Compilation of
Food Balance Sheets
for Fish and Fishery Products:
current system and future
improvements
by Gabriella Laurenti
Statistics and Information Service (FIPS)
Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy and Economics Division
FIPS – Data and statistics
Capture
Aquaculture
Statistical
Activities
Fleet
Analysis
FIPS
SUA’s
FBS
Fishers
Disposition
production
Trade
commodities
Production
commodities
Structure of Fishery SUA’s
 Fishery SUA’s are the result of the aggregation
of 3 different databases which have already
been consolidated, finalized and disseminated
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aggregation of individual species and products (about
1700 for production and 900 items for trade)

currently conveying into 8 main groups of similar
biological characteristic, each one containing up to 11
processing/product types
Integration of different datasets
Capture Production:
1700 species
Aquaculture Production:
460 species
Commodities:
900 items
FI/FAOSTAT
Production:
8 main groups
FI/FAOSTAT Trade:
up to 100 items
Population
SUA’S/FBS
Disposition
FAOSTAT SUA’S/FBS
Items – main groups of species
 Freshwater and Diadromous
 Demersal
 Pelagic
 Marine fish nei
 Crustaceans
 Molluscs
 Cephalopods
 Other aquatic animals
Product types according to utilization
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fresh, whole
frozen, whole
fresh fillets
frozen fillets
cured
canned
prepared
meals
body oils
liver oils
meals from offals
Data sources
Capture/Aquaculture:
 FAO Production questionnaires
 National publications
 Reports from Regional Organizations
Commodities:
 Electronic data provided by ESS
 Questionnaires
 National publications
Classifications used:
 FAO ISSCAAP for production
 FAO ISSCFC for trade
FAO/FIPS statistical questionnaires for
reporting fishery data
FISHSTAT
Structure
FISHSTAT FF
Fishery Fleet
FISHSTAT FM
Fishers
Output (primary)
FISHSTAT AQ
Aquaculture production
Output (processed)
FISHSTAT NS
Capture production
FISHSTAT DNC
Disposition of production
FISHSTAT NS 1
National Summary
FISHSTAT FC1
Processed commodities
FISHSTAT NS 2
Inland capture
FISHSTAT FTR
Foreign trade
FISHSTAT NS 6
Aquatic mammals
FISHSTAT NS 7
Crocodiles, etc.
FISHSTAT NS 8
Corals, Sponges, etc
FISHSTAT NS 9
Aquatic Plants
Historical outline
 Until Dec. 2006 fully integrated in old FAOSTAT
system
 FAOSTAT2 did not satisfy FI requirements:
 difficulty in handling consolidated series
 severe limitations and constraints over its practical
application for fishery SUA’s and FBS
 partial coverage (from 1990 only)
 Need to create an independent system
Operational in July 2007
Substantial differences with ESS SUA’s
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highly aggregated from consolidated db = no data
source/history
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more simplified structure without automatic trees or
shares
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frequent historical data revisions, due to changes in
species identification and product classification
FIPS FBS System: main features
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Updating and maintenance of SUA’s
Production of FBS
Preparation of different formats of output incl. those
compatible with external systems (e.g. FAOSTAT
feeding)
Integration within FIPS internal workflow (link with FIPS
databases, sharing reference tables)
 Important role of consistency checking tool between
the various parts composing fishery statistics
Snapshot of the executable
Data standardization
 Balancing of each primary and processed
item
 Calculation into live-weight equivalent, by
using technical conversion factors
Food fish supply
Total fishery production (Capture+Aquaculture)
+
Imports and direct landings of foreign vessels
-
Exports and direct landings abroad
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Reduction of meal and oil
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Other non-food uses
-
Wastage
+ or - Stock variations
Main problems - possible causes of errors
and bias
 Reliability of basic data
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Subsistence fisheries and unrecorded production
Landings abroad
Foreign landings in domestic ports
Vessels using flags of convenience
Info on species composition
Technical conversion factors
Losses
Utilization
Processed commodities
Stocks
Dissemination of Fishery FBS
 formerly as a Fisheries Circular
 currently included in FAO Yearbook of Fishery
and Aquaculture Statistics
 online through FAOSTAT
 tables in the State of World Fisheries and
Aquaculture – consumption and utilization
Future enhancements
 After HS classification change, which had a successful
impact over item attribution, other modifications are in
the pipeline:
 split of “Freshwater and Diadromous Fish” into two
separate groups
 split of “Pelagic Fish” into “Large Pelagic” and “Small
Pelagic”
 introduction of accounts for aquatic plants
 revision of nutritive factors
THANK YOU !