Giving Compass' Take:

• A new study finds that industrial fishing vessels flying the flags of wealthy nations are catching the majority of the world’s fish, adding to a growing discussion over how food security and sustainable fishing are connected.

• How can we support developing countries so that there isn't such a divide in global fishing? In what ways is this also an environmental issue?

• Here's how women in Kenya are trying to build a sustainable business, while increasing gender equity, through fishing. 

With food security and equity growing concerns in global fisheries – and one-third of commercial fish stocks being exploited at unsustainable levels, according to the United Nations – researchers have been tapping new data to get a better grasp of exactly who fishes where and how much they catch.

A paper published this week in the journal Science Advances found that rich nations are catching the lion’s share of the ocean’s fish, even in the waters of lower-income countries. The estimates feed into a bigger debate over how the wealth of the seas could be distributed fairly and sustainably.

In their research, the authors analyzed global fishing activity data to conclude that 97 percent of industrial fishing they were able to track in international waters – the high seas – is conducted by vessels flying the flag of high- and upper-middle-income nations. The vast majority was from five nations: China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Spain. And even within the territorial waters of developing countries, 78 percent of industrial fishing was done by wealthier nations, the scientists found. Overall, industrial fishing vessels, defined by the study as those at least 24m long (80ft), accounted for about three-fourths of global catch of wild fish from the sea, the authors estimated.

Read the full article about the global fishing divide by Alastair Bland at News Deeply.