Fisheries and aquaculture has increased its relevance as a source of food and income but harmful practices and poor management threaten the sector’s sustainability.
This fact has been revealed in a new Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture, which has concluded that global fisheries and aquaculture production totalled 158 million tonnes in 2012 - around 10 million tonnes more than in 2010.
According to the report, the rapid expansion of aquaculture, including the activities of small-scale farmers, is driving this growth in production.
It also reads that fish farming holds tremendous promise in responding to surging demand for food, which is taking place due to global population growth
“The health of our planet as well as our own health and future food security all hinge on how we treat the blue world,” FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva stressed.
And he added: “We need to ensure that environmental well-being is compatible with human well-being in order to make long-term sustainable prosperity a reality for all.”
For this reason, FAO is committed to promoting 'Blue Growth,' which is based on the sustainable and responsible management of our aquatic resources.
The new report also remarks that fish now accounts for almost 17 per cent of the global population’s intake of protein -- in some coastal and island countries it can top 70 per cent.
FAO estimates that fisheries and aquaculture support the livelihoods of 10–12 per cent of the world’s population.
The new report indicates that global marine capture fishery production was stable at about 80 million tonnes in 2012.
And it adds that at present under 30 per cent of the wild fish stocks regularly monitored by FAO are overfished – a reversal in trend observed during the past few years, a positive sign in the right direction.
Global aquaculture production marked a record high of more than 90 million tonnes in 2012, including almost 24 million tonnes of aquatic plants. China accounted for over 60 per cent of the total share.
However, the report warns that to continue to grow sustainably, aquaculture needs to become less dependent on wild fish for feeds and introduce greater diversity in farmed culture species and practices.
The report points out that fish remains among the most traded food commodities worldwide, worth almost USD 130 billion in 2012 – a figure which likely will continue to increase.
It highlights that an estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food are lost per year -- to about one-third of all food produced. This figure includes post-harvest fish losses, which tend to be greater in small-scale fisheries.
The report also notes that illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing remains a major threat to marine ecosystems and also impacts negatively on livelihoods, local economies and food supplies.
In particular, the report stresses the importance of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries which, since its adoption almost two decades ago, remains key to achieving sustainable fisheries and aquaculture.
The role of fish is set to feature prominently at the Second International Conference on Nutrition jointly organized by FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO) for 19–21 November 2014 in Rome.