FAO Fisheries Information Network
FAO Fisheries Information Network
| Dr.Zbigniew Karnicki FAO Sub-Regional Office For Central And Eastern Europe Budapest Hungary
(This paper is based on FAO Fisheries Department Internet home page)
One of the basic function of FAO is to collect, analyse, interpret
and disseminate information relating to nutrition, food, agriculture,
forestry and fisheries. In case of fisheries it is carried out by
the Fisheries Information, Data and Statistics Unit (FIDI).
The program of work of FIDI comprises two sub-programmes:
* Aquatic Science and Fisheries Information
* Fishery Data and Statistics
This paper describe briefly both programs and its objective is to provide
additional information on FAO's wide range data bases.
New FAO's policy in dissemination of information's, creation of WICENT
and Virtual Library allow for an easy access to these information.
1. AQUATIC SCIENCES AND FISHERIES ABSTRACTS
Aquatic Sciences Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) is an abstracting and indexing
service covering the world's literature on the science, technology,
management, and conservation of marine, brackish water, and freshwater
resources and environments, including their socio-economic and legal
aspects. The ASFA bibliographic database contains over 635,000 references,
with coverage since 1971 (some 550,000 are computer searchable from 1978
onwards). About 3,100 new bibliographic references are added each month to
the database. Each bibliographic reference includes: the title of the
document in its original language (all non-English titles are also
translated into English), an English-language abstract and subject,
taxonomic and geographic index entries as relevant.
ASFA is produced through the co-operative efforts of the following ASFA
Partners:
* United Nations Co-sponsoring ASFA Partners (FAO, IOC, UNDOALOS and
UNEP, which is in the processes of renewing its sponsorship of ASFA).
The 4 UN Co-sponsoring ASFA Partners, besides input preparation, also
take responsibility for assisting developing countries to participate
in the ASFA Partnership.
* International ASFA Partners (ICES, ICLARM, IUCN). The 3 International
ASFA Partners contribute to ASFA by producing bibliographic references
to the literature published within their geographic or subject area,
including their own publications.
* National ASFA Partners (Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Cuba,
Estonia, France, Greece, Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, Lithuania,
Mexico, Norway, People's Republic of China, Poland, Portugal, Russia,
Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom and United States). The 23 National
ASFA Partners contribute to ASFA by producing bibliographic references
to the literature published within their own countries.
* The Publishing ASFA Partner (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, CSA). The
ASFA Partners submit their ASFA input (in computer readable format) to
the Publishing ASFA Partner, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, located
in the USA (CSA, itself, also prepares a large portion of the ASFA
input). CSA processes the input received from the ASFA Partners, by
computer, and merges it to create a Master File (i.e. the ASFA
database). From the Master File, CSA produces the ASFA information
products and services, which CSA then distributes back to the ASFA
Partners for use in national information systems. CSA also makes the
ASFA products available commercially to the public (Cambridge
Scientific Abstracts, CSA, 7200 Wisconsin Av., Bethesda, MD 1218, USA).
The overall objective of the ASFA Partnership is to disseminate information
on aquatic sciences and fisheries to the world community, bearing in mind
the special interests of developing countries in this field.
All ASFA Partners are represented on the ASFA Advisory Board, for which
FAO provides the ASFA Secretariat.
Organisations interested in contributing literature to ASFA or in joining
the ASFA Partnership should contact the ASFA Partner in their country. If
there is no ASFA Partner in the country, contact should be made with the ASFA
Secretariat at FAO (Email: richard.pepe@fao.org).
ASFA Information Products and Services
The ASFA information products and services are available in the following
printed and computer-searchable formats:
ASFA Printed Abstracts Journals (since 1971)
* ASFA-1, Biological Sciences and Living Resources - Covers all aspects
of marine, freshwater, and brackish water organisms and environments
including: information on biology and ecology of aquatic organisms,
exploitation of living resources (fisheries), and related legal,
policy, and socio-economic issues. (Monthly: 22,000 references/year).
* ASFA-2, Ocean Technology, Policy and Non-Living Resources - Covers
physical and chemical oceanography and limnology, marine geophysics,
and geochemistry, marine technology, ocean policy and non-living
marine resources. (Monthly: 8,800 references/year).
* ASFA-3, Aquatic Pollution and Environmental Quality - Covers marine,
brackish and freshwater pollution and environmental quality.
(Bimonthly: 7,200 references/year).
* ASFA Aquaculture Abstracts - Covers the culture, management, economics
and marketing of marine, brackish and freshwater organisms.
(Bimonthly: 4,800 references/year).
