High seas resources comprise a number of major species groups (cetaceans, sharks, tunas, horse-makerel, mesopelagis fish, salmon, squid, etc., for which substantial information is available (including in the FAO Atlas). They also comprise a number of species for which of understanding (and managing capacity) is very limited and which are briefly listed below.
The Paralepididae (Magnisudis prionosa, Notolepis coatsi) are taken in the Southern Ocean as by-catch in pelagic trawls and krill trawls and are used for fish meal.
The sunfish or headfish of the family Molidae are strange representatives of the oceanic fauna on which we know very little. 3 species only exist throughout the world. It is taken as by-catch in gillnet fisheries and consumed, at least in the Mediterrannean.
The Gempylidae familly include the snake mackerel (Gempylus serpens), the Escolar (Lepidocybium flavobrunneum) and the oilfish (Ruvettus pretiosus). They are all part of the regular by-catch of the tuna longliners.
The lancetfish (Alepisaurus ferox and A. brevirostris) are commonly caught on tuna longlines. Up to 2 meters in length they are not very much appreciated.
The flying fish (Exocoetidae) is a potentially very important group, especially for island countries. There seem to be 8 genera. Important ones are: Exocoetus, Cypselurus, Hirundichthys, Cheilopogon and Prognichthys. Total reported landings have varied between 60 and 90,000 tons in the last two decades with no clear trend. About 70% are coming from the Pacific, 20% from the Indian Ocean and 10% from the Atlantic. Mahon (1990) reports 4-5000 tons for Eastern Caribbean Islands, essentially Hirundichthys. The potential is unknown. Suda (1973) indicates that the potential world catch could be around 100,000 tons in the coastal areas plus an unknown potential for the oceanic areas. If this statement was correct, then coastal resources would now be close to full exploitation.
The dolphin fish (Coryphaena hippurus and C. equiselis) are distributed widely in all oceanic type of waters, close to shore in islands and farther offshore off continental masses, beyond the area of influence of water runoff. They are by tuna troll lines and occasionally by purse seines and drifnets. Fishing is developing with the widespread use of fish aggregating devices (FADs). Gulland (1971) indicates, on very limited data, that the world potential might be around 1 million tons. Present catches reported to FAO relate only to C. hippurus underlining most probably the inaccurate determination of the species composition of the landings. Total reported landings increased from about 19,000 tons in 1970-74 to 23,000 tons in 1975-80 and 30-37,000 tons in 1988. Reported catches are essentially from the North Pacific (60-70%).
1 Source: Garcia S.M. and J. Majkowski (1990): The state of high seas resources. In: Kurobayash T.. And E.L. Miles (Eds.). The law of the sea in the 1990s: a framework for further international cooperation . Law of the Sea Institute. Honolulu, Hawai