EarthTrends (http://earthtrends.wri.org) Searchable Database Results
Provided by the World Resources Institute (http://www.wri.org)
"Coastal and Marine Ecosystems -- Fisheries: People employed in fishing and aquaculture, number"

"Units: Number"

,,2000,1990,1980,1970,
World
"World","",34501411,27745915,16932498,12151735,

,,2000,1990,1980,1970,
Region/Classification
"Asia (excluding Middle East)","",28890352,23092966,13158174,8832925,
"Central America & Caribbean","",446390,381074,265765,197861,
"Europe","",855333,..,..,..,
"Middle East & North Africa","",746955,310340,207183,133011,
"North America","",303784,385451,281453,209561,
"Oceania","",85324,73729,61462,41909,
"South America","",784051,768546,542543,491559,
"Sub-Saharan Africa","",1995694,1544967,1391570,1254645,
"Developed Countries","",1467401,1095004,1053907,1102311,
"Developing Countries","",32640482,25842699,15217605,10484582,

,,2000,1990,1980,1970,
Country
"Afghanistan","AFG",1500,1500,1100,1000,
"Albania","ALB",1590,4005,2800,2000,
"Algeria","DZA",26151,19290,6400,3212,
"American Samoa","ASM",110,95,80,150,
"Angola","AGO",30364,22000,16250,14269,
"Antigua and Barbuda","ATG",892,640,1450,800,
"Argentina","ARG",12320,7785,5000,2652,
"Armenia","ARM",244,0,0,0,
"Aruba","ABW",687,410,360,360,
"Australia","AUS",13800,14700,14666,17768,
"Austria","AUT",2300,2500,2360,3050,
"Azerbaijan","AZE",1500,0,0,0,
"Bahamas","BHS",4000,4000,585,1750,
"Bahrain","BHR",6830,4658,4101,2600,
"Bangladesh","BGD",1320480,1196000,1082107,700000,
"Barbados","BRB",3000,3000,3000,2014,
"Belarus","BLR",5000,..,..,..,
"Belgium","BEL",544,845,894,1264,
"Belize","BLZ",1872,1750,1055,1097,
"Benin","BEN",61793,48511,67200,105000,
"Bermuda","BMU",307,271,266,577,
"Bhutan","BTN",450,450,0,0,
"Bolivia","BOL",7754,5224,1300,1907,
"Bosnia and Herzegovina","BIH",3500,..,..,..,
"Botswana","BWA",2620,2620,550,300,
"Brazil","BRA",290000,290000,280736,270000,
"British Virgin Islands","VGB",127,72,375,550,
"Brunei Darussalam","BRN",1355,1900,722,1130,
"Bulgaria","BGR",1483,1500,1150,1075,
"Burkina Faso","BFA",8300,5000,5500,4450,
"Burundi","BDI",7030,4795,6600,3400,
"Cambodia","KHM",73425,37695,13100,10000,
"Cameroon","CMR",24500,21300,14000,12360,
"Canada","CAN",8696,89954,85952,63145,
"Cape Verde","CPV",5183,4392,3278,1532,
"Cayman Islands","CYM",1800,1800,1800,1500,
"Côte d'Ivoire","CIV",19707,14000,25000,18400,
"Central African Rep","CAF",5410,3000,1800,1800,
"Chad","TCD",300000,150000,115000,180000,
"Chile","CHL",50873,81912,37616,14772,
"China","CHN",12233128,9092926,2950344,2300000,
"Colombia","COL",129410,230000,103000,109000,
"Comoros","COM",7676,8000,8000,8000,
"Congo","COG",10500,3384,843,578,
"Congo, Dem Rep","COD",108400,93000,114000,66290,
"Cook Islands","COK",215,210,0,0,
"Costa Rica","CRI",6510,5300,2500,2000,
"Croatia","HRV",65151,..,..,..,
"Cuba","CUB",11865,12130,15722,14162,
"Cyprus","CYP",1159,761,869,615,
"Czech Rep","CZE",2243,2000,1400,1300,
"Denmark","DNK",6711,6945,14909,15457,
"Djibouti","DJI",300,300,75,90,
"Dominica","DMA",2240,2500,1500,1500,
"Dominican Rep","DOM",9286,10000,3015,1269,
"Ecuador","ECU",162870,60973,21294,11800,
"Egypt","EGY",250000,230000,95000,69413,
