--- title: Global Fish Supply: Half of Catch May Have Gone Unreported description: Up to half of the global fish catch between 1950 and 2010 may have of unreported, according to new research. canonical: https://time.com/4188415/global-fish-catch/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-21T13:53:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:19:29.465Z article:section: Science og:title: Global Fish Supply: Half of Catch May Have Gone Unreported og:description: Up to half of the global fish catch between 1950 and 2010 may have of unreported, according to new research. og:url: https://time.com/4188415/global-fish-catch/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf40619d0db400259/698879f80a4a2210659c7ff0/global-fish-supply.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: global fish supply og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Global Fish Supply: Half of Catch May Have Gone Unreported twitter:description: Up to half of the global fish catch between 1950 and 2010 may have of unreported, according to new research. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf40619d0db400259/698879f80a4a2210659c7ff0/global-fish-supply.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Half of Global Fish Catch May Have Gone Unreported, Study Says  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jan 21, 2016 1:53 PM UTC  Florian Gaertner—Photothek/Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jan 21, 2016 1:53 PM UTC Up to half of the global fish catch between 1950 and 2010 may have of unreported, according to new research. The finding adds to growing evidence about the vulnerability of the global fish supply to unsustainable practices. The new [study](http://www.nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/ncomms10244), published in _Nature Communications_, provides an unofficial update to numbers collected by [The Food and Agriculture Organization](http://www.fao.org/3/a-i3720e.pdf), a branch of the United Nations. The U.N. reports have listed total fish catches as zero in regions and times when local authorities could not provide solid information. **Read More:** [Why Some Healthy Foods Are Not Sustainable](http://time.com/4066290/dietary-guidelines-sustainability-foods/#) Researchers for the new study collected data from more than 50 institutions to fill in the gaps in U.N. reports. The new research shows that global fish catches peaked at more than 140 million tons in 1996\. The total catch was 120 tons in 2010, the most recent year available, according to the new study. That’s 30% higher than the U.N. estimates. “The world is withdrawing from a joint bank account of fish without knowing what has been withdrawn or the remaining balance,” said study author Daniel Pauly, a professor at the University of British Columbia, in a press release. “Better estimating the amount we’re taking out can help ensure there is enough fish to sustain us in the future.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4188415/global-fish-catch/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4188415/global-fish-catch/"},"headline":"Half of Global Fish Catch May Have Gone Unreported, Study Says","datePublished":"2016-01-21T13:53:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:19:29.465Z","description":"'The world is withdrawing from a joint bank account of fish without knowing what has been withdrawn or the remaining balance'","url":"https://time.com/4188415/global-fish-catch/","keywords":["Food"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf40619d0db400259/698879f80a4a2210659c7ff0/global-fish-supply.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf40619d0db400259/698879f80a4a2210659c7ff0/global-fish-supply.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"global fish supply","caption":"global fish supply","creditText":"Florian Gaertner—Photothek/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4188415/global-fish-catch/","name":"Half of Global Fish Catch May Have Gone Unreported, Study Says"}}]}] ```