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Countries that Catch the Most Fish

Name the countries that catch the most wild fish, crustaceans, and molluscs.
For the year 2020, according to FAOSTAT
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: June 15, 2023
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First submittedMay 8, 2014
Times taken89,231
Average score85.0%
Rating4.84
4:00
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Continent
Tonnes
Country
Asia
11.77 mil
China
Asia
6.43 mil
Indonesia
Americas
5.61 mil
Peru
Europe
4.79 mil
Russia
Americas
4.23 mil
United States
Asia
3.71 mil
India
Asia
3.27 mil
Vietnam
Asia
3.13 mil
Japan
Europe
2.45 mil
Norway
Americas
1.77 mil
Chile
Continent
Tonnes
Country
Asia
1.76 mil
Philippines
Asia
1.52 mil
Thailand
Asia
1.38 mil
Malaysia
Asia
1.36 mil
South Korea
Africa
1.36 mil
Morocco
Americas
1.35 mil
Mexico
Europe
1.02 mil
Iceland
Asia
1.01 mil
Myanmar
Americas
0.82 mil
Argentina
Europe
0.80 mil
Spain
+4
Level 82
May 11, 2014
100% but took several guesses before I stumbled across Bangladesh.
+3
Level 66
Feb 12, 2017
Well Thailand, Myanmar, and India are on this list so maybe the Bay of Bengal has an abundance of fish?
+45
Level 59
Feb 18, 2017
Bangladeshi here. Bangladesh is on the list because of the hundreds of rivers that flows through the country. The fish we eat are mostly freshwater fishes, although saltwater fishes are also consumed in the coastal cities, but they aren't as common in the rest of the country.
+3
Level 33
Apr 15, 2017
I guessed Bangladesh right at first try. It got me happy for Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries of this planet. Good to know their economy has some type of insource. By the way, I only missed 2 countries to get the 100%.
+4
Level 82
May 26, 2018
Not so abundant anymore. The coastal waters of south and east Asia is a very dangerous place to be a fish.
+10
Level 71
Nov 22, 2019
RogerSilveira, I'm a Bangladeshi-American and I just want to say fishing isn't the sole economic resource Bangladesh has. It also has one of the largest textile industries in the world and a large amount of agriculture, and its economy that has started to diversify. Bangladesh is often portrayed in the media as impoverished beyond hope so I just want to make clear that, even though it's still poor, it's certainly not one of the least developed countries on Earth.
+2
Level 71
Sep 24, 2020
Also in response to kal, yes overfishing is a huge problem in the region unfortunately :( I'm pretty sure Bangladeshi gov't has tried to ban fishing during certain parts of the year. It's gotten to the point where much of the fish on the market in Bangladesh is imported from Myanmar.
+2
Level 60
Jan 27, 2021
Yeah, Bangladesh has developed a lot in the past 30 years, and I think we'll begin to see more regulation over fishing in Asia. I'm worried about the population explosion approaching in Africa, the fish there are going to have some bad years ahead.
+2
Level 28
May 11, 2014
Wonderful Quiz. 100% with 4 seconds left. I did not expect Iceland to be on there.
+5
Level 84
Jan 27, 2015
Tough farming in Iceland. :-) Better to look to the sea for food.
+3
Level 46
Apr 22, 2015
Really? Surrounded by the North-Atlantic ocean, an exclusive economic area seven times the size of the island (ranking 37th over all) and with the gulf stream moving warm waters to the cold arctic sea just in that area. It makes almost the perfect fishing zone. By the way, Iceland was the first country to move the EEA to 200 nautical miles from land.
+2
Level 60
Jan 27, 2021
They also beat the UK in the Cod Wars.
+2
Level 68
Sep 23, 2016
Same! 3 seconds left and I just managed to get Iceland!
+1
Level 55
Sep 23, 2016
On the one hand, they're a tiny country compared to many of the others listed, but on the other hand...well, what else is there to eat? Plus, they're like, an island and stuff. You know. What joakim said.
+3
Level 76
Nov 20, 2019
So are Cuba, Madagascar, New Zealand, heck, even Australia. They still didn't make the list.
+2
Level 83
Jun 18, 2023
They have other things to eat though? Iceland has barely any crops and not many more land animals.
+3
Level 57
Nov 24, 2019
1.07 million tons for 360 000 people equals to roughly 3 tons per inhabitant. Pretty excessive!!
+4
Level 49
Dec 7, 2020
@Yanni47 yeah no Australia was very surprising
+3
Level 63
May 31, 2017
Yea Iceland was like my first guess for all the reasons stated above. Similarly, I was surprised that Australia was not on the list, as they have a pretty large amount of sea unclaimed by other countries that they can fish in.
+2
Level 73
Dec 3, 2018
With all that beef and mutton available, why bother with fish?
+4
Level 88
Jul 25, 2019
Read some fish packaging.

