Good fish catch catches experts flatfooted

摘要

Can fisheries sustain, beyond 1995, the unexpected production surge that broke through the 100-million ton-ceiling with a hefty six million ton surplus? "We are all willing to be pleasantly surprised again," says Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Regional Representative A.Z.M. Obaidullah Khan, "But hope is not an adequate substitute for conservation and hard work."After years of steady decline, world fish catch spurted to 106 million tons in 1994 --catching fisheries experts flatfooted. "This came quite as a surprise, in a climate of increasing discussion on overexploited stock and declining fish resources worldwide," says FAO's Food Outlook report.