Global aquaculture outstrips traditional catch as seafood consumption proliferates

10 Jun 2024 --- The seafood industry is tapping into aquaculture more than traditional fishing for the first time to meet the world’s rising aquatic food demand, according to the UN’s State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) 2024 report. 

The global fisheries and aquaculture sector produced 223.2 million metric tons of seafood in 2022, including 185.4 million metric tons of aquatic animals and 37.8 million metric tons of algae. 

The FAO is expecting a 10% production spike by 2032 due to aquaculture expansion and capture fisheries recovery, which includes harvesting of naturally occurring living resources in marine and freshwater environments.

FAO Director-General QU Dongyu calls for “further transformative and adaptive actions” to strengthen aquatic food systems' efficiency, inclusiveness, resilience and sustainability.

He wants the changes to “consolidate their role in addressing food insecurity, poverty alleviation and sustainable governance” and highlights the Blue Transformation roadmap, which recognizes the importance of aquatic food systems.

Prioritizing sustainability
Aquaculture refers to the breeding and harvesting of fish, shellfish, algae and other organisms in controlled environments. Some scientists view it as a significant source of sustainable food.

The FAO stresses that future aquaculture expansion “must prioritize sustainability."The FAO report says global aquaculture production reached an unprecedented 130.9 million metric tons in 2022, out of which 94.4 million metric tons were aquatic animals — 51% of the total aquatic animal production.

Although the FAO points to the growth’s potential in fulfilling the rising demands for seafood worldwide, it also stresses that future expansion “must prioritize sustainability” and benefit low-income countries in Africa and Asia. 

The global apparent consumption of aquatic foods per capita in 2021 was 20.6 kg, a steep rise from 9.1 kg per capita in 1961. 

Currently a limited number of regions dominate aquaculture, with China (36%) Indonesia (7%), India (8%), Vietnam (5%), Bangladesh, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Norway, Egypt and Chile accounting for 89.8% of total production, the report details.

“Targeted policies, technology transfer, capacity building and responsible investment are crucial to boost sustainable aquaculture where it is most needed, especially in Africa.”

The proportion of “sustainably fished” marine stocks monitored by FAO in 2021 was 62.3%.

Tackling food insecurity
A surge in seafood production underlines the sector’s potential to tackle food insecurity and malnutrition, observes the SOFIA report. 

In 2021, 162.5 million metric tons of aquatic animal food was consumed by humans, pointing to the critical role of fisheries and aquaculture in maintaining global food security. The rest went to indirect or non-food uses like fishmeal and fish oil production. 

“Supporting further consumption from sustainable sources is crucial to foster healthy diets and improve nutrition worldwide,” says the FAO.

The seafood sector employed 61.8 million people in 2022, down from 62.8 million in 2020.Aquatic foods provide high-quality proteins — 15% of animal proteins and 6% of total proteins worldwide — along with omega-3 fatty acids, minerals and vitamins.

In 2021, they contributed at least 20% of the per capita protein supply from all animal sources to 3.2 billion people.

Fisheries still an essential source
Despite the growth in aquaculture, capture fisheries remain a key source of aquatic animal production, notes the report.

However, the proportion of marine stocks fished within biologically sustainable levels fell to 62.3% in 2021, 2.3% lower than in 2019. When weighted by production level, 76.9% of the 2021 landings from stocks monitored by FAO were found to be from “biologically sustainable stocks.” 

Therefore the FAO sees effective fisheries management as an essential tool in “facilitating stock recovery and increased catches” to reverse the current declining trend.

The seafood sector is also an important source of livelihoods, with an estimated 61.8 million people employed in the primary sector of fisheries and aquaculture (2022), down from 62.8 million in 2020.

Anticipating future growth
The FAO is positive about the seafood sector’s future growth and projects increases in world production and a 12% apparent consumption rise to supply 21.3 kg per capita in 2032.

Rising incomes and urbanization, improvements in post-harvest practices and distribution and dietary trends are expected to drive most of this increase. 

Traditional fishing still remains a key source of seafood production.However, the agency warns that in Africa, per capita apparent consumption will continue to decrease, as production projections may need to catch up with population growth. This is concerning for sub-Saharan Africa where many countries are dependent on aquatic foods to meet their nutritional needs, particularly animal proteins and micronutrients.

Exploring alternatives
As global world seafood production rises amid climate change issues, academic experts recently criticized the FAO’s roadmap on climate change for its lack of focus on alternative sources of fisheries, aquaculture and livestock. 

Alt-seafood innovations continue to gain ground. Examples include Aqua Cultured Foods and Ginkgo Bioworks’ fermentation-based fish-free seafood, Forsea Foods’ cultivated eel , BettaF!sh’s plant-based alternative to hot-smoked salmon made from European seaweed and Wanda Fish’s cell-based substitute to the Bluefish tuna.

Meanwhile, the European Aquaculture Producers recently raised the alarm over the stagnation of aquaculture production within the EU. The region is currently looking at offshore aquaculture to tackle impending seafood shortage concerns due to overfishing.

By Insha Naureen