* ASFA Marine Biotechnology Abstracts - Covers molecular biology and
genetics and the derivation of useful products from aquatic organisms
through chemical and biological processes. (Quarterly: 1,200
references/year).
The ASFA printed journals are distributed in limited quantities (as
entitlements) to the ASFA Partners. They are also made available to the
public on a subscription basis from the Publishing ASFA Partner, Cambridge
Scientific Abstracts (CSA).
ASFA Computer-searchable media and formats (coverage since 1978)
* ASFA database on CD-ROM published by SilverPlatter - The ASFA Database
on CD-ROM produced by SilverPlatter is published quarterly. The ASFA
CD-ROM is distributed in limited quantities (as entitlements) to the
ASFA Partners. The CD-ROM is also made available to the public on a
subscription basis from SilverPlatter. (SilverPlatter, 100 River Ridge
Drive, Norwood, MA 02062, USA)
* ASFA database on CD-ROM published by NISC - NISC produces two
CD- ROMs each containing a part of the ASFA database. The Aquatic
Biology, Aquaculture & Fisheries Resources CD-ROM is a combination of 5
different aquatic science related databases, together with the
relevant portions of the ASFA database (ASFA-1). The Marine,
Oceanographic & Freshwater Resources CD-ROM is a combination of 12
different aquatic science related databases, together with the
relevant portions of the ASFA database (ASFA-2&3). Both CD-ROMs are
available on subscription from NISC (NISC, Wyman Towers, 3100 St. Paul
Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
* Internet Database Service - This service provides subscribers with
Internet (World Wide Web or WAIS) access to an electronic file
corresponding to the printed ASFA journal subscription. The file
contains both the most up-to-date contents of the journal (updated
since the last print version), as well as five years of back-volume
data. This service is available, on subscription, from the Publishing
ASFA Partner (CSA).
* Databases for local tape load - Monthly updates to the ASFA Database
are distributed on magnetic tape to a number of the ASFA Partners in
ISO 2709 format. The tapes are also made available to the public on a
subscription basis from the Publishing ASFA Partner (CSA). The
database tapes can be loaded on mainframes, mini-computers, UNIX
systems, VAX systems and microcomputers using a magnetic tape reader
or an IBM cartridge reader.
* On-line information retrieval systems - Some of the organisations
participating in ASFA have made the ASFA Database publicly available
for computer access through commercial and government-operated host
systems. Access to the ASFA database is available through the host
system suppliers or National ASFA Partners listed below:
Institute francais de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer (IFREMER) (France)
Deutsches Institut for medizinische Dokumentation und Information (DIMDI) (Germany)
Information Centre for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research (MAFF) (Japan)
Centre Cultural Universitario, 04515 Mexico, DF, Mexico
Knight-Ridder (formerly Dialog Information Services Inc.) (USA)
STN International, (through Chemical Abstracts Service) (USA)
ESA-IRS, European Space Research Institute (ESRIN) (Italy)
EPIC and FirstSearch (services of OCLC) (USA)
2. FISHERY DATA AND STATISTICS
FAO is the only source of comprehensive global fishery statistics and most
reviews of the state of world fisheries, past trends and future prospects
rely on FAO statistics. FAO analyses these statistics in order to monitor
many aspects of world fisheries such as fishery production from capture
fisheries and aquaculture, production and trade of fishery commodities,
fish consumption, fishery fleets, and employment in fisheries. On the basis
of these analyses, FAO prepares advice on fisheries policy to member
countries. There is a wide range of other users of FAO fishery statistics,
including fisheries policy makers, managers, researchers, development
agencies, industry representatives, trade organisations, governments,
intergovernmental organisations, non-governmental organisations,
journalists and consulting companies.
Building up data on world fisheries requires a truly international effort.
International classifications and standardised data submission procedures
have to be maintained in order to ensure that the collected statistics are
comparable across countries so as to allow for summation and analyses at
regional and global level. Fisheries statistics are usually obtained from
national reporting offices and, wherever possible, verified from other
sources. Estimates are produced when data are lacking or are considered
unreliable. The statistics are stored in databases and disseminated through
publications and electronic media. Aggregated data are also available
through the FAO Internet site.
Following statistical databases are maintained by FIDI
* nominal catches and landings
* nominal catches and landings reported to regional commissions
* aquaculture production of fish
* fishery commodities -production and trade
* fleet statistics
* employment statistics
* apparent consumption of fish and fishery products
2.1 NOMINAL CATCHES AND LANDINGS
This database contains the volume of fish catches landed by country of
capture, species or a higher taxonomic level, and FAO major fishing areas.
