World Trends in the Use of Aquatic Biological Resources

Abstract

This article considers global trends in the use of aquatic biological resources in 1950–2020. The number and biomass of most hydrobiont species, which determine the indicators of modern fisheries, are within the historical limits of their natural interannual and long-term dynamics. According to the authors, the resource potential of the World Ocean makes it possible to count on an increase in the production of aquatic biological resources. The increased attention to aquaculture is due not to the state of the stocks of traditional fisheries, but to the economic advantages of commercial cultivation of hydrobionts compared to fishing. First of all, this concerns the areas of the most massive accumulation of the population of the Earth. The experience of China and the countries of Southeast Asia should be taken exclusively in the context of the political, economic, demographic, and other conditions specific to the region. Copying such experience in Russia is hardly possible. In the foreseeable future, fishing will apparently remain a priority for our country, which has significant scientific achievements and practical developments in the field of fish farming.