The Spatial Expansion and Ecological Footprint of Fisheries (1950 to Present)
Using estimates of the primary production required (PPR) to support fisheries catches (a measure of the footprint of fishing), we analyzed the geographical expansion of the global marine fisheries from 1950 to 2005. We used multiple threshold levels of PPR as percentage of local primary production t...
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ftissuelab:oai:harvest.issuelab.org:26454 2023-05-15T14:03:55+02:00 The Spatial Expansion and Ecological Footprint of Fisheries (1950 to Present) Daniel Pauly Enric Sala Reg Watson Sean Tracey Wilf Swartz 2010-12-12 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0015143 eng eng PLOS ONE doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0015143 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 CC-BY Energy and Environment text dataset policy report 2010 ftissuelab https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0015143 2022-01-09T08:52:52Z Using estimates of the primary production required (PPR) to support fisheries catches (a measure of the footprint of fishing), we analyzed the geographical expansion of the global marine fisheries from 1950 to 2005. We used multiple threshold levels of PPR as percentage of local primary production to define 'fisheries exploitation' and applied them to the global dataset of spatially-explicit marine fisheries catches. This approach enabled us to assign exploitation status across a 0.5° latitude/longitude ocean grid system and trace the change in their status over the 56-year time period. This result highlights the global scale expansion in marine fisheries, from the coastal waters off North Atlantic and West Pacific to the waters in the Southern Hemisphere and into the high seas. The southward expansion of fisheries occurred at a rate of almost one degree latitude per year, with the greatest period of expansion occurring in the 1980s and early 1990s. By the mid 1990s, a third of the world's ocean, and two-thirds of continental shelves, were exploited at a level where PPR of fisheries exceed 10% of PP, leaving only unproductive waters of high seas, and relatively inaccessible waters in the Arctic and Antarctic as the last remaining 'frontiers.' The growth in marine fisheries catches for more than half a century was only made possible through exploitation of new fishing grounds. Their rapidly diminishing number indicates a global limit to growth and highlights the urgent need for a transition to sustainable fishing through reduction of PPR. Text Antarc* Antarctic Arctic North Atlantic IssueLab (Nonprofit Research) Antarctic Arctic Pacific PLoS ONE 5 12 e15143 |
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English |
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Energy and Environment |
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Energy and Environment Daniel Pauly Enric Sala Reg Watson Sean Tracey Wilf Swartz The Spatial Expansion and Ecological Footprint of Fisheries (1950 to Present) |
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Energy and Environment |
description |
Using estimates of the primary production required (PPR) to support fisheries catches (a measure of the footprint of fishing), we analyzed the geographical expansion of the global marine fisheries from 1950 to 2005. We used multiple threshold levels of PPR as percentage of local primary production to define 'fisheries exploitation' and applied them to the global dataset of spatially-explicit marine fisheries catches. This approach enabled us to assign exploitation status across a 0.5° latitude/longitude ocean grid system and trace the change in their status over the 56-year time period. This result highlights the global scale expansion in marine fisheries, from the coastal waters off North Atlantic and West Pacific to the waters in the Southern Hemisphere and into the high seas. The southward expansion of fisheries occurred at a rate of almost one degree latitude per year, with the greatest period of expansion occurring in the 1980s and early 1990s. By the mid 1990s, a third of the world's ocean, and two-thirds of continental shelves, were exploited at a level where PPR of fisheries exceed 10% of PP, leaving only unproductive waters of high seas, and relatively inaccessible waters in the Arctic and Antarctic as the last remaining 'frontiers.' The growth in marine fisheries catches for more than half a century was only made possible through exploitation of new fishing grounds. Their rapidly diminishing number indicates a global limit to growth and highlights the urgent need for a transition to sustainable fishing through reduction of PPR. |
format |
Text |
author |
Daniel Pauly Enric Sala Reg Watson Sean Tracey Wilf Swartz |
author_facet |
Daniel Pauly Enric Sala Reg Watson Sean Tracey Wilf Swartz |
author_sort |
Daniel Pauly |
title |
The Spatial Expansion and Ecological Footprint of Fisheries (1950 to Present) |
title_short |
The Spatial Expansion and Ecological Footprint of Fisheries (1950 to Present) |
title_full |
The Spatial Expansion and Ecological Footprint of Fisheries (1950 to Present) |
title_fullStr |
The Spatial Expansion and Ecological Footprint of Fisheries (1950 to Present) |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Spatial Expansion and Ecological Footprint of Fisheries (1950 to Present) |
title_sort |
spatial expansion and ecological footprint of fisheries (1950 to present) |
publisher |
PLOS ONE |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0015143 |
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Antarctic Arctic Pacific |
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Antarctic Arctic Pacific |
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Antarc* Antarctic Arctic North Atlantic |
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Antarc* Antarctic Arctic North Atlantic |
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doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0015143 |
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https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
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CC-BY |
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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0015143 |
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PLoS ONE |
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5 |
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12 |
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e15143 |
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