Ocean Fishing and Aquaculture Around the World

Fish and seafood is the most popularly consumed meat in the world, the first choice in more than 56 countries.

But where do our fish come from? Are they caught by massive ocean fishing boats, or farmed in sprawling aquaculture installations?

This map from creator Perrin Remonté points out where fishing activity (marked in white) occurs, using data from automatic identification system equipment aboard more than 70,000 industrial fishing vessels between 2012–2016.

The brightest white hotspots on the map—off the coast of China, western and nordic Europe, and the Pacific Northwest—give an indication of where most of the world’s fish supply is caught.

But who are the biggest producers?

Ranked: Which Country Produces the Most Fish?

By far the country with the biggest fish production is China, which supplied nearly 86 million metric tons of fish to the world in 2021, about 40% of global supply.

Chinese fishing vessels can be found fishing as far away from home as Argentina—sometimes illegally—to keep up with demand.

Here’s a list of the biggest fish producers, ranked by total output in 2021.

Other Asian countries—Indonesia (21.8 million tonnes), India (14.4 million tonnes), and Vietnam (8.2 million tonnes)—fill out the next few spots. Peru, with an annual production of 6.7 million tonnes rounds out the top five fish suppliers, which together account for nearly 60% of world fish supply.

The second half of the top 10 also has representatives from North America (the U.S.) and Europe (Russia), the latter whose fleets have also been caught fishing illegally off the coast of Africa.

Captured Ocean Fish vs Farmed Aquaculture Fish

A big footnote on total fish production is that it also includes aquaculture and farmed fish. Breaking down total fish supply between farmed and captured fish reveals some interesting trends. Here we rank the biggest fish suppliers by their farmed fish output.

Aquaculture makes up the majority of fish production for all the big Asian producers in the top 10. However the inverse is true for European, North American, and South American countries.

While the history of aquaculture goes back thousands of years, its use began to rise steeply in the 2000s, with production overtaking captured fish in 2014. First seen as a solution to overfishing and to make the industry more sustainable, aquaculture’s problems are now beginning to weigh on the industry.

From the pollution it causes—in the form of feces—to its dependence on wild catch for feeding the stock, makes it far less sustainable than what is assumed. In fact, about 25% of wild catch is turned into fish meal—a mixture of less appetizing fish like anchovies, menhaden and herring—used to feed farmed fish.

How Secure is the Ocean Fishing Industry?

Fish and seafood is one of the most accessible sources of meat in the world, accounting for 17% of animal protein consumed. However, almost 90% of the world’s fish stocks are fully depleted while demand only continues to grow.

Unregulated and illegal fishing not only adds a sustainability burden to the planet, but the industry is also rife with human rights abuses, including human trafficking and modern slavery.

Meanwhile, only 3% of the world’s oceans are designated as protected marine reserves and even they lack the safeguards to fully stop exploitative fishing.

This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.