Correcting mis - and under-reported marine fisheries catches for the Gaza Strip: 1950-2010

Abstract

       Total marine fisheries catches were estimated for the Gaza Strip from 1950-2010 by reconstructing past catches and accounting comprehensively for all fisheries sectors and components. Landings data are reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) separately for the Gaza Strip since 1995 and represent the official records. These only cover the larger-scale commercial sector. Prior to 1995, FAO landings data for Gaza were reported as Israel’s landings data. Here, these miss-assigned landings were rectified by re-allocating these data to Gaza. Thus, the reported baseline (i.e., a portion of FAO landings data reported for Israel and those reported for Gaza) totalled 97,920 t over the 1950-2010 time period. In contrast, reconstructed total catches for Gaza were estimated at over 227,000 t, which translates to 2.3 times the reported baseline. The majority of unreported catches were from the small-scale commercial (i.e. artisanal) and noncommercial sector (i.e. subsistence) with artisanal catches representing 96.5% of the total smallscale catch.