June 9, 2020

 

UN reports new high for global aquaculture output

 

 

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN has reported that global aquaculture output has hit a new high of 82.1 million tonnes, SeaWestNews reported.

 

This has also led to improved nutrition, better food security and increased fish consumption for many nations.

 

Worldwide per capita fish consumption has also reached a new record of 20.5 kilograms per year and is poised to increase further in the decade ahead said the latest FAO report on The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020 (SOFIA 2020), which was launched on World Oceans Day.

 

"Fish and fisheries products are recognised not only as some of the healthiest foods on the planet but also as some of the less impactful on the natural environment," said FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu, emphasising that they must play a more central role in food security and nutrition strategies at all levels.

 

The report noted that some 34.2% of fish stocks are now fished at biologically unsustainable levels, according to SOFIA's benchmark analysis which concluded that this overall measure is too high and is not globally improving.

 

According to an addendum to SOFIA published by FAO, the disruption of international transport has impacted aquaculture production for export.

 

In parts of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, more than 90% of small-scale fishers have been forced to stop due to an inability to sell their catches, often exacerbated by falling prices.

 

Aquaculture's expansion will continue, although at a slower rate, and farmed fish will contribute to a growing share of consumption and trade over the next decade, according to SOFIA.

 

Fish consumption accounts for one-sixth of the global population's intake of animal proteins, and more than half in countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, the Gambia, Ghana, Indonesia, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka and several small-island developing States (SIDS).

 

The total global fish production in 2018 reached 179 million tonnes (from freshwater capture fisheries: 12 million tonnes, a record; from aquaculture: 82.1 million tonnes, a new high). Thirty-eight percent of this global output enters international trade.

 

The first-sale value of all fisheries and aquaculture production in 2018 is US$401 billion (share of that from aquaculture—US$250 billion).

 

The world's largest fish producer and exporter is China. Net fish exporting regions are Oceania, Latin America and Caribbean and developing countries in Asia. Africa is a net importer in volume terms but a net exporter in value terms.

 

Most unsustainable fisheries are the Mediterranean and Black Sea (62.5% overfished stocks), the Southeast Pacific (54.5%), and Southwest Atlantic (53.3%). Riversheds supporting the most inland capture fishery production are Mekong, Nile, Ayeyarwady, Yangtze rivers.s

 

Other highlights from SOFIA include: number of people employed in the primary sector of fisheries and aquaculture: 59.5 million, of whom 14% are women; region with the most fishers and fish farmers: Asia (85% of the total); number of fishing vessels on the planet: 4.56 million; largest fleet by region: Asia (3.1 million vessels, or 68% of the global fleet); share of motorised vessels less than 12 meters in length: 82%; value of fish production exports: US$164 billion.