The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020

June 9, 2020 4:26 AM

Overfishing on the rise as global consumption climbs: U.N. agency - "More than a third of the fish stocks around the world are being overfished and the problem is particularly acute in developing countries, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a report on Monday." (pdf)

In 2017, 34.2% of the fish stocks of the world’s marine fisheries were classified as overfished, a “continuous increasing trend” since 1974 when it stood at just 10%. Overfishing depletes stocks at a rate that the species cannot replenish and so leads to lower fish populations and reduced future production.

The FAO said less intense management was common in many developing nations and was fuelled partly by limited management and governance capacities. “We notice that sustainability is particularly difficult in places where hunger, poverty and conflict exist, but there is no alternative to sustainable solutions,” the agency said.

Worldwide per capita fish consumption set a new record of 20.5 kg per year in 2018 and has risen by an average rate of 3.1% since 1961, outpacing all other animal proteins. Fish consumption accounts for a 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 and Sri Lanka.

The FAO projected global per capita consumption would climb to 21.5 kg by 2030, a slowdown in the average annual growth rate to 0.4%, with a decline expected in Africa. “The main reason for this decline is the growth of Africa’s population outpacing the growth in supply. Increasing domestic production and higher fish imports will not be sufficient to meet the region’s growing demand,” the FAO said.

The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020

• Full digital report
• Interactive story
• In Brief
• Summary of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the fisheries and aquaculture sector

Sustainable fishery management key to ensuring food security, says FAO - "A recent FAO report has highlighted sustainable aquaculture development and effective fisheries management as crucial to ensuring future food and nutritional security."

Total fish production is set to increase to 204 million tonnes in 2030, up 15 percent from 2018, with aquaculture’s share growing from its current 46 percent, according to The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) report. That growth is around half the increase recorded in the previous decade... sustainability trends for many major species are said to be improving. Catches of all kinds of tuna reached their highest level in 2018 – about 7.9 million tonnes – and two thirds of the these stocks are now fished at biologically sustainable levels, an increase of 10 percentage points in just two years...

Global fishing activity may have declined by around 6.5 percent as a result of restrictions and labour shortages due to the health emergency, according to an addendum to SOFIA published by FAO...

Trends in global fish supply

• Global fish production is estimated to have reached about 179 million tonnes in 2018, with a total first sale value estimated at $401 billion
• Aquaculture products accounted for 46 percent of total production and 52 percent of fish for human consumption
• China is by far the largest producer, buoyed by its highly-developed aquaculture industry, which has produced more farmed aquatic food than the rest of the world combined since 1991
• Aquaculture output is expected to grow by 48 percent in Africa, contributing to mitigate an expected population-driven reduction in per capita fish consumption on the continent
• Anchoveta was the top species for marine capture, buoyed by a strong production rebound in Peru and Chile, while Alaska pollock and skipjack tuna were next
• Inland capture fisheries – a significant source of food in many food-limited countries – reached the highest level ever reported, at 12 million tonnes

MSC sees encouraging signs as global overfishing worsens - "The fraction of fish stocks, by number, that are fished at biologically sustainable levels has decreased from 90% in 1974 to 65.8% in 2017, director of the FAO fisheries and aquaculture policy and resources division Manuel Barange said. Since 1974, the FAO monitors a large number of marine fish stocks -- approximately 500 of them, according to Barange -- which allows the organization to assess the ecological sustainability of marine fishery resources. 'As was also the case in 2018, the Mediterranean and Black seas, the Pacific Southeast Region and the Atlantic Southwest Region still have the highest rate of unsustainable fish stocks, although the last two have seen significant sustainability improvements since the last edition of the report', he said."

[Yesterday was] #WorldOceansDay.

posted by kliuless (5 comments total)

We need to accelerate the shift to aquaponics and quickly.

There's ingenious near closed cycles that are being developed and used. Chicken-fish based on duckweed is one of the big ones and could feed billions. Chicken poop and fish poop grows duckweed, fish eat duckweed and plankton growing off chicken poop, chicken eat duckweed and fish offal. Even in developing countries they can put a slatted chicken coop over a fish pond and basically have it produce tons of meat.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 7:36 AM on June 9, 2020

So, of course, just to be a dick, last Friday Trump reopened one of Obama's protected marine monuments to commercial fishing.
posted by nicwolff at 10:53 AM on June 9, 2020 [1 favorite]

Chicken poop and fish poop grows duckweed, fish eat duckweed and plankton growing off chicken poop, chicken eat duckweed and fish offal.

coop poop previously!
the plants are fed by fish poo alone :P
posted by kliuless at 8:27 PM on June 9, 2020

See also: FISH PIRATES! Actually a serious problem.
posted by Snowishberlin at 5:34 PM on June 10, 2020 [1 favorite]

It's Time to Be Honest about Seafood - "If we want to eat sustainably, aquaculture has to be part of the conversation."
posted by kliuless at 12:34 AM on June 11, 2020