August 30, 2012

 

Global fish production hits all-time high in 2011

 

 

Total world fish production reached an all-time high of 154 million tonnes in 2011, which includes both aquaculture and wild capture fish, while aquaculture is set to top 60% of production by 2020.

 

Wild capture was 90.4 million tonnes in 2011, up 2% from 2010. Aquaculture, in contrast, has been expanding steadily for the last 25 years and saw a rise of 6.2% in 2011, report authors Danielle Nierenberg and Katie Spoden said.

 

"Growth in fish farming can be a double-edged sword," said Nierenberg, co-author of the report and Director of Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet project. "Despite its potential to affordably feed an ever-growing global population, it can also contribute to problems of habitat destruction, waste disposal, invasions of exotic species and pathogens, and depletion of wild fish stock."

 

Humans ate 130.8 million tonnes of fish in 2011. The remaining 23.2 million tonnes of fish went to non-food uses such as fishmeal, fish oil, culture, bait, and pharmaceuticals. The human consumption figure has increased 14.4% over the last five years. And consumption of farmed fish has risen tenfold since 1970, at an annual average of 6.6% per year. Asia consumes two thirds of the fish caught or grown for consumption.

 

The fish sector is a source of income and sustenance for millions of people worldwide. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, for every one job in the fish sector, three to four additional jobs are produced in secondary activities, such as fish processing, marketing, maintenance of fishing equipment, and other related industries. And on average each person working in the fish sector is financially responsible for three dependents.

 

In combination, then, jobs in the primary and secondary fish sectors support the livelihoods of 660 million-820 million people - 10-12% of global population.

 

Although Africa is only the fourth largest producer of fish in the world, its water resources are highly sought after by larger, more-competitive fishing trawlers. Extreme overfishing occurs when foreign trawlers buy fishing licenses from African countries for marine water use. In West African waters, foreign trawlers pose a threat because factory ships from the UK, other countries within the EU, Russia, among others, can outdo the technologies used by local fishers. In Senegal, for example, a local fisher can catch a few tonnes of fish each day in the typical 30-foot pirogue. In contrast, factory ships from industrial countries catch hundreds of tonnes daily in their 10,000-tonne factory ships

 

Wild fish stocks are at a dangerously unsustainable level. As of 2009 (the most recent year with data), 57.4% of fisheries were estimated to be fully exploited - meaning current catches were at or close to their maximum sustainable yield, with no room for further expansion. Of the remaining fisheries in jeopardy, around 30% were deemed overexploited, while a little less than 13% were considered to be not fully exploited.

 

A number of government initiatives give some hope to a future of sustainable fishing. In the US, the Magnuson-Stevens Act mandated that overfished stocks be restored; as of 2012, two-thirds of US stocks are fished sustainably and only 17% are fished at overexploited levels. In New Zealand, 69% of stocks are above management targets, but Australia only reports 12% of stocks at overexploitation levels due to increased government fishery standards.

 

To maintain the current level of fish consumption in the world, aquaculture will need to provide an additional 23 million tonnes of farmed fish by 2020. To produce this additional amount, fish farming will also have to provide the necessary feed to grow the omnivorous and carnivorous fish that people want. Aquaculture is being pressured to provide both food and feed because of the oceans' overexploited fisheries.

 

Continually increasing fish production, from both aquaculture and fisheries, raises many environmental concerns. If aquaculture continues to grow without constraints, it could lead to degradation of land and marine habitats, chemical pollution from fertilisers and antibiotics, the negative impacts of invasive species, and a lessened fish resistance to disease due to close proximity and intensive farming practices.