The world's fish supplies are "fully to heavily exploited, overexploited, depleted or slowly recovering," according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Because of overexploitation, the catch from seas as well as rivers and lakes have beenon the decline since 1989. Fishers on the high seas managed a total catch of only 4.7 million tons in 1993, from 9.1 million tons in 1989. Overall marine production for 1993 was 84.25 million tons, compared to 104 million tons in 1989. Yet the demand continues to rise. From 70 million tons of fish consumed in 1990, consumption could go up to 90 million tons by the year 2000 and 100 million tons by 2010.
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