The Cod Wars.

We shall never forget.

+1
Level 69
May 11, 2014
100% with 0.55 left!
+1
Level 83
May 11, 2014
Darn you, Norway!!
+1
Level 56
May 12, 2014
I got everything but Japan...freaking Japan...duh.
+1
Level 60
Jan 27, 2021
And they're famous for hunting whales...lol
+3
Level 80
Nov 3, 2022
Which aren’t fish…
+1
Level 38
May 12, 2014
100% at 31 seconds left! great quiz!
+1
Level 7
May 22, 2014
wheres australia?
+5
Level 82
May 23, 2014
Their population is kind of small... though... it's 70x bigger than Iceland's so that doesn't explain everything.
+7
Level 71
Nov 11, 2014
under Indonesia... bit to the left; north - west of New Zealand,

There are restrictions on the amount of fishing that can be conducted in Australian waters. Australia also managed to keep out the super trawlers, although that will likely change in the coming years - unless the protests keep going! Managed to turn back one a year or so ago! The government actively turns/tows away ships from other countries who encroach its sovereign waters and territorial areas.

+1
Level 71
Nov 11, 2014
fishing boats, not ships! argh
+8
Level 75
May 31, 2017
How far down below Indonesia do you have to dig before you reach Australia?
+1
Level 74
Jan 29, 2015
Great quiz.
+3
Level 84
Oct 10, 2015
Didn't get Peru... Didn't expect it to catch so much.
+1
Level 71
Nov 3, 2015
Is it correct that much of the Peru fish catch is not used for food?
+8
Level 65
Jun 29, 2016
Used for bookmarks instead?
+2
Level 63
Sep 23, 2016
There's not a lot of fish that would make a great bookmark. Maybe flounders but the book would have to be big. Maybe they're used for dresses? Like sequins? Or as slippers? So many possible uses... :D
+2
Level 70
Mar 18, 2023
Fertilizers, maybe? Or pet food?
+4
Level 43
Nov 28, 2019
Considering that Peu's most famous dish is fish(ceviche), i don't think so
+1
Level 86
Dec 3, 2015
Surprised that Australia wasn't on here.
+2
Level 72
Aug 30, 2016
PERU?!
+1
Level 76
Sep 23, 2016
Glad I'm not the only one surprised about Peru being number 2!
+1
Level 55
Dec 7, 2020
yes me too I just typed it as a joke
+1
Level 67
Sep 23, 2016
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishing_industry_by_country
+1
Level 61
Sep 23, 2016
Didn't know Myanmar was bring used instead of Burma- not that I would have got either of them.
+3
Level 92
Sep 23, 2016
Both are still accepted.
+1
Level 42
Sep 23, 2016
I thought I'd gone through all the sea-touching countries in Asia, but of course I missed South Korea and Philippines...
+1
Level 29
Sep 23, 2016
2005?
+2
Level 56
Sep 23, 2016
This data is so 2005.
+1
Level 59
Sep 23, 2016
No source after 2005?
+3
Level ∞
Feb 11, 2017
Finally found a better source! We are now using 2014 data.
+2
Level 55
Sep 23, 2016
Doesn't anyone think Japan should be top? Surely they need more sushi for everyone?
+5
Level ∞
Feb 11, 2017
Japan imports a lot. Except for Iceland and the Maldives they eat the most fish per capita.
+1
Level 70
Feb 11, 2017
Plus whales aren't fish ;)
+1
Level 88
Jun 15, 2023
1 ton goes a long, long way when they only give you a 1/1000th ounce sliver with a bunch of rice, pink dyed ginger, and some green eggs & ham colored horseradish paste.
+1
Level 53
Sep 27, 2016
I got all the Asian countries except India. *facepalm*
+2
Level 77
Feb 12, 2017
I keep expecting Portugal for some reason.
+3
Level 66
Feb 12, 2017
We should have a quiz on the countries that have had the most fish get away.
+8
Level 75
Feb 13, 2017
If you belong to the Greenland-and-Faroes-are-part-of-Denmark brigade, then Denmark (0.7m), Faroe Islands (0.5m) and Greenland (0.3m) aggregate to 1.5 million tons for the whole Danish Kingdom.
+1
Level 79
Feb 15, 2017
Looks like I'm one of the very few that missed Russia.
+1
Level 56
May 31, 2017
That's the only one I missed. *facepalm*
+1
Level 44
May 31, 2017
