FAO: fisheries and aquaculture need effective management

On the third day of the VII Global Fishery Forum and Seafood Expo held in Saint Petersburg from 17 to 19 September, the FAO Moscow Office presented The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024 (SOFIA) flagship report of FAO and the outcomes of the 36th session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI).

Oleg Kobiakov, Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, moderated the session, which took place on Thursday (the “fish day” in the recent past).

Igor Shpakov, Senior Consultant of the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation in Moscow, told the audience that The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024 with the main theme of “Blue Transformation in action” includes a detailed description of activities and initiatives aimed at greater inclusion of aquatic foods in efforts to ensure global food security and sustainability.

According to the analysis of statistical data conducted by FAO experts, there is an upward trend in the growth rate of fisheries and aquaculture production. Capture fisheries production amounted to 91.0 million tonnes (+1.4%) in live weight equivalent, aquaculture production volume was 94.4 million tonnes (+7.6%) in live weight equivalent, and algae production totalled 37.8 million tonnes (+4.1%) in wet weight.

According to the data for 2022, capture fisheries production comprised 91 million tonnes of aquatic animals and 1.3 million tonnes of algae. Out of the overall total, 79.7 million tonnes of aquatic animals were caught in marine fisheries. In the first place in terms of catches was the Peruvian anchovy (4.9 million tonnes), followed by the Alaska pollock (3.4 million tonnes) and the yellowfin tuna (3.1 million tonnes).

Top five countries in terms of capture fisheries production are China (14.3%), Indonesia (8.0%), India (6.0%), Peru (5.8%), and Russia (5.4%).

Aquaculture production, according to the data for 2022, amounted to 94.4 million tonnes of aquatic animals (51%) and 36.5 million tonnes of algae, showing an increase of 6.7 million tonnes (+7.6%) compared to 2020.

Asia produced the major share of aquaculture production, 91.4%, and top ten leading producers (89.8% of the total production volume) were China, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Norway, Egypt, and Chile.

Despite the successes achieved, the industry faces various challenges. As Igor Shpakov emphasized, “the share of marine fish resources exploited at a biologically sustainable level continues to decrease and now stands at 62.3% (-2.3 %). The fact that “for the ten most harvested marine species, this figure is 78.9%” is a cause for cautious optimism.

Another positive development is that “the consumption of aquatic animal products per capita increased from 9.1 kg in 1961 to 20.7 kg in 2022. Moreover, the fishery industry provided around 15% of animal proteins for food, and in some Asian and African countries this figure exceeded 50%.”

The fisheries and aquaculture sector is of particular importance to the global economy in terms of employment and income generation. According to statistics, about 600 million people are employed in the primary and secondary (processing) sectors and involved in subsistence activities (including their dependents).

FAO experts state that aquatic foods are one of the most in-demand food groups in the world: over 230 countries and territories are involved in the trade in them, and they account for 9.1% of the global trade in all agricultural products.

Specialists point out the types of products that are the most valuable for trade: these are salmonids (20%), shrimps and prawns (17%), cod, hake, haddock, and tuna (9% each), and cephalopods (7%). In 2022, the total revenue from their sale reached 195 billion dollars, indicating growth of up to 7.2 % per year.

In 2022, top five countries exporting aquatic animal products, in value terms, were China (12%), Norway (8%), Vietnam (6%), Ecuador (5%), and Chile (4%), while top five importers of aquatic animal products, in value terms, in 2022 were the USA (17%), China (12%), Japan (8%), Spain (5%), and France (4%).

According to the FAO fisheries and aquaculture development outlook for 2022–2032, consumption of aquatic animal foods will be 21.3 kg per capita in 2032. The outlook is based on three factors: rising incomes and continuing urbanization, updating approaches to post-harvest processing and distribution, and changing diets.

The Blue Transformation initiative of FAO, which plays an important role in these processes, pursues three objectives: contributing to sustainable aquaculture development in order to meet increasing demand for aquatic foods; ensuring effective management of the fisheries sector; and upgrading aquatic food value chains.

