ROME - 
(NewMediaWire) - November 14, 2014 - Fish farming will likely grow more than
expected in the coming decade, offering a chance for improved nutrition for
millions of people, especially in Asia and Africa,
according to a new report.
Increased investment in the aquaculture sector – particularly in productivity-enhancing
technologies including in the areas of water use, breeding, hatchery practices
and feedstuff innovation – should boost farmed-fish production by as much as
4.14 percent per year through 2022, notably faster than the 2.54 percent growth
forecast made earlier this year in a joint report by FAO and the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development.
"The primary reason for increased optimism is that there is ample room for
catching up with more productive technologies, especially in Asia, where many
fish farmers are small and unable to foot the hefty capital outlays the
industry requires to expand output without running into resource
constraints," said Audun Lem, a senior official at FAO's Fisheries and
Aquaculture Policy and Economics Division and one of the lead authors of the
120-page report.
DOWNLOAD REPORT:
http://www.fao.org/publications/card/en/c/bd0f035b-f550-4246-bb8c-f0496faa0ccc/
Africa, with formidable water resources, should also host
ongoing rapid growth of more than 5 percent a year, the fastest in the world
but building on a very low current base level, according to the report.
Aquaculture is a young industry compared to livestock farming and has grown
from virtually nothing in 1950 to a record production of 66.5 million tonnes in
2012, up almost thirty-fold since 1970. About 50 percent of the $127 billion in
global fish exports in 2011 came from developing countries, which receive more
net revenue from the fish trade than from their exports of tea, rice, cocoa and
coffee combined, Lem said.
In terms of direct human consumption farmed fish in 2014 surpassed captured
fish, which reached a plateau in the mid-1980s and is expected to grow only 5
percent over the next decade thanks largely to reduced waste as well as better
gear reducing unwanted bycatch and improved fisheries management.
Global per capita fish consumption increased from 9.9 kilograms in 1970 to 19.1
kilograms in 2012, although rates vary substantially by and within regions.
Africa, Latin America and the Near East have consumption levels of around half
the global rate, while Asia, Europe and North America
all have rates of about 21 kilograms per capita.
Fish prices in 2022 will be 27 percent higher than today in FAO's baseline
scenario, but up to 20 percent lower if aquaculture expands more quickly.
Fish has a special nutritional role
Fish are the healthiest of meats, their farmed production has a far smaller
carbon footprint than livestock, and they are also huge providers of the
micronutrients people need. Beyond the energy and protein they supply, they
lower the risk of coronary heart disease and improve cardio-vascular health.
Fish are also supreme suppliers of long-chain n-3 poly unsaturated fatty acids
(LC n-3 PUFA), which are demonstrably linked to better cognitive development as
measured by reading skills up to the age of 12.
"Fish is not just food," says Jogeir Toppe, a FAO officer and expert
on fish and nutrition. He cited the case of the mola, a pond fish in Bangladesh that has exceptionally
high levels of zinc and iron and Vitamin A as well as 80 times the calcium
content as tilapia. Similar pelagic species elsewhere, such as African lake
sardines, have similar micronutrient profiles, but many indigenous fish have
yet to be studied.
Those attributes are invaluable as 800,000 child deaths each year are
attributable to zinc deficiency, 250 million children worldwide are at risk of
vitamin A deficiency, and almost a third of the world's population is iron
deficient. Seafood is also practically the only natural source of iodine.
However, the new study noted that households with rising incomes often shift
away from such humble types – what the industry calls "trash fish" –
towards fattier and filet-friendly species such as carp which are less
efficient providers of micronutrients. One reason is that the higher-status
fish are often eaten as filets while the mola
and its kin are typically eaten whole.
"The highest iron, zinc and calcium content of fish lies in their heads,
bones and guts, which is often the part that gets thrown away, as with
tuna," said Toppe. Somewhat ironically, byproducts such as fish heads or
the back-bones of Nile perch whose fresh
fillets are exported may often be of higher nutritional value than the main
product, he added.
Aquaculture governance challenges lie
ahead
FAO called upon policy makers
to take such nutritional considerations aboard, especially in a phase of
growing aquaculture operations.
DOWNLOAD “Maximizing the contribution of fish to human nutrition”:
www.fao.org/3/a-i3963e.pdf
Fish farming ought also to be analysed
through a broad food system lens, as it impacts a host of factors, ranging from
environmental impacts and hydropower projects through tenure rights for
smallholders, sharing systems for common-pool water resources, to the
employment of women in local retail networks, all of which involve complex
social institutions and customs.
FAO's report suggests that increased demand on fishmeal prices due to
aquaculture's needs is unlikely to impact prices as alternatives, such as feed
based on vegetable proteins, will be developed to meet needs and respond to
price pressures. Such innovation is particularly important for Africa, where fish farmers rely heavily on imported
feedstuff from European countries.
A notable shift is already underway as Peruvian anchovy, Chilean mackerel and
Scandinavian herring are increasingly being used for direct human consumption
while more efficient use of other fish byproducts are being used for fish oil
production.
LEARN MORE:
Second International Conference on Nutrition
FAO's new analysis of fish production and aquaculture
Maximizing the contribution of fish to human nutrition
High-Level Panel of Experts report on aquaculture
FAO-OECD Agricultural Outlook 2014-2023
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