On these types of quizzes, I always guess obvious countries like USA, Canada, Mexico, Russia, China, Australia, etc. first.
+3
Level 33
Apr 15, 2017
China and the US are in 100% of the quizzes of this type. You name the product they're invariably amongst the top 5(at the very least, usually top 3).
+1
Level 32
May 31, 2017
It would be funny if the website were "Made in China" or "Made in the US"
+1
Level 49
May 31, 2017
100 % with 45 seconds left...but I stuggled to guess... Spain
+2
Level 80
May 31, 2017
The lone Africa answer was not the one I was expecting
+4
Level 67
May 31, 2017
I got Morocco because once upon a time I ate a fair amount of sardines. A large portion of which are caught by Moroccan fishermen.
+5
Level 68
May 31, 2017
Cool story bro
+4
Level 88
Jun 15, 2023
More interesting than your comment, Jarl
+1
Level 49
May 26, 2018
I missed just Iceland on first try, and barely guessed Peru before time ran out. SO close
+1
Level 26
Jul 19, 2018
UK?
+5
Level 60
Apr 24, 2019
Very disappointed that a country called Finland didn't make the list!
+1
Level 54
Jul 7, 2019
Can you make a quiz where its too countries who produced most fish. Like those in Hatchery and fishfarms. Not wild.
+1
Level 63
Aug 6, 2019
For anyone who is interested in that: Page 27 of the source, table 10 "Aquaculture food fish production by region and selected major producers". China is #1 there as well with 49 244 thousand tonnes. There's also data for inland waters and other interesting stuff like types of fish. Worth a look.
+1
Level 76
Aug 23, 2019
I know that the fishing industry is big in Iceland, but it's still pretty crazy that a country of barely over 300k people made it to the list over countries like the UK.
+3
Level 57
Nov 20, 2019
The fact that Iceland catches more fish than Brazil is almost unbelievable
+2
Level 65
Nov 24, 2019
Do land snails count? After all, they are mollusks and are caught for food. In that case, France should be on the list. To clarify that you mean marine mollusks, explain that.
+1
Level ∞
Nov 24, 2019
Lol, good one.
+1
Level 57
Nov 24, 2019
The quiz fails to indicate that these are not "millions" but "millions of tons". Quite a few orders of magnitude higher!
+2
Level ∞
Nov 24, 2019
Take another look. The column header is labeled "Tonnes".
+4
Level 62
Nov 24, 2019
How on earth does Iceland, a North Atlantic island nation of 330,000, catch more fish than the UK, a North Atlantic island nation of 67 million?
+1
Level 60
Aug 16, 2023
I was worried Maldives would make it.
+2
Level 69
Nov 24, 2019
As an expat in Morocco, I knew they fished a lot but never expected them to be as high as top 15 in the world. Damn!
+1
Level 22
Nov 25, 2019
I like fish
+1
Level 63
May 26, 2021
Got them all with 13 seconds left
+1
Level 76
Jun 22, 2021
That’s waaaayyyyyyyy too much. Not sustainable whatsoever. Also, dolphin safe labels don’t mean anything. Companies buy them.
+1
Level 44
Jan 11, 2022
1 second left, shocked about Australia.
+1
Level 63
Jan 27, 2022
how did i not get china...
+1
Level 68
May 6, 2022
My brain: "Let me take this quiz!"

Also my brain: "Let's forget the country with the longest coastline in the world lol"

+1
Level 35
May 6, 2022
peru...forgot
+1
Level 65
Jun 24, 2022
Surprised Iceland or Norway isn't higher
+1
Level 59
Feb 5, 2023
I'm disappointed in myself for not getting three obvious countries. Thankfully, I only missed three.
+1
Level 48
May 7, 2023
By somehow I missed Norway and Iceland...
+1
Level 76
Jun 15, 2023
Iceland's got to rank #1 per capita. That's impressive to make this list, based on their comparative size and population.
+1
Level 77
Jun 15, 2023
Chile is listed in mi. instead of mil. Do they measure fish by the mile??? :O
+1
Level 88
Jun 15, 2023
Get with the program, Canada.
+1
Level 57
Jun 16, 2023
1 second left. Got Spain right at the end.
+1
Level 67
Aug 14, 2023
Peru needs to chill, damn