Ranking maritime countries in terms of the sustainability of their fisheries

In response to the lack of an international system for assessing marine fisheries, a series of sustainable fisheries management indicators were developed to address the many dimensions of the fisheries sector (social, economic and environmental). An integrated series of eight indicators were used to assess whether 53 maritime countries of the world, which account for about 96% of the global catch, could be reliably ranked in terms of sustainability of their fisheries and marine ecosystems. The results showed no significant pattern between developing and developed countries. The countries were relatively distributed in the ranking. Overall, the study showed that maritime countries of the world can be ranked in terms of the sustainability of their fisheries and marine ecosystem. This study will help further the research required towards the development of sustainable fisheries indicators.