ABSTRACT

Fisheries are harvested for their value (whether commercial, recreational, or subsistence). Close to 90 percent of the world’s wild shery catches come from oceans and seas (as opposed to inland waters), and most marine sheries are based near coasts. is is not only because harvesting in relatively shallow waters is easier than in the open ocean but also because sh are much more abundant near the coastal shelf, due to coastal upwelling and the available nutrient abundance. However, there are also productive open ocean sheries. Most sheries are wild sheries, but increasingly sheries are farmed.