World’s Aquatic habitats. Image credit utexas.edu

ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Natural Resources: Fishing:The world’s major fisheries

  • Fresh water fishing is important in localized communities.
  • In most cases the world’s fish comes from the ocean.
  • Most of the world’s productive ocean fisheries are located in the shallow waters of continental shelves close to coastlines.
  • These shallow waters usually have upwelling water that mixes easily.
  • It is rich in oxygen and allows sunlight to penetrate.
  • These conditions allow the growth of plankton.
  • Plankton is small weeds and organisms that provide food for small fish species.
  • The larger species are attracted to the same areas by the small fish and by the presence of minute sea organisms they feed on.
  • The world’s major fisheries include the west and east coast of North America, the coast of Peru, Brazil and Uruguay in South America among others.
  • Most of these coasts are washed by cold ocean currents which are rich in nutrients.
  • Fish production is low in deep ocean waters and in warm waters of the tropics, as a result of poor nutrients and little fish food.

To access more topics go to the O Level Geography Notes page