Volume is measured in tonnes for all items except aquatic mammals,
alligators and crocodiles, which are measured by number of animals, and
pearls, shells, corals and sponges which are measured in kilograms. Weights
are of the whole animal (live weight) and coverage includes harvest by
commercial, artisanal and subsistence fisheries, including aquaculture. At
present the database shows annual figures for the period 1950-1994 and is
organised by:
* about 245 countries, territories or land areas
* 27 major fishing areas
* approximately 850 species/items contained in the FAO International
Standard Statistical Classification of Aquatic Animals and Plants
(ISSCAAP).
OUTPUTS:
* FAO Yearbook of Fishery Statistics, Catches and Landings (even
numbers) - presenting an array of data of volume of nominal catches,
including production from capture fisheries and aquaculture, for
recent years by country, species and major fishing areas. (Trilingual,
E-F-S)
* FISHSTAT-PC - Data retrieval, graphical and analytical software for
microcomputers (1950-1994). An operations manual is available (in
English).
2.2 AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION OF FISH
The collection of statistics on aquaculture production of fish was added to
the fishery statistics collection activities programme in 1985. The system
is still under development. One problem is obtaining a universally
acceptable and permanent definition of aquaculture for data collection. The
basis on which data have so far been collected by FAO defines aquaculture
as the farming of aquatic organisms, that is some form of intervention is
implied in the rearing process to enhance production, (such as regular
stocking, feeding, protection from predators), plus individual or corporate
ownership of the stock is implied.
An objective for the aquaculture database is to include the collection of
data on aquaculture production units (acres of growing waters, number of
cages, number of pens, etc. ) and type of culture in addition to the
existing statistics on production quantity and price per kilogram by
species, country and environment. The same coding scheme and record format
used for nominal catches and landings is being used to store these data.
Aquaculture statistics are needed by a wide range of data users including
industry, banks, and groups interested in sources of fish supplies,
location, costs and potential growth.
OUTPUTS:
* FAO Bulletin of Fishery Statistics -Aquaculture Production Statistics,
Circular No. 815 (and subsequent revisions; latest is No. 8). An array
of tables of annual aquaculture production statistics in quantity and
value, by country, species and environment for a time series of 10
years ending with the latest year for which statistics are available
in the database. (Trilingual E,F,S).
* AQUACULT-PC - quantity and value production data (1984-1994).
Retrieval, graphical and analytical software for micro-computers. An
operations manual is available (in English).
2.3 FISHERY COMMODITIES -PRODUCTION AND TRADE
This database contains statistics on the annual production of fishery
commodities and imports and exports (including re-exports) of fishery
commodities by country and commodity description (including processing
method) in terms of volume and value for the years 1976 to 1995.
The data are coded using the FAO International Standard Statistical
Classification of Fishery Commodities (ISSCFC) which is derived from the
United Nations Standard International Trade Classification, Revision 3
(SITC Rev. 3) and linked to the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding
System of the World Customs Organisation (formerly the Customs Co-operation
Council). The database is organised by:
* about 245 countries, territories or land areas;
* approximately 600 species/commodity items included in the FAO ISSCFC.
The quality of these data varies depending on each country's ability to
collect and compile such statistics. FIDI uses all the verification
information at its disposal, such as foreign trade statistics, industry and
commodities reports to evaluate data accuracy and completeness, and
corresponds with the countries when data are questionable.
Production of fishery commodities
Production statistics refer to the quantities of preserved and processed
fishery commodities, produced both ashore and on-board vessels utilising
catches from commercial fisheries and aquaculture production. Products from
imported raw materials are also included. Data are expressed in tonnes and
refer to the net weight of the commodities, i.e. excluding the weight of
the container.
Statistics include species from which the commodity is produced, the
commodity form (whole, filleted, shucked, etc.) and form of preservation
(fresh, frozen, canned, cured, meal, etc.). They do not include aquatic
plants, mother-of-pearl and other shells, pearls, corals and sponges,
turtles, frogs and crocodiles. Products such as costume jewellery and fish
leather are also excluded.
Whenever national offices fail to report or do not report in time,
estimates are provided by FAO. In the absence of other information, export
data are used as production estimates and the returns of major trading
partners are used as trade estimates. Data for non-reporting countries are
estimated using published national reports, industry association reports
and other relevant material. Such data are appropriately flagged.
