Blue economy under threat

Economic trade related to the oceans and coasts faces threats from overfishing, pollution and burning of fossil fuels. This “blue economy” is valued at up to $2.5 trillion annually


Overfishing: More than 70% of industrial fishing is not publicly tracked - a third of fish stocks are estimated to be beyond sustainable levels


Industrial fishing (Share of vessels 2017-2021, %)
	
Publicly tracked* 	“Dark vessels” – not publicly tracked†

Asia		21	79
N America‡ 	17	83
Africa 		22	78
Europe 		61	39
S America 	23	77
Australia	25	75

Dark vessels: Of 27,900 fishing vessels 72% were not publicly tracked


Transport and energy vessel activity 

Asia		31 	69
N America‡ 	81	19
Africa 		85	15
Europe 		93	7
S America 	82	18
Australia	83	17

Of 34,100 vessels 24% were not publicly tracked


*Using vessel monitoring system (VMS) or automatic identification system (AIS). †Researchers used AI to scan 67 million images from European Space Agency’s Sentinel satellite constellation. ‡Includes Central American countries


Sources: Global Fishing Watch, Nature 
Picture: Getty Images 
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