The net is now on board and the operation of collecting the fish has begun. The large basket is dipped repeatedly into the water to bring the fish on to the boat.

A basket load of fish on board.

The basket load of fish is being brought out of the water and will be placed directly over the hole in the foreground. The fish will be deposited in the hole which has a chute that leads directly to the freezer compartments.

The basket load of fish is now directly over the hole that leads to the freezer compartments.

After the basket is unloaded, the fish are channeled into a chute that leads to a freezer compartment. Here the fish are dropping into it.

A basket load of fish being emptied on deck.

Peruvian purse seiners.

Peruvian purse seiner fishing for small pelagic fish.

Peruvian purse seiner fishing for small pelagic fish.

Peruvian purse seiner fishing for small pelagic fish.

Peruvian purse seiner fishing for small pelagic fish.

Peruvian purse seiner fishing for small pelagic fish.

Deploying a purse seine.

About 400 tons of jack mackerel (Trachurus murphyi) are caught by a Chilean purse seiner.

Chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus) catch.

Chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus) being loaded on a boat.

Chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus) being loaded on a boat.

Chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus) being loaded on a boat.

Peruvian scientist taking a chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus) sample on board a fishing boat.

Peruvian scientist sampling blue jack mackerel (Trachurus picturatus).

A "chata" lighter is used to transfer the catch from the fishing boat to the processing plant.

Hold of a fishing boat full of anchoveta (Engraulis ringens).

Hold of a fishing boat full of anchoveta (Engraulis ringens).

Decomposing fish in the hold of a purse seiner. Fish decompose as a result of lack of refrigeration. Although this material is unfit for human consumption, it is used as a base for fishmeal for animal feed.

Los Ferroles fishmeal plant. In the background, fishing boats ready to transfer the catch.

Processing anchovies (Engraulis ringens) at the SIPESA fishmeal plant.

Los Ferroles fishmeal plant processes small pelagic species for consumption by the aquaculture industry, chickens, pigs, and ruminants.

Fishmeal plant at La Planchada processes small pelagic species for consumption by the aquaculture industry, chickens, pigs, and ruminants.

Anchovy fishmeal. Los Ferroles fishmeal plant.

Sacks of anchovy fishmeal at Los Ferroles fishmeal plant.

Processing Pacific menhaden (Ethmidium maculatum) at Hayduk cannery. These fish are being processed for human consumption.

Sorting pilchard (Sardinops Sagax) and chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus) in the Paita refrigeration plant. These fish are being processed for human consumption .

An educational poster produced by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for the Southeast Pacific Ocean area.

The Southeast portion of the Pacific Ocean corresponds to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Area 87.

Image #1 of sequence. Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer SST and SeaWiFS chlorophyll comparisons for January 1998 and July 1998.

Image #2 of sequence. SST anomalies in January were close to the highest observ ed during the most recent El Nino. There is little or no evidence of the equato rial cold tongue or of enhanced chlorophyll along the equator.

Image #3 of sequence. In sharp contrast, by July 1998, a dramatic recovery had taken place. There is a well-developed cold tongue and a dramatic bloom of phytoplankton along the equator. High chlorophyll concentrations had not previously been observed over such a large area.

On average, FAO statistical area 87 provides around 45 per cent of the World's catch of small pelagic species.

Fishing gear in the Southeast Pacific Ocean from left to right: a Chilean purse seiner; a tuna purse seiner in tropical waters of the northern part of Area 87; a Peruvian purse seiner; a trawler; and a small purse seiner.

Normally an oceanographic phenomenon known as upwelling keeps the surface waters of the southeast Pacific Ocean cold and teeming with small pelagics that are fished by purse seiners. Upwelling occurs in this zone when southeasterly trade winds , produced by the South Pacific anti-cyclone, along with other facto rs drive coastal waters out to sea, forcing deep nutrient-rich waters to rise.

The result of changes of water temperature on fisheries is significant. As water temperatures rise and nutrient levels decline, shoals of cold-water-loving small pelagics scatter and descend to depths of 150 to 200 meters, where they are not accessible to traditional surface purse seiners, or they migrate south.

For reasons not completely understood, in some years the anti-cyclone is less powerful than normal. The weaker winds it produces fail to draw cold waters up to the ocean's surface, thus opening the way for warm, nutrient-poor tropical waters. These changes in water temperature and climatic conditions are known as "El Nino".

The Mediterranean is a semi-enclosed sea relatively low in nutrients and fishery productivity. It has become increasingly polluted owing to runoff by nutrients from waste disposal and agriculture. Catch of key species such as Black Sea anchovy has fallen, relecting environmental degradation. High exploitation levels have also depleted important stocks such as blue fin tuna and swordfish.

The Mediterranean and Black Seas fall within the same FAO statistical area (Area 37) but, apart from some migratory species, their fisheries and resources are mostly separate. The total catch from Area 37 showed a generally positive trend until the mid-1980's, reaching about 2 million tons.

Currents and Temperature - Atlantic waters enter the Mediterranean through the Straits of Gibraltar and flow east along the North African coast, becoming more saline as evaporation exceeds freshwater inflows. Thus, the Mediterranean is mor e saline than the Atlantic. Strong temperature, salinity, and available nutrien t gradients lead to high biodiversity reflected by regional faunal differences.

A wide variety of fish and shellfish species support a mostly small-scale fisher y, operating near to the coast. Over 40 types of gear are used in the Mediterran ean. Most common type is trawlgear for benthic species; coastal purse seiners for small pelagics; trammel and gillnets for inshore species; and purse seines, long surface gill nets, and longlines are used for large pelagic fish.

High seas fisheries: Ocean pelagic resources living near the surface are exploit ed by purse seiners and surface long-liners . Top: Italian purse seiner fishing in the central Adriatic. Middle: Bluefin tuna caught in the South Tyrrh enian by a purse seiner. Bottom:Distant-water surface longliner operating in the Mediterranean.

Coastal Pelagic Fisheries: Small coastal pelagic species are exploited by coast al purse seiners. Top: Coastal purse seiners in the harbor of Fuengirola, Spain . Bottom: Anchovies caught in the Alboran Sea by coastal purse seiners and landed in Fuengirola, Spain.

Demersal Fisheries: Species living near the bottom are exploited by trawlers. Top: Landings from trawlers in the market of Mazara del Vallo (Sicily), Italy. Bottom: Spanish trawler in the northwestern Mediterranean.

Littoral Fisheries: Coastal species are exploited by small-scale gear (gill nets , trammel nets, bottom longlines and traps). Top: Small scale gear boat. Acitr ezza (Sicily), Italy. Lower left: Landings of small-scale vessel. Gallipoli ( Gulf of Taranto), Italy. Lower right: Trammelnetters. Porto Cesareo (Gulf of Taranto), Italy.