In Dead Water

THE PRESSURES AND FATE OF THE CONTINENTAL SHELVES IS BOTH A NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONALRESPONSIBILITY

Marine fisheries represent a significant, but finite, natural re- source for coastal countries. The majority of the catches in some offshore areas are not primarily by the coastal countries con-

cerned. Most of the fisheries off the coast of Mauritania (Figure 29), for example, are by countries from Europe and Asia (Japan and South Korea are in the ‘others’ group). According to this esti-

Source: Downloaded from Seas Around Us Project (University of British Columbia), http://www.seaaroundus.org/TrophicLevel/EEZTaxon.aspx?eez=478&fao=34&country= Mauritania&Hasnote=1&typeOut=4&Tx=1 (Accessed January 2006).

Figure 29. Intensity of fisheries off the coast of Mauritania, West-Africa. While the country’s often impoverished coastal population is strongly dependent on the fisheries, the largest share of the fishing is done by an international fishing fleet.

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