"El Salvador","SLV",24534,25450,4721,5551,
"Equatorial Guinea","GNQ",9218,2480,1510,1500,
"Eritrea","ERI",14500,0,0,0,
"Estonia","EST",13346,..,..,..,
"Ethiopia","ETH",6272,14000,2050,4982,
"Faeroe Islands","FRO",2924,3713,5400,5310,
"Falkland Islands","FLK",810,81,40,40,
"Fiji","FJI",8985,4583,3000,2000,
"Finland","FIN",5879,6335,8446,8844,
"France","FRA",26113,32622,22019,35799,
"French Guiana","GUF",660,440,250,193,
"French Polynesia","PYF",2100,1610,1250,300,
"Gabon","GAB",8258,5500,5500,2500,
"Gambia","GMB",2000,1457,734,1600,
"Georgia","GEO",1900,0,0,0,
"Germany","DEU",4358,4812,0,0,
"Ghana","GHA",230000,110000,103000,60866,
"Gibraltar","GIB",0,0,0,0,
"Greece","GRC",19847,20152,10116,8822,
"Greenland","GRL",4721,5034,5100,5100,
"Grenada","GRD",2180,1749,1697,752,
"Guadeloupe","GLP",1300,1300,1500,1690,
"Guam","GUM",560,560,250,62,
"Guatemala","GTM",17275,6200,7000,6000,
"Guinea","GIN",10707,10700,11500,11500,
"Guinea-Bissau","GNB",2500,2500,2500,1527,
"Guyana","GUY",6571,4031,6500,3650,
"Haiti","HTI",4700,4700,5500,5500,
"Honduras","HND",21000,11961,8400,2860,
"Hong Kong","HKG",24655,31283,35700,50000,
"Hungary","HUN",4900,3300,3000,3630,
"Iceland","ISL",6100,6551,5946,4895,
"India","IND",5958744,5452594,4030337,1840000,
"Indonesia","IDN",5118571,3617586,2231515,841627,
"Iran, Islamic Rep","IRN",138965,57199,24412,23000,
"Iraq","IRQ",12000,12000,8744,5957,
"Ireland","IRL",8478,7910,8824,5861,
"Israel","ISR",1535,1100,3000,2252,
"Italy","ITA",48770,49429,24903,65000,
"Jamaica","JAM",23465,16900,10400,7000,
"Japan","JPN",260200,303400,376880,437900,
"Jordan","JOR",721,216,90,97,
"Kazakhstan","KAZ",16000,0,0,0,
"Kenya","KEN",59565,40000,31600,29895,
"Kiribati","KIR",6500,6500,3831,800,
"Korea, Dem People's Rep","PRK",129000,129000,140000,133000,
"Korea, Rep","KOR",176928,211753,298122,367645,
"Kuwait","KWT",670,3110,1800,2000,
"Kyrgyzstan","KGZ",154,0,0,0,
"Lao People's Dem Rep","LAO",15000,15000,11800,10000,
"Latvia","LVA",6571,..,..,..,
"Lebanon","LBN",9825,2900,4000,3900,
"Lesotho","LSO",60,60,60,40,
"Liberia","LBR",5143,2311,3250,1800,
"Libyan Arab Jamahiriya","LBY",9500,9500,2080,1255,
"Liechtenstein","LIE",0,0,0,0,
"Lithuania","LTU",4700,..,..,..,
"Luxembourg","LUX",0,0,0,0,
"Macau","MAC",4984,4984,4286,3268,
"Macedonia, FYR","MKD",8472,..,..,..,
"Madagascar","MDG",83310,61700,20000,65182,
"Malawi","MWI",42922,34500,21912,14000,
"Malaysia","MYS",100666,88494,119642,81729,
"Maldives","MDV",19108,21725,24330,20932,
"Mali","MLI",70000,60000,81000,78000,
"Malta","MLT",2077,1230,1349,865,
"Marshall Islands","MHL",4900,4200,0,0,
"Martinique","MTQ",2761,806,1200,1584,
"Mauritania","MRT",7944,6000,11685,11357,
"Mauritius","MUS",8408,10325,4725,7571,
"Mexico","MEX",262401,242804,169728,118967,
"Micronesia, Fed States","FSM",1150,1150,1150,1100,
"Moldova, Rep","MDA",40,..,..,..,
"Monaco","MCO",0,0,0,0,
"Mongolia","MNG",0,0,0,0,
"Morocco","MAR",106096,56000,30787,18048,
"Mozambique","MOZ",20000,18000,20000,24101,
"Myanmar","MMR",610000,580962,361051,344000,
"Namibia","NAM",2700,2700,2300,1800,
"Nauru","NRU",325,325,0,0,
"Nepal","NPL",50000,45000,17955,10000,
"Netherlands","NLD",3743,4298,3842,5500,
