government reports, and local experts.\n- The catch of each country is the catch of its own fishers and fleets, wherever they fish: in its own waters, in other countries’ waters, or on the high seas. The world total also includes catch whose fishing country is unknown.\n- This data covers marine fish and invertebrates (such as shrimp, squid, and crabs). It does not include marine mammals, reptiles, corals, sponges, seaweed, freshwater fishing, or fish farming (aquaculture).","descriptionProcessing":"Sea Around Us data goes up to 2019, but its 2019 figures look unfinished for several large fishing countries. For example, it counts almost all of Peru’s anchoveta catch, which is mostly turned into fishmeal and fish oil, as eaten directly by people; it doesn’t say which gear caught large parts of the catch of Peru, Indonesia, and India; and Japan’s catch is about 20% higher than Japan’s and FAO’s official figures. Because of this, we only show on our charts data up to 2018.\n\nSea Around Us lists some overseas fleets separately from the country they belong to. We add them to that country: the Azores and Madeira to Portugal; Ascension and Tristan da Cunha to Saint Helena; and Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius to Bonaire Sint Eustatius and Saba.","shortUnit":"t","unit":"tonnes","timespan":"1950-2018","type":"Numeric","owidVariableId":1354500,"shortName":"pelagic_trawl","lastUpdated":"2026-10-24","nextUpdate":"2029-10-23","citationShort":"Sea Around Us (2022) – with minor processing by Our World in Data","citationLong":"Sea Around Us (2022) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. “Wild fish catch from pelagic trawling – Sea Around Us” [dataset]. Sea Around Us, “Sea Around Us reconstructed marine fisheries catch” [original data].","fullMetadata":"https://api.ourworldindata.org/v1/indicators/1354500.metadata.json"},"Wild fish catch from gillnets":{"titleShort":"Wild fish catch from gillnets","titleLong":"Wild fish catch from gillnets - Sea Around Us","descriptionShort":"Estimated catch of fish and other marine animals caught by industrial fishing with gillnets, walls of netting in which fish get caught by their gills. Gillnets used in small-scale fishing count as small-scale gear.","descriptionKey":"- Sea Around Us estimates which fishing gear caught each part of the catch, based on the gears each country’s fleets use for each species. Catch by industrial fishing is split into bottom trawls, pelagic trawls, purse seines, longlines and other lines, gillnets, and other gear. Catch by small-scale fishing (artisanal, subsistence, and recreational) is counted as “small-scale gear”, whatever gear is used.\n- Sea Around Us attempts to reconstruct the full catch of each country. It starts from the official figures that countries report to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and adds estimates of the catch these figures leave out, such as much of the catch by small-scale, subsistence, and recreational fishers, unreported catch by industrial fleets, and the fish thrown back into the sea. These estimates draw on scientific studies, government reports, and local experts.\n- The catch of each country is the catch of its own fishers and fleets, wherever they fish: in its own waters, in other countries’ waters, or on the high seas. The world total also includes catch whose fishing country is unknown.\n- This data covers marine fish and invertebrates (such as shrimp, squid, and crabs). It does not include marine mammals, reptiles, corals, sponges, seaweed, freshwater fishing, or fish farming (aquaculture).","descriptionProcessing":"Sea Around Us data goes up to 2019, but its 2019 figures look unfinished for several large fishing countries. For example, it counts almost all of Peru’s anchoveta catch, which is mostly turned into fishmeal and fish oil, as eaten directly by people; it doesn’t say which gear caught large parts of the catch of Peru, Indonesia, and India; and Japan’s catch is about 20% higher than Japan’s and FAO’s official figures. Because of this, we only show on our charts data up to 2018.\n\nSea Around Us lists some overseas fleets separately from the country they belong to. We add them to that country: the Azores and Madeira to Portugal; Ascension and Tristan da Cunha to Saint Helena; and Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius to Bonaire Sint Eustatius and Saba.","shortUnit":"t","unit":"tonnes","timespan":"1950-2018","type":"Numeric","owidVariableId":1354494,"shortName":"gillnets","lastUpdated":"2026-10-24","nextUpdate":"2029-10-23","citationShort":"Sea Around Us (2022) – with minor processing by Our World in Data","citationLong":"Sea Around Us (2022) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. “Wild fish catch from gillnets – Sea Around Us” [dataset]. Sea Around Us, “Sea Around Us reconstructed marine fisheries catch” [original data].","fullMetadata":"https://api.ourworldindata.org/v1/indicators/1354494.metadata.json"},"Wild fish catch from longlines":{"titleShort":"Wild fish catch from longlines","titleLong":"Wild fish catch from longlines - Sea Around Us","descriptionShort":"Estimated catch of fish and other marine animals caught by industrial fishing with longlines, long fishing lines carrying many baited hooks, and other hook-and-line gear such as pole-and-line.","descriptionKey":"- Sea Around Us estimates which fishing gear caught each part of the catch, based on the gears each country’s fleets use for each species. Catch by industrial fishing is split into bottom trawls, pelagic trawls, purse seines, longlines and other lines, gillnets, and other gear. Catch by small-scale fishing (artisanal, subsistence, and recreational) is counted as “small-scale gear”, whatever gear is used.