The line graph compares the annual fish catch in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans over a sixty-year period, from 1950 to 2010.
Overall, the two oceans followed opposite trends. The Atlantic catch rose to a peak in 1970 and then declined, whereas the Pacific catch grew almost continuously, and the Pacific overtook the Atlantic as the main fishing ground.
In 1950 the Atlantic yielded 12 million tonnes, more than double the Pacific's 5 million tonnes. The Atlantic figure then increased to 18 million tonnes in 1960 and reached its maximum of 25 million tonnes in 1970. After that it fell back, to 22 million tonnes in 1980, 18 million in 1990 and 13 million in 2000, ending the period at 10 million tonnes, which was below its starting level.
The Pacific catch climbed throughout. It rose to 9 million tonnes in 1960 and 16 million in 1970, and by 1980 it had overtaken the Atlantic, at 24 million tonnes against 22 million. Growth then continued strongly, to 38 million tonnes in 1990 and 47 million in 2000, before levelling off at 50 million tonnes in 2010, five times the Atlantic figure.