"Netherlands Antilles","ANT",800,800,900,1000,
"New Caledonia","NCL",793,670,270,273,
"New Zealand","NZL",1928,4720,9547,4786,
"Nicaragua","NIC",14502,5387,5000,3120,
"Niger","NER",7983,11900,7090,3000,
"Nigeria","NGA",481264,490000,469065,325000,
"Niue","NIU",300,320,48,30,
"Northern Mariana Islands","MNP",100,100,0,0,
"Norway","NOR",23552,27518,34789,43018,
"Oman","OMN",28003,18546,6000,5300,
"Pakistan","PAK",272273,265359,191456,162780,
"Palau","PLW",364,356,0,0,
"Panama","PAN",13062,8500,6000,5000,
"Papua New Guinea","PNG",16000,10400,2515,500,
"Paraguay","PRY",4469,4450,3900,3600,
"Peru","PER",66361,43750,49503,49824,
"Philippines","PHL",990872,898000,781500,1047441,
"Poland","POL",8640,16360,17559,14353,
"Portugal","PRT",25021,38700,35000,33594,
"Puerto Rico","PRI",1758,1332,1447,2000,
"Qatar","QAT",5176,2050,1000,800,
"Réunion","REU",805,500,450,577,
"Romania","ROU",8519,14304,10132,4343,
"Russian Federation","RUS",316300,..,..,..,
"Rwanda","RWA",5690,2913,1800,1900,
"Saint Helena","SHN",67,65,59,20,
"Saint Kitts and Nevis","KNA",343,650,0,1000,
"Saint Pierre and Miquelon","SPM",60,192,135,201,
"Samoa","WSM",12394,6030,7860,6300,
"Sao Tome & Principe","STP",1988,2150,985,341,
"Saudi Arabia","SAU",25360,10610,5436,3870,
"Senegal","SEN",55547,58122,34300,29331,
"Serbia and Montenegro","YUG",1429,12731,9910,8318,
"Seychelles","SYC",1330,1229,1100,1150,
"Sierra Leone","SLE",17990,16500,15437,11700,
"Singapore","SGP",364,836,2025,1919,
"Slovakia","SVK",215,..,..,..,
"Slovenia","SVN",231,..,..,..,
"Solomon Islands","SLB",11000,11000,11000,6000,
"Somalia","SOM",18900,18900,15000,13000,
"South Africa","ZAF",10500,10500,10500,10500,
"Spain","ESP",75434,87351,109258,124027,
"Sri Lanka","LKA",146188,91000,69114,77912,
"St. Lucia","LCA",1939,1799,2600,2600,
"St. Vincent & Grenadines","VCT",2800,2300,2740,1175,
"Sudan","SDN",27700,6553,6522,4500,
"Suriname","SUR",3628,4100,2100,800,
"Swaziland","SWZ",492,100,0,0,
"Sweden","SWE",2783,3473,5500,6996,
"Switzerland","CHE",522,464,547,658,
"Syrian Arab Rep","SYR",11292,7192,2200,6000,
"Taiwan","TWN",314099,325902,309981,259470,
"Tajikistan","TJK",200,..,..,..,
"Tanzania","TZA",92529,78258,46417,35936,
"Thailand","THA",354495,207019,86188,74086,
"Timor-Leste","TMP",4057,0,0,116,
"Togo","TGO",14120,12650,4815,4300,
"Tonga","TON",3500,5900,5950,1800,
"Trinidad and Tobago","TTO",7297,4900,3790,3500,
"Tunisia","TUN",50815,55724,27000,13105,
"Turkey","TUR",33614,32000,62284,29000,
"Turkmenistan","TKM",611,..,..,..,
"Turks and Caicos Islands","TCA",1624,1530,1330,1110,
"Uganda","UGA",57862,43946,42804,26900,
"Ukraine","UKR",120000,0,0,0,
"United Arab Emirates","ARE",15543,10984,8285,6000,
"United Kingdom","GBR",17847,21582,23309,21443,
"United States","USA",290000,290000,190000,140538,
"Uruguay","URY",4023,3300,2304,1100,
"Uzbekistan","UZB",4800,..,..,..,
"Vanuatu","VUT",300,300,45,40,
"Venezuela","VEN",44302,32500,29000,22221,
"Viet Nam","VNM",1000000,800000,330000,317440,
"Virgin Islands","VIR",370,404,450,450,
"Western Sahara","",0,0,0,0,
"Yemen","YEM",12200,5000,7595,5000,
"Zambia","ZMB",23833,27000,33004,51000,
"Zimbabwe","ZWE",1804,1146,800,800,

