L10- Blue Foods 1

Global context-

• humans are a coastal species→ 40% of people live within 100km of the coast

• marine based food has been an important part of our diets for millennia

• traditionally food came from wild capture fisheries but are now increasingly farming species (aquaculture)

• food security debates are biased towards terrestrial agriculture

• question→ what role can ‘blue food’ play in delivering food security?

Global trends in fish production and consumption:

FAOs SOFIA 2022 report:

• Global overview template-

  • total production from world fisheries→ 110mt in 1990s to 180mt in 2020

  • total capture fisheries→ stable around 90mt, bigger increase in inland fisheries

  • 4x increase in aquaculture production

  • most food from aquatic systems are eaten- almost 2x since 1990s, eating more on average per person, beyond increase in human population

  • fish are important in global trade- increase in exports of huge values

    

  • fish for non-direct human use peaked in 1990s and is less now, increase in direct human consumption, increased faster than human population:

    

• Fish as food-

  • consume fish nearly 2x as much in 2019 as human population in 1961 (9kg→20kg)

  • has been observed globally e.g. even in low-income food-deficit countries

  • rate of protein food increase through fish is higher than all other animal protein foods per year

  • there is a spatial deficit:

    • asia, europe and oceania eat more than other continents

    • different places are eating different kinds of fish

      

    • variation within continents too:

      

• Fish as a product-

  • 11% of world fish production was used for non-food purposes in 2020, 81% of this is used to produce fishmeal and fish oil→ animal feed

  • are now better at using waste by-products so has decreased since peak in 1960s

  • mostly use small pelagic fish e.g. sardines

  • fish oil and fishmeal used to be more in human consumer products e.g. biscuits, but now is more in aquaculture- high demand, more than supply

  • e.g. West Africa- more catches are made into fishmeal for exports (2 part BBC documentary- impact of these changes)

  • impacts of aquaculture→ increases pressure on fisheries, impacts food security and livelihoods

• Fish as a livelihood-

  • 60m people are employed in this sector, mostly developing countries, small-scale artisanal fisheries, in Asia (84%), employ lots of women

    → is important and diverse

• Fish as a commodity-

  • 33% of fisheries/aquaculture were traded internationally in 2020, value of global fish exports is increasing, fish and fishery products trade is nearly equal to all terrestrial meats

  • general trend of flow of fish from LIC to HIC→ HIC make up 75% of imports

    • net exporters→ Oceania, LIC of Asia and Latin America

    • net importers→ Europe, NA, Africa- importing of lower value but more nutritious fish and exporting high value

The rise of aquaculture:

• aquaculture was responsible for 49% of global fisheries production in 2020, accounts for 56% of fish for direct human consumption

  → is an increasing, big business

• what is being farmed?

  • variety of fish but all are increasing, mostly inland fish

  • marine fish aquaculture industry is smaller than wild caught marine fish

    

  • farm nearly 500 species→ diverse farming system

  • marine and coastal aquaculture (mariculture) is mainly molluscs, with fish and crustaceans

  • species where aquaculture dominates over wild catching:

    

  • except in saltwater fish, aquaculture is dominant in all fishing catches:

    

• global production→ atlantic salmon (native and non-native areas), prawns, molluscs- oysters and mussels

  

• aquaculture is dominated by:

  • Asia, particularly China, but is increasing worldwide

  • middle-income countries:

    

  • also, capture fisheries are declining in HIC

Blue food and nutrition:

• series of articles that show the role that aquatic food may play in global nutrition:

  

• Fish as protein-

  • fish consumption was 17% of global animal protein intake in 2019

  • some countries are particularly more reliant on fish consumption e.g. 50% of animal protein intake is from fish in Bangladesh, Cambodia, the Gambia…

  • general rule that aquatic food is a greater share of animal protein intake in LIC than HIC but there is variability within countries:

    • general trend of >20% contribution to annual animal protein intake is the tropical regions

      

• Other ways fish is nutritious:

  • omega-3 fatty acids

  • essential amino acids

  • vitamins (A, B, D)

  • minerals (iron, calcium, zinc, selenium)

• Fish for health-

  • many LIFDCs/LDCs rely on a narrow selection of plant-based staple food that lacks key nutrients

  • nearly 2b people lack key micronutrients→ causes 1m premature deaths per year, nearly ½ of deaths of children under 5

  • fish can directly reduce the malnutrition

  • nutrient density of terrestrial and aquatic foods, ranked from highest to lowest:

    • top half is dominated by aquatic foods

    

  → aquatic food are important for addressing micronutrient deficiencies

  • aquatic food can improve human health:

    • address micronutrient deficiencies

    • omega-3 fatty acids reduce risk of heart disease

    • reduce consumption of red/processed meats

• Christina Hicks- key in this topic

  

  • recognised different kinds of fish have different nutrients e.g.

    

  • applied this to data on where fisheries are landed:

    

    → gives a potential for marine capture fisheries to close nutrient gap, e.g.:

    • Africa and Asia at greatest risk of iron and zinc deficiencies but species caught here are high in these

    • Caribbean has high calcium deficiencies but species caught here are high in this

    • 47% of Namibia have risk of iron deficiency but 9% of species caught in the EEZ would fill requirements for the whole coastal population

    • 82% of Kiribati have risk of calcium deficiency but 1% of fish caught in the EEZ would fill requirements for all children <5

    → many areas have high risks of nutrient deficiency but also have fish that could fill these

• role of small-scale fisheries:

  • use smaller boats, catch to eat or sell in local markets (artisanal)

  • dominate global fisheries in terms of vessels and employment, especially in LIC

  • contribution small-scale fisheries make to global nutrition:

    • there is a band of countries where small-scale fisheries are more important to deliver nutrition (darker red):

      

    • made into a risk map→

      

  • management of small-scale fisheries→ making sure local fisheries are well managed, combine with global policies, ensuring nutrient rich food is available to people that need it, not those that don’t

  • is a challenge→ complex fisheries supply chain, fish are redistributed around world, foreign fishing fleets, international trade→ are moving nutrient rich fish away from areas where it is needed

  • there are countries vulnerable to changes in trade and to loss of fisheries-derived nutrients (darker blue)→ increase in fish leaving these countries would have high consequences

    

Summary-

• Aquatic foods make a huge contribution to global food security, especially in some of the world’s least food secure countries

• Wild-caught aquatic foods remain very important, but aquaculture now accounts for nearly half of all aquatic foods

• The contribution of fisheries and aquaculture to food security extends beyond calories and protein to encompass a wide range of essential micronutrients

• Global trade and fisheries can cause nutrients to be transferred from food insecure to food secure countries