Exports and Imports of preserved and processed fishery commodities
International trade statistics refer to the quantities and values of annual
imports and exports (including re-exports when applicable) of fish and
fishery products. Quantities are expressed in tonnes (product weight), and
values are expressed in thousand US$. The conversion from national
currencies into US $ is done by applying average annual exchange rates from
the International Monetary Fund. Imports are generally valued cif and
exports fob. The trade is general trade; exceptions are indicated in the
notes.
Import and export trade statistics are obtained primarily from country
reports provided to FAO in published form or on magnetic computer tapes.
About 60 countries, including the major trading nations, provide data on
magnetic tapes.
Fishing vessel production can be landed and sold at foreign ports or
off-loaded onto a foreign country vessel in international waters and thus
sold to a foreign country. In both cases, according to definitions used to
compile fishery statistics, these are considered respectively as exports
and imports. A number of countries do not categorise these transactions as
foreign trade. When data on these types of transactions are available, FIDI
adjusts the reported estimate of trade by including these data.
Country of origin for imports or country of destination for exports are not
included in the database. Data refer to the calendar year, except for a few
countries which report data on a split year basis (in which case data are
shown under the calendar year in which the split year ends).
OUTPUTS :
* FAO Yearbook of Fishery Statistics, Commodities (even numbers) - data
series of recent years on the production of processed and preserved
fishery products and on quantity and value of imports and exports by
seven major groups of the SITC and 60 selected major commodities. It
also gives statistics for apparent consumption of fish and fishery
products, the disposition of world catches and the value of landings
by major groups of species.
* FISHCOMM-PC - Data retrieval, graphical and analytical software for
micro-computers (1976-1994). The data are presented according to the
seven major groups of the SITC and 160 commodities of the Harmonised
System.
2.4 FLEET STATISTICS
FIDI collects annual statistics by country on the number and total tonnage
of fish catching, processing, and support vessels utilised in commercial,
subsistence and artisanal fisheries by size of vessel measured in gross
register tons (GRT) and by type of vessel according to some 50 types of
vessel defined in the International Statistical Classification of Fishery
Vessels (ISCFV). Data for calendar years 1970 to 1995 constitute the series
that have been collected, compiled and edited. Data for the years 1970,
1975, and 1977 to 1991 have been published.
Fishing fleet data are collected in several ways. The primary means is to
collect the data directly from each country through a questionnaire and
explanatory notes. For non-reporting countries and countries submitting
incomplete data, other sources are used such as national publications,
international fishery magazines, FAO fishery country profiles, FAO
projects, and Lloyd's Register of Shipping. The latter contains the number
and total GRT of insured vessels but does not include vessels under 100
GRT. Therefore, a large portion of the fishing fleet for most countries is
excluded from this publication, since most fishing vessels are smaller than
100 tons.
While the database is designed to record data on a systematic basis, the
problems in obtaining the information prevent release of timely statistics.
To properly use the data, one must consult the many notes included in the
relevant publications. These are used by FAO and externally by governments
and the industry. Such statistics are particularly useful to the fishing
vessel construction industry and equipment suppliers.
OUTPUT:
* FAO Bulletin of Fishery Statistics- Fishery Fleet -An array of tables
of fishery fleet statistics, by number, size of vessel, power and
length classes for 1970, 1975, 1980 and annual data for the 9 most
recent years for which statistics are available in the database.
(Trilingual, E-F-S)
2.5 EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS
This database contains statistics on the number of commercial and
subsistence fishers for the period 1970-1995. It is collected on an annual
basis by means of a questionnaire which requests separation of the number
of workers according to the time devoted to fishing as an occupation
(full-time, part-time, occasional). Based on the revision of the
International Standard Classification of Occupations, information is also
collected since 1990 on the number of people engaging in commercial
aquaculture and on the disaggregation of employment data by gender.
2.6 APPARENT CONSUMPTION OF FISH AND FISHERY PRODUCTS
FIDI is responsible for supplying annual statistics of supply/utilisation
accounts for eight groups of primary fishery commodities and nine groups of
processed products to the WAICENT/ESS system of food availability and
consumption data. The SUAs contain the estimates of supplies from different
sources matched against estimates of different form of utilisation of each
product. These series are regularly updated and revised in the light of any
new information. The food balance sheets derived from the SUAs of food
products are consistent internally. In FAO's work these data are required
to meet the requests of its statutory bodies to keep the world's food and
nutrition situation under constant review, to update FAO's analytical work
in the field of food and population, and to provide the statistical base
for the projections of demand and other assessment studies.
The derived consumption statistics are as good as the basic catch,
utilisation, trade and production data on which they are based; therefore
trends in some cases may reflect improved primary data rather than real
changes to food intake.
