The table compares key data between large-scale and small-scale fishing industries, highlighting differences in employment, catch volumes, costs, and efficiency.
Overall, the large-scale fishing industry is more capital-intensive, fuel-dependent, and wasteful, whereas small-scale fishing is labor-intensive, cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable. These fundamental differences reflect contrasting priorities and challenges within the two industries.
A striking contrast is observed in employment figures. The small-scale sector provides jobs for over 12 million fishermen, significantly surpassing the large-scale industry, which employs approximately 500,000. However, the latter records a slightly higher annual marine fish catch for human consumption, at around 29 million tonnes, compared to 24 million tonnes in the small-scale sector. Moreover, the large-scale industry also captures 22 million tonnes of fish for industrial purposes, whereas small-scale fishing contributes almost nothing to this category.
Financially, the capital cost per fishing job exhibits a vast disparity. A single position in large-scale fishing requires an investment between $30,000 and $300,000, whereas small-scale jobs cost a mere $250 to $2,500. Additionally, the fuel oil consumption of large-scale operations is significantly higher, ranging from 14 to 19 million tonnes annually, while small-scale fishing uses only 1 to 2.5 million tonnes. Consequently, the efficiency of fish caught per tonne of fuel also differs greatly, with large-scale fishing yielding 2–5 tonnes, whereas small-scale fishing is notably more efficient, producing 10–20 tonnes.
Investment efficiency is another major distinction. The large-scale sector employs only 5–30 fishermen per $1 million spent on fishing vessels, whereas small-scale fishing supports 500–4,000 workers for the same investment. Furthermore, environmental impact is apparent, as large-scale fishing results in 5–15 million tonnes of fish being destroyed at sea each year, while the small-scale industry has no reported wastage.
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