FAO official statistics for 1999 report herring as the third most important commercial fish species in the world

According to the recently published statistics of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, 2'403'543 t of Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) and 471'860 t of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) were landed in 1999. Compared to 1998, landings decreased by 0.8 % and 7.2 %, respectively. Atlantic herring was the third most important commercial fish species in terms of weight, contributing 2.8 % of the total landings of marine fish (84'606'398 t), following Peruvian anchovy (Engraulis ringens) and Alaska pollock (Theragra chalcogramma). C. pallasii ranked 25th. As some of the fish species reported are caught mainly for fish meal production, the importance of herring for human consumption purposes is even higher. In 1998, Atlantic herring has been the second most important species, due to the dramatically reduced catches of Peruvian achovy in the El Niño-year.

In 1999, most important fishing nations for Atlantic herring have been Norway (821'435 t), Iceland (298'435 t) and Canada (201'908 t). In the Pacific, the Russian Federation caught 359'194 t, followed by the United States (39'038 t) and Canada (29'400 t).

entered by (Date)
Christopher Zimmermann (31-05-01)