Fisheries Centre student Lydia Teh and FERU Director Rashid Sumaila have produced a comprehensive estimate of the number of fisheries jobs around the world – including small-scale, artisanal operations that were previously not counted in official fisheries estimates.

The study, published in the December 2011 issue of Fish and Fisheries, shows there are approximately 260 million marine fisheries jobs worldwide, a figure 1.75 times greater than previous estimates from the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). Of those jobs, 50 million are directly related to fishing, including commercial, small-scale or…

The Bluefin tuna (thunnus thynnus) is a species that exemplifies the strong link between economics and ecology. Strong demand for it’s meat means that a single bluefin can sell for as much as $US 15,000 at market. These high prices create strong economic incentives to overfish and have some worried about the future of the Bluefin and other tuna species.

FERU member Megan Bailey has begun work on her PhD thesis focusing on Western and Central Pacific Ocean tuna fisheries.  You can read more about Megan and her work here.