The production of the small pelagics in the APFIC region was 1.2 mt/sq. km during 1995. Among the four areas in the region, the small pelagics have registered (i) the maximum annual fluctuations in the western Indian Ocean; (ii) the highest increase duri'}i the past two decades along the west coast of Thailand in the eastern Indian Ocean; and (iii) the consistent decline in the landings during the past one decade along the Japanese coast in the northwest Pacific Ocean
