The table compares key features of the world’s large-scale and small-scale marine fishing industries, focusing on workforce size, fish catch, capital cost, and fuel consumption.
Overall, small-scale fishing is labour-intensive and low-cost, while large-scale fishing is more productive but much more expensive and fuel-consuming.
It is clear that small-scale fishing employs significantly more people, with about 12 million workers, while large-scale fishing only involves around 500,000. Despite this, industrial ships catch more fish for food—29 million tonnes compared to 24 million tonnes—and they also contribute an extra 22 million tonnes for industrial processing, which is nearly absent in the small-scale sector.
In terms of capital investment, there is a major difference between the two sectors. The cost per job in large-scale fishing ranges from $30,000 to $300,000, whereas in small-scale fishing, it is much lower, from $250 to $2,500. A similar contrast is seen in fuel consumption. Industrial ships use between 14 and 19 million tonnes of fuel oil annually, while local boats consume only 1.5 to 1.8 million tonnes.