Table 2.
Estimated total catch and surface area from exploited marine ecosystems. Catch per unit volume is approximated assuming that most fishing effort is deployed in a 200 m layer near surface, except for Baltic Sea which is shallower, thus we used total volume.
| area | total catch (106 tonnes yr−1) | area (106 km2) or volume | catch/water volume (10−3 g m–3 yr−1) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mediterranean | 1–2a | 2.5c | 2–4 |
| northwest Atlantic | 2–5a | 6.3c | 2–4 |
| northeast Atlantic | 6–12a | 14.4c | 2–4 |
| North Sea | 2.7b | 0.58b | 23 |
| Baltic Sea | 0.5b | 21.7 103 km3d | 23 |