\n- Sea Around Us attempts to reconstruct the full catch of each country. It starts from the official figures that countries report to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and adds estimates of the catch these figures leave out, such as much of the catch by small-scale, subsistence, and recreational fishers, unreported catch by industrial fleets, and the fish thrown back into the sea. These estimates draw on scientific studies, government reports, and local experts.\n- The catch of each country is the catch of its own fishers and fleets, wherever they fish: in its own waters, in other countries’ waters, or on the high seas. The world total also includes catch whose fishing country is unknown.\n- This data covers marine fish and invertebrates (such as shrimp, squid, and crabs). It does not include marine mammals, reptiles, corals, sponges, seaweed, freshwater fishing, or fish farming (aquaculture).","descriptionProcessing":"Sea Around Us data goes up to 2019, but its 2019 figures look unfinished for several large fishing countries. For example, it counts almost all of Peru’s anchoveta catch, which is mostly turned into fishmeal and fish oil, as eaten directly by people; it doesn’t say which gear caught large parts of the catch of Peru, Indonesia, and India; and Japan’s catch is about 20% higher than Japan’s and FAO’s official figures. Because of this, we only show on our charts data up to 2018.\n\nSea Around Us lists some overseas fleets separately from the country they belong to. We add them to that country: the Azores and Madeira to Portugal; Ascension and Tristan da Cunha to Saint Helena; and Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius to Bonaire Sint Eustatius and Saba.","shortUnit":"t","unit":"tonnes","timespan":"1950-2018","type":"Numeric","owidVariableId":1354498,"shortName":"longline","lastUpdated":"2026-10-24","nextUpdate":"2029-10-23","citationShort":"Sea Around Us (2022) – with minor processing by Our World in Data","citationLong":"Sea Around Us (2022) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. “Wild fish catch from longlines – Sea Around Us” [dataset]. Sea Around Us, “Sea Around Us reconstructed marine fisheries catch” [original data].","fullMetadata":"https://api.ourworldindata.org/v1/indicators/1354498.metadata.json"},"Wild fish catch from other fishing gear":{"titleShort":"Wild fish catch from other fishing gear","titleLong":"Wild fish catch from other fishing gear - Sea Around Us","descriptionShort":"Estimated catch of fish and other marine animals caught by industrial fishing with other types of gear.","descriptionKey":"- Sea Around Us estimates which fishing gear caught each part of the catch, based on the gears each country’s fleets use for each species. Catch by industrial fishing is split into bottom trawls, pelagic trawls, purse seines, longlines and other lines, gillnets, and other gear. Catch by small-scale fishing (artisanal, subsistence, and recreational) is counted as “small-scale gear”, whatever gear is used.\n- Sea Around Us attempts to reconstruct the full catch of each country. It starts from the official figures that countries report to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and adds estimates of the catch these figures leave out, such as much of the catch by small-scale, subsistence, and recreational fishers, unreported catch by industrial fleets, and the fish thrown back into the sea. These estimates draw on scientific studies, government reports, and local experts.\n- The catch of each country is the catch of its own fishers and fleets, wherever they fish: in its own waters, in other countries’ waters, or on the high seas. The world total also includes catch whose fishing country is unknown.\n- This data covers marine fish and invertebrates (such as shrimp, squid, and crabs). It does not include marine mammals, reptiles, corals, sponges, seaweed, freshwater fishing, or fish farming (aquaculture).","descriptionProcessing":"Sea Around Us data goes up to 2019, but its 2019 figures look unfinished for several large fishing countries. For example, it counts almost all of Peru’s anchoveta catch, which is mostly turned into fishmeal and fish oil, as eaten directly by people; it doesn’t say which gear caught large parts of the catch of Peru, Indonesia, and India; and Japan’s catch is about 20% higher than Japan’s and FAO’s official figures. Because of this, we only show on our charts data up to 2018.\n\nSea Around Us lists some overseas fleets separately from the country they belong to. We add them to that country: the Azores and Madeira to Portugal; Ascension and Tristan da Cunha to Saint Helena; and Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius to Bonaire Sint Eustatius and Saba.","shortUnit":"t","unit":"tonnes","timespan":"1950-2018","type":"Numeric","owidVariableId":1354497,"shortName":"other_gear","lastUpdated":"2026-10-24","nextUpdate":"2029-10-23","citationShort":"Sea Around Us (2022) – with minor processing by Our World in Data","citationLong":"Sea Around Us (2022) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. “Wild fish catch from other fishing gear – Sea Around Us” [dataset]. Sea Around Us, “Sea Around Us reconstructed marine fisheries catch” [original data].","fullMetadata":"https://api.ourworldindata.org/v1/indicators/1354497.metadata.json"},"Wild fish catch from small-scale fishing gear":{"titleShort":"Wild fish catch from small-scale fishing gear","titleLong":"Wild fish catch from small-scale fishing gear - Sea Around Us","descriptionShort":"Estimated catch of fish and other marine animals by small-scale fishing (artisanal, subsistence, and recreational), whatever gear is used, such as hand lines, gillnets, traps, and small nets.","descriptionKey":"- Sea Around Us estimates which fishing gear caught each part of the catch, based on the gears each country’s fleets use for each species. Catch by industrial fishing is split into bottom trawls, pelagic trawls, purse seines, longlines and other lines, gillnets, and other gear. Catch by small-scale fishing (artisanal, subsistence, and recreational) is counted as “small-scale gear”, whatever gear is used.