A new report released by the United Nations' food and agricultural agency on Monday highlighted the growing role of fish and aquaculture in feeding the world and providing a source of income, and called for the sustainable and responsible management of the so-called 'blue world.'
Global fisheries and aquaculture production totaled 158 million tonnes in 2012 - around 10 million tonnes more than 2010 - according to the latest edition of "The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture," produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The report highlights the great potential of fish farming in responding to the growing demand for food as a result of global population growth. In addition, the planet's oceans - if sustainably managed - are crucial to providing jobs and feeding the world.
The FAO report's renewed focus on the so-called 'blue world' comes as the share of fisheries production used for food has grown from about 70 per cent in the 1980s to a record high of more than 85 percent (136 million tonnes) in 2012. At the same time, per capita fish consumption has soared from 10 kilograms in the 1960s to more than 19 kilograms in 2012.
The report said fish now accounts for almost 17 percent of the global population's intake of protein. It added that the figure tops 70 percent in some coastal and island countries.
FAO estimates that fisheries and aquaculture support the livelihoods of 10 to 12 percent of the world's population. Since 1990, employment in the sector has grown at a faster rate than the world's population and in 2012, provided jobs for some 60 million people. Of these, 84 percent were employed in Asia, followed by Africa with about 10 per cent.
Among other findings in the report are that just over 70 percent of wild fish stocks are being fished within biologically sustainable levels; fish remains among the most traded food commodities worldwide, worth almost $130 billion in 2012; and an estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food are lost per year - to about one-third of all food produced.
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