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Current projections for aquaculture suggest that
previous growth is unlikely to be sustained in
the future as a result of limits to the availabil-
ity of wild marine fish for aquaculture feed (FAO,
2008). Small pelagic fish make up 37% of the total
marine capture fisheries landings. Of this, 90% (or
27% of total landings) are processed into fishmeal and
fish oil with the remaining 10% used directly for ani-
mal feed (Alder
et al
., 2008).
In some regions, such as in parts of Africa and South-
east Asia, increase in fisheries and expansion of crop-
land area have been the primary factors in increasing
food supply. Indeed, fisheries are a major source of en-
ergy and protein for impoverished coastal populations,
in particular in West Africa and Southeast Asia (UNEP,
2008). Here, a decline in fisheries will have a major
impact on the livelihoods and wellbeing of hundreds of
millions of people (UNEP, 2008).
World fisheries and
aquaculture production
(million tonnes)
0
40
80
120
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000 2005
Aquaculture, marine
Aquaculture, inland
Capture fisheries, inland
Capture fisheries, marine
Mean depth of fish catches (m)
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2001
0
-50
-100
-150
-250
-300
-200
Figure 10: Fishing has expanded deeper and farther offshore in recent decades
(left panel)
. The decline in marine fisheries landings
has been partly compensated for by aquaculture
(right panel). (Source: FAO FISHSTAT, MA, 2005; UNEP, 2008).