Abstract

The paper briefly reviews the proportion of small pelagics and their current status which are not quite pleasing. On the other side, the demand for fish and fishery products has continued to rise as consumption has more than doubled since 1960s. Food fish consumption grew from 9.0 kg in 1961 to 20.3 kg by 2016 in per capita terms, at an average rate of about 1.5 % per year. Small pelagic fishes have undergone considerable variations in both, their distributions and abundance over time influenced by seasonal, interannual and decadal climate variations. Therefore, sustained production of marine pelagic fishes is crucial for maintaining and enhancing total marine fish production.