The chart illustrates the difference between large-scale and small-scale sea fishing industry worldwide.
Overall, industrial ships employ far fewer people than local boats, but they catch a larger amount of fish for industrial processing. Interestingly, small-scale fishing provides jobs for millions and produces almost the same amount of food, while requiring much less investment and fuel.
More specifically, in industrial ships, around 500,000 employees work, compared with about 12 million in local boats. Large vessels catch 29 million tons of fish for food each year, and a further 22 million tons is processed industrially. By contrast, small boats produce 24 million tones fish as food with almost none allocated for processing.
In terms of costs, the investment needed per employee is extremely high that accounts for $30,000-$300,000 in large-scale ships, while this figure makes up only $250-$2,500 each worker in small local boats. Additionally, large ships consume 14-19 million tons fuel annually, and small boats’ oil consumption constitutes 1.5-1.8 million tons every year.