ABSTRACT
The majority of these fishes are adult teleosts, although there are (somewhat controversially) elasmobranch fisheries, and a few small specialized fisheries for amphioxus, teleost larvae and sub-adults (for example eel elvers), and for lampreys. The world catch of fin fish, mainly teleosts, from all sources has steadily risen over the last two decades (Figure 14.1) to some 95.0 million tonnes per annum in 2004. This harvest is worth perhaps US$75 billion (about £40 billion) per annum at the fish market and many times that amount by the time it reaches the consumer. Most of the catch is taken by the high-seas fisheries from wild stocks that man has tried to manage, with singular lack of success. Almost all of the historically great stocks, such as the cod of the Grand Banks, are being, or have been, overfished.
