Filling a blank on the map: 60 years of fisheries in Equatorial Guinea

D Belhabib,D Zeller,E H Allison,D Hellebrandt Da Silva,D Pauly

doi:10.1111/fme.12161

Abstract

AbstractDespite a scarcity of pertinent information, it has been possible to reconstruct time series of marine fisheries catches for Equatorial Guinea from 1950 to 2010 using per capita fish consumption and population numbers for small‐scale fisheries, catch rates and number of vessels for industrial fisheries and discard rates to estimate the discarded bycatch. Small‐scale fisheries, industrial large‐scale fisheries, domestic and legal and illegal foreign fisheries and their discards are all included. Total catches were estimated at 2.7 million tonnes over the time period considered, of which 653 000 t were caught domestically compared to 187 000 t reported by FAO. This shows that fisheries have more importance for Equatorial Guinea's food security than the official data suggest. In contrast to what is suggested by official figures, fisheries were shown to be strongly impacted by civil and political unrest; notably, they declined overall because of civil and political conflicts, socio‐demographic dynamics, and a growing role of the newly discovered oil resources, which directly and indirectly threaten the food security of the people of Equatorial Guinea.

Highlights

Global assessments of the status of fisheries are compromised by ‘blanks on the map’ – countries where official data either do not exist or are not provided to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which compiles such data
Catches declined considerably thereafter to remain at low levels of 6700 Æ 2557 tÁyrÀ1 on average during the 1969–1979 fishing ban that restricted fishing activities on the islands and to a lesser extent in Rio Muni
The contribution of subsistence fisheries to total small-scale fisheries has declined over time (Fig. 2)

Summary

Introduction

Global assessments of the status of fisheries are compromised by ‘blanks on the map’ – countries where official data either do not exist or are not provided to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which compiles such data. Even if such countries do provide estimates of fisheries catches, they are often based on perceived wisdom or ‘best guesses’, rather than direct survey or careful mining and reconstruction of available information. This study aimed to compile and analyse available information to fill in one such blank on the world fisheries map – Equatorial Guinea. Equatorial Guinea gained independence from Spain in 1968.

Objectives

Methods

Results