CLASSIFICATION OF FISHING AREA
The fishing areas of the Southeast Asian region, established for fishery statistical purposes, consist of inland and
marine fishing areas, which is consistent with the definition and classification of capture fishery. They are standardized
in accordance with the FAO Major Fishing Areas, the boundaries of which were determined in consultation with
international fishery agencies taking into account various considerations, including:
(i) The boundary of national regions and the natural divisions of oceans and seas;
(ii) The boundary of adjacent statistical fisheries bodies already established in
inter-governmental conventions and treaties;
(iii) Existing national practices;
(iv) National boundaries;
(v) The longitude and latitude grid system;
(vi) The distribution of the aquatic fauna; and
(vii) The distribution of the resources and the environmental conditions within an area.
1. Inland Fishing Areas
All inland waters of Southeast Asian countries are identified under the Area 04 (Asia, Inland Water). There is no subarea
that is recognized for the collection of catch and effort data for the Southeast Asian region. The data presented
by Lao PDR, which is the sole landlocked country in the region, are therefore reported under Area 04 only.
2. Marine Fishing Area
The marine fishing areas of the Southeast Asian countries are identified under Area 57 (Indian Ocean, Eastern), Area
71 (Pacific, Western Central) and Area 61 (Pacific, Northwest). Countries and their sub-areas to be used in marine
fishery statistics are as follows:
Countries
Sub-areas for marine fishery statistics
FAO Marine
Fishing Area
SEAFDEC
Sub-area
a) Brunei Darussalam
 
71
71i
b) Cambodia
 
71
71b
c) Indonesia
  
57,71
  West Sumatra
57
57e
  South Java
57
57e
  Malacca Strait
57,71
57d, 71k
  East Sumatra
71
71k
  North Java
71
71k
  Bali-Nusa Tenggara
57
57f, 71k
  South-West Kalimantan
71
71k
  East Kalimantan
71
71k
  South Sulawesi
71
71k
  North Sulawesi
71
71k
  Maluku-Papua
71
71k
d) Malaysia
  
  West Coast of Peninsula Malaysia
57
57c
  East Coast of Peninsula Malaysia
71
71e
  Sarawak
71
71f
  Sabah (including Labuan)
71
71g
e) Myanmar
 
57
57a
f) Philippines
      
  Luzon
71
71j
  Visayas
71
71j
  Mindanao
71
71j
g) Singapore
  
71
71h
h) Thailand
 
57,71
  Gulf of Thailand
71
71a
  Indian Ocean
57
57b
i) Viet Nam
  
61,71
  
  North Viet Nam
61
61a
  Central Viet Nam
61
61b
  Southwest Viet Nam
71
71c
  Southeast Viet Nam
71
71d
Area 57 (Indian Ocean, Eastern)
Under fishing Area 57, marine fishery statistics such as production, species, fishing gears, fishing vessels, fishing units,
etc., will be collected and reported within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of each country.
To facilitate the reporting fishery statistics by each country, the fishing area in the Southeast Asian region can be
divided into 6 sub-areas under which correspond to the existing EEZs of Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
The sub-areas under Area 57 are as follow:
Sub-area 57a: Marine fishing area of Myanmar
Sub-area 57b: Marine fishing area of Thailand (Indian Ocean)
Sub-area 57c: Marine fishing area of Malaysia (West Coast of Peninsula Malaysia)
Sub-area 57d: Marine fishing area of Indonesia (Malacca Strait)
Sub-area 57e: Marine fishing area of Indonesia (West Sumatra and South Java)
Sub-area 57f: Marine fishing area of Indonesia (Bali-Nusa Tenggara)
Boundary between Area 57 and 71
1. At the Strait of Malacca, the areas bounded by a line commencing
from East Sumatra and across the strait at 2° 30’ N latitude to meet the
West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
2. At marine waters between Sumatra and Java, the areas bounded by a
line commencing on the coast of Sumatra at the boundary between
the District of Lampung Utara and the District of Lampung Selatan at
5°31’ S latitude, 104°33’ E longitude. The boundary is running along a
rhomb line between Cape Tjuku Redak on the mainland of Sumatra
and Cape Batu Kebucung on the Island of Tebuan to the position 6°
15’ S latitude, 105° 04’ E longitude; then along a rhomb line between
Cape Parat on the Island of Panaitan and the southeastern tip of the
Island of Rakarta to the western coast of Java at the boundary
between the District of Lebak and the District of Serang at 6° 23’ S
latitude, 105° 49’ E longitude.
3. At marine waters of Java and Bali-Nusa Tenggara, the areas bounded
by a line commencing from 8°00’ S latitude starting from the coast of
South Java at Surabaya and running east to meet at 129°00’ E
longitude; thence running due south until meet northern coast of
Australia. The area under the line is recognized as the fishing
Area 57 whereas the other above the line accepted as fishing Area 71.
Area 71 (Pacific, Western Central)
Under fishing Area 71, marine fishery statistics such as production, species, fishing gears, fishing vessels, fishing units,
etc., will be collected and reported within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of each country. There are 8 Southeast
Asian countries identified under fishing Area 71, namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. To facilitate reporting fishery statistics by each country, the fishing
area can be divided into 11 sub-areas, corresponding to the existing EEZ of these countries. The sub-areas under Area
71 are as follows:
Sub-area 71a: Marine fishing area of Thailand (Gulf of Thailand)
Sub-area 71b: Marine fishing area of Cambodia
Sub-area 71c: Marine fishing area of Viet Nam (Southwest Viet Nam)
Sub-area 71d: Marine fishing area of Viet Nam (Southeast Viet Nam)
Sub-area 71e: Marine fishing area of Malaysia (East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia)
Sub-area 71f: Marine fishing area of Malaysia (Sarawak)
Sub-area 71g: Marine fishing area of Malaysia (Sabah)
Sub-area 71h: Marine fishing area of Singapore
Sub-area 71i: Marine fishing area of Brunei Darussalam
Sub-area 71j: Marine fishing area of Philippines (Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao)
Sub-area 71k: Marine fishing area of Indonesia (East Sumatra, North Java, Bali-Nusa Tenggara,
South-West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, Maluku-Papua)
Area 61 (Pacific, Northwest)
Under fishing Area 61, the marine fishery statistics such as production, species, fishing gears, fishing vessels, fishing
units, etc., will be collected and reported within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of each country. There is only
one country identified under fishing Area 61, which is Viet Nam. The fishing area can be divided into 2 sub-areas as
follows:
Sub-area 61a: Marine fishing area of Viet Nam (North Viet Nam)
Sub-area 61b: Marine fishing area of Viet Nam (Central Viet Nam)