3.1.1. Major Fishing Grounds

The major commercial fishing grounds are located in the cool waters of the northern hemisphere in comparatively high latitudes. Commercial fishing is little developed in the tropics or in the southern hemisphere. The best fishing grounds are found above continental shelves

which are not more than 200 metres below the water surface, where plankton of all kinds are most abundant.

The world's most extensive continental shelves are located in high or mid-latitudes in the northern hemisphere, e.g., the banks of Newfoundland, the North Sea and the continental shelf off north-western Europe, and the Sea of Japan.

Plankton are in plentiful supply in polar waters, at the meeting of cold and warm ocean currents as on the Newfoundland 'banks' and the Sea of Japan, or where cold water from the ocean floor wells up to the surface as it does off the west coast of South America. The continental shelves of the tropics are relatively less rich in plankton because the water is warm.

The amount of fish available in the oceans is an ever-changing number due to the effects of both natural causes and human developments. It will be necessary to manage ocean fisheries in the coming years to make sure the number of fish caught never makes it to zero.