The world demand for fish is expected to increase for the foreseeable future due primarily to population growth and increasing per capita income. Three-quarters of the world’s capture fisheries are at or beyond their sustainable capacity. There is also an excess of fishing capacity worldwide. The key issues for the sector are, therefore, ensuring sustainable exploitation, optimizing fishing effort and maximizing product value.
The concurrent needs for sustainable fishing practices and increasing harvesting efficiency provide opportunities for innovative technology applications aimed at bycatch reduction through gear selectivity and modification as well as alternative harvesting methods. The need for enhanced fisheries management capability provides other opportunities for technology applications in fields such as underwater imaging, subsea sensor networks, instrumentation of fish and marine mammals, geographic information systems and database management.
The subsectors under Fisheries are: