Status of fisheries and stocks of small pelagic fishes in the South China Sea area

Abstract

The South China Sea Area is one of the most important Areas for marine capture fisheries in the world, and the marine catches of the Area accounted for around 10% of the world grand total. Among the fisheries resources, the small pelagic fish resources are considered as important in the Area from the economical viewpoint. The purpose of this paper is to provide the baseline information on the small pelagic fish resources management. This paper, therefore, describes the catch trends and major fishing gear of 19 small pelagic fish species (groups) and stock status of 9 species (groups) among them.