Igor Shpakov concluded saying that FAO plans to further contribute to enhancing policy advocacy, scientific research and capacity building activities, promoting sustainable practices and technological innovation, and involve the general public in these activities. The main focus will be on “finding new solutions to maximize the opportunities presented by aquatic food production systems to strengthen food security.”

The Central Asian and Caucasus Regional Fisheries and Aquaculture Commission (CACFish) was established in 2009 in accordance with the FAO Constitution, Haydar Fersoy, FAO Senior Expert on fisheries and aquaculture and Secretary of the Commission, told the participants of the session. The CACFish Secretariat is located in the FAO Subregional Office in Ankara (Türkiye).

Haydar Fersoy explained that the area of competence of CACFish includes “inland water bodies and areas within state territories of Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, and countries of the Caucasus region, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Türkiye”.

With respect to inland fisheries, the Commission’s scope of activity also encompasses other water bodies within transboundary water basins bordering the territories of the states of Central Asia and the Caucasus, including many inland water bodies of the Russian Federation.

To achieve the set goals and objectives, CACFish is mandated with the following:

• analysing the state of aquatic biological resources and the state of fisheries and aquaculture in the countries of the region;
• developing measures for the conservation and rational management of aquatic biological resources;
• analysing the economic and social aspects of the fisheries and aquaculture sectors;
• technical assistance in strengthening fishery industry capacity in member countries, including training and joint projects;
• collecting, publishing, and disseminating information regarding exploitable aquatic biological resources and the relevant fisheries activities;
• exchanging relevant technologies and management methods with the goal of more effective development of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture, etc.
  

There are currently five member states in CACFish: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Türkiye.

In conclusion, Haydar Fersoy said that the main goal of the association is “to promote the development, conservation, rational management and effective utilization of aquatic biological resources, as well as the sustainable development of aquaculture in Central Asia and the Caucasus”.

Talking about the outcomes of the 36th session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI), Haydar Fersoy listed the main challenges that were the subject of discussion and decision-making. These included:

• the global situation in fisheries and aquaculture and review of the implementation of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries;
• the role of fisheries and aquaculture in ensuring food security and nutrition;
• impacts of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture;
• combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing);
• combating marine plastic pollution;
• coordination and cooperation between regional fishery bodies (RFB).
  

Haydar Fersoy concluded saying that the session participants “recognized the comprehensive contribution of the fishery industry to the achievement of SDGs and noted that the Blue Transformation is the Organization’s vision to maximize the contribution of sustainable aquatic food systems to ensuring food security, nutrition, and livelihoods”.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Published biennially, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) flagship report of FAO provides up-to-date information, factual data, scientific insights on challenges and opportunities, and practical recommendations regarding innovative solutions influencing the present of the sector and its future, for the benefit of representatives of government bodies, scientists, fishers and fish farmers, representatives of the fishing industry and traders, civil society activists and consumers.

The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024 with the main theme of “Blue Transformation in action” demonstrates the role of FAO and its partners in fostering transformations needed to expand and intensify aquaculture, efficiently exploit the global fisheries resources and improve the efficiency of aquatic product value chains.

The report shows projected trends for the period up to 2032 based on modern approaches to data collection, modernized tools and methods of analysis and assessment, making it possible to present the most up-to-date overview of the production and use of world fisheries and aquaculture products.

The Committee on Fisheries (COFI), which was established by the FAO Conference in 1965, is the only global inter-governmental forum for holding consultations and developing recommendations on technical and policy aspects related to world fisheries and aquaculture and on FAO activities in this area.

The 36th session of the Committee adopted the Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture that provide a comprehensive platform for aquaculture management and sustainable development.

The document contains specific guidelines for expanding technical cooperation, building partnerships, providing financial assistance, developing institutional capacity and exchanging knowledge and experience to promote sustainable expansion and intensification of aquaculture at the global level.