Footnotes
No footnotes

Source
"Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Fishery Information, Data and Statistics Unit (FIDI).  More information available online at http://www.fao.org/fi/statist/fisoft/fishers.asp"


Technical Notes
"Definition:"
"People employed in fishing and aquaculture includes the number of people employed in commercial and subsistence fishing (both personnel on fishing vessels and on shore), operating in freshwater, brackish and marine areas, and in aquaculture production activities. "
""
"Years Covered and Frequency of Update"
"Data are available for 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000. Since 1996, data have been updated on a yearly basis by FAO. However since not all countries are updated each year, only 2000 data is shown. You can refer to the source for annual data. "
""
"Methodology"
"Data on People employed in fishing and aquaculture are collected by the FAO through annual questionnaires submitted to the national reporting offices of the member countries. When possible other national and/or regional published sources are also used to estimate figures. "
""
"Please refer to the original source for further information on collection methodologies or to the following publication: ""Number of Fishers 1970-1996"", FAO Fisheries Circular No. 929, Revision 1, Fishery Information, Data and Statistics Unit (FAO, Rome, 1999)."
""
"Additionally, FAO maintains a web page for this data set,  http://www.fao.org/fi/statist/fisoft/fishers.asp"
""
""
"Data Reliability"
"Numbers presented in this table are gross estimates. Many countries do not submit data on fishers, or submit incomplete information; therefore the quality of these data is poor. "
"Potential users of this data should be aware of its shortcomings. Apart from the gaps and the heavy presence of estimates due to non-reporting, the information provided by national statistical offices may not be strictly comparable due to the utilization of different definitions and methods in the assessment of the number of people engaged in fishing and aquaculture.  "
""
"FAO recognizes that these statistics are incomplete and may not accurately reflect the current level of employment in the fishing sector. Specifically, that some countries failed to report for several years, that those which reported regularly have occasionally omitted fish farmers from the total or included subsistence and sport fishers, as well as family members living on fishing, and that concepts to number employment may have changed during the recent years of the time series "