\n- Sea Around Us attempts to reconstruct the full catch of each country. It starts from the official figures that countries report to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and adds estimates of the catch these figures leave out, such as much of the catch by small-scale, subsistence, and recreational fishers, unreported catch by industrial fleets, and the fish thrown back into the sea. These estimates draw on scientific studies, government reports, and local experts.\n- The catch of each country is the catch of its own fishers and fleets, wherever they fish: in its own waters, in other countries’ waters, or on the high seas. The world total also includes catch whose fishing country is unknown.\n- This data covers marine fish and invertebrates (such as shrimp, squid, and crabs). It does not include marine mammals, reptiles, corals, sponges, seaweed, freshwater fishing, or fish farming (aquaculture).","descriptionProcessing":"Sea Around Us data goes up to 2019, but its 2019 figures look unfinished for several large fishing countries. For example, it counts almost all of Peru’s anchoveta catch, which is mostly turned into fishmeal and fish oil, as eaten directly by people; it doesn’t say which gear caught large parts of the catch of Peru, Indonesia, and India; and Japan’s catch is about 20% higher than Japan’s and FAO’s official figures. Because of this, we only show on our charts data up to 2018.\n\nSea Around Us lists some overseas fleets separately from the country they belong to. We add them to that country: the Azores and Madeira to Portugal; Ascension and Tristan da Cunha to Saint Helena; and Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius to Bonaire Sint Eustatius and Saba.","shortUnit":"t","unit":"tonnes","timespan":"1950-2018","type":"Numeric","owidVariableId":1354506,"shortName":"small_scale_gear","lastUpdated":"2026-10-24","nextUpdate":"2029-10-23","citationShort":"Sea Around Us (2022) – with minor processing by Our World in Data","citationLong":"Sea Around Us (2022) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. “Wild fish catch from small-scale fishing gear – Sea Around Us” [dataset]. Sea Around Us, “Sea Around Us reconstructed marine fisheries catch” [original data].","fullMetadata":"https://api.ourworldindata.org/v1/indicators/1354506.metadata.json"},"Wild fish catch from unknown fishing gear":{"titleShort":"Wild fish catch from unknown fishing gear","titleLong":"Wild fish catch from unknown fishing gear - Sea Around Us","descriptionShort":"Estimated catch of fish and other marine animals for which the fishing gear is unknown.","descriptionKey":"- Sea Around Us estimates which fishing gear caught each part of the catch, based on the gears each country’s fleets use for each species. Catch by industrial fishing is split into bottom trawls, pelagic trawls, purse seines, longlines and other lines, gillnets, and other gear. Catch by small-scale fishing (artisanal, subsistence, and recreational) is counted as “small-scale gear”, whatever gear is used.\n- Sea Around Us attempts to reconstruct the full catch of each country. It starts from the official figures that countries report to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and adds estimates of the catch these figures leave out, such as much of the catch by small-scale, subsistence, and recreational fishers, unreported catch by industrial fleets, and the fish thrown back into the sea. These estimates draw on scientific studies, government reports, and local experts.\n- The catch of each country is the catch of its own fishers and fleets, wherever they fish: in its own waters, in other countries’ waters, or on the high seas. The world total also includes catch whose fishing country is unknown.\n- This data covers marine fish and invertebrates (such as shrimp, squid, and crabs). It does not include marine mammals, reptiles, corals, sponges, seaweed, freshwater fishing, or fish farming (aquaculture).","descriptionProcessing":"Sea Around Us data goes up to 2019, but its 2019 figures look unfinished for several large fishing countries. For example, it counts almost all of Peru’s anchoveta catch, which is mostly turned into fishmeal and fish oil, as eaten directly by people; it doesn’t say which gear caught large parts of the catch of Peru, Indonesia, and India; and Japan’s catch is about 20% higher than Japan’s and FAO’s official figures. Because of this, we only show on our charts data up to 2018.\n\nSea Around Us lists some overseas fleets separately from the country they belong to. We add them to that country: the Azores and Madeira to Portugal; Ascension and Tristan da Cunha to Saint Helena; and Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius to Bonaire Sint Eustatius and Saba.","shortUnit":"t","unit":"tonnes","timespan":"1950-2018","type":"Numeric","owidVariableId":1354503,"shortName":"unknown_gear","lastUpdated":"2026-10-24","nextUpdate":"2029-10-23","citationShort":"Sea Around Us (2022) – with minor processing by Our World in Data","citationLong":"Sea Around Us (2022) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. “Wild fish catch from unknown fishing gear – Sea Around Us” [dataset]. Sea Around Us, “Sea Around Us reconstructed marine fisheries catch” [original data].","fullMetadata":"https://api.ourworldindata.org/v1/indicators/1354503.metadata.json"}},"dateDownloaded":"2026-10-31"}