OUTPUTS:
* WAICENT/SUA (Fishery module)- Database of annual data by country by
species groups and by major fish and shellfish products groups of
Supply/Utilisation Accounts for 1961-1994.
* Fish and Fishery products- World Apparent Consumption Statistics based
on Food Balance Sheets (1961-1993). FAO Fisheries Circular No. 821
(Rev.3) - Statistics of total and per caput fish supply in live weight
and contribution of fish to animal protein supply by country for the
complete time series.
3. FISH MARKETING INFORMATION
In addition to the above the Fish Utilisation and Marketing Service, Fishery
Industries Division co-ordinate the network of marketing information
and technical advisory services.FAO has set up over the past eighteen years
a network of regional marketing information service, which initially were
operated as FAO field projects but gradually become an independent ,
intergovernmental regional organisations. The network consist:
* INFOFISH (Intergovernmental Organisation for Marketing Information and
Technical Advisory Services for Fishery Products in Asia and Pacific Region),
* INFOPECHE (Regional Fish Trade Information and Co-operation Service for
Africa),
* INFOPESCA (Market Information Service for Fish Products in the Latin American
and Caribbean Region)
* INFOSAMAK (Fish Marketing Information, Promotion and Technical Advisory
Services for Arab Countries)
* EASTFISH (recently established as FAO , DANIDA funded project)
This network has been promoting trade in fish products by:
- providing up-to-date information on markets and prices;
- bringing buyers and sellers together in international conferences;
- training industry and government on quality requirements of the main
markets.
In order to meet the growing demand for precise and unbiased information on
international trade with fish and fishery products as well as to ensure
efficient co-ordination of the network of regional organisation mentioned
above FAO have established in 1984 GLOBEFISH funded partially from FAO
Regular Programme and partly from extra-budgetary sources.
GLOBEFISH SERVICES
Following services are provided by GLOBEFISH:
Globefish Research Programme
Globefish Publications
Globefish Data Base And Globefish Information Packages
International Conferences And International Trade Fairs,
Industry Seminars on Marketing
GLOBEFISH carries out market studies on topics of current importance
taking into account recommendations of supporting Government institutions.
As this conference is concentrating on the Central and eastern Europe
it would be appropriate to give a bit more information about EASTFISH.
EASTFISH, based in Copenhagen, is the new Fish Marketing and Information
Service for Central and Eastern European countries. It aims at providing
marketing information and technical advice with special emphasis on
quality assurance as well as investment profiles, joint ventures and
export production.
Participating countries: Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia,
the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia,
Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey.
The co-operating countries are Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
Main Activities
Main activities of EASTFISH are to prepare overview of the situation
of the fishery sector in selected Central and Eastern European countries
with emphasis on production potential, products, market and trade potential.
EASTFISH is providing data and statistics to GLOBEFISH Data Bank as well as
contributing to the following publications:
* European Price Report
* Globefish Highlights
* Fisheries magazine covering marketing, processing and aquaculture
(under preparation)
* Commodity Update
* Marketing and country studies.
EASTFISH will also provide training of industry and government
representatives in the fields of marketing, processing and quality
control. EASTFISH can be contacted under following address:
FAO EASTFISH
Midtermolen 3
2100 Copenhagen
DENMARK
Tel: 45-35467180
Fax: 45-35467181
ANNEX I
Details of new ASFA input centres in Eastern Europe:
ESTONIA
Estonian Marine Institute
(Attention: Ms. M. Kalenchits)
Lai Str. 32
EE0001 Tallin, Estonia
Tel: +372 631 3005
Fax: +372 6 313 004
LITHUANIA
Ichthyobank
(Attention: Dr. R. Volskis)
12 Gostauto Str.
2600 Vilnius
and
MAB International Working Group
P.O.Box 855
2055 Vilnius, Lithuania
Tel: -
Fax: (370-2) 62 50 36
E-mail: species@ita.Lt
UKRAINE
YugNIRO
Tuna and Related Species Resources Laboratory
(Attention: Dr. E. Romanov)
2 Sverdlov Street
334500 Kerch, Crimea, Ukraina
Tel: -
Fax: (007) (06561) 21572
E-mail: e.romanov@ugniro.crimea.ua
POLAND
Sea Fisheries Research Institute
(Attention: Dr. H. Ganowiak)
ul. Kollataja 1
81-332 Gdynia, Poland
Tel: (058) 20 17 28 ext 279
Telex: 054348 mir pl
Fax: (058) 20 28 31
E-mail: infolib@miryb.mir.gdynia.pl
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