3. What contribution do forage fish make to global fisheries?

Forage fish support the largest fisheries in the world. The University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre (2006) reports that forage fish species used for non-food purposes (primarily fishmeal and oil) accounted for 36 percent of the global marine fish landings annually in 2002, a staggering 29.2 million metric tons (64.4 billion pounds).

In 2004, for instance, the Peruvian anchovy catch totaled 10.7 million metric tons, making it the biggest fishery in the world by weight, followed by U.S. and Russian fishery for Alaska pollock. Seven of the top 10 global fisheries by weight were forage fish fisheries in that year, based on the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's annual report on the status of global fisheries (FAO 2007).