The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024 – NDC Academy (ndcgroup.solutions)
Less than six years before 2030, there are major concerns that progress on most of the Sustainable Development Goals is either moving much too slowly or has regressed, shadowed in the face of intensified challenges. Conflict, climate extremes, environmental degradation and economic shocks combined with the high cost of nutritious foods and growing inequalities continue to threaten food security and nutrition. We know that over 3.1 billion people – more than 40 percent of the world population – cannot afford a healthy diet. Hunger and malnutrition occur unevenly across and within continents and countries, and current agrifood systems are highly vulnerable to shocks and disruptions arising from climate variability and extremes, exacerbating growing inequities.
Today, aquatic systems are increasingly recognized as vital for food and nutrition security. But more can be done to feed a growing and more urbanized population. Because of their great diversity and capacity to supply ecosystem services and sustain healthy diets, aquatic food systems represent a viable and effective solution that offers greater opportunities to improve global food security and nutrition today and for generations to come. However, if we want aquatic food systems to enhance their contribution to sustainable development, transformation is essential. In 2021, FAO adopted the Blue transformation, a Programme Priority Area anchored in the FAO Strategic Framework 2022–2031, aimed at maximizing the opportunities presented by aquatic food systems to enhance food security, improve nutrition, eradicate poverty and support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Furthermore, these objectives fully align with the key FAO strategies on climate change, innovation and biodiversity.
This edition of The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture is devoted to “Blue Transformation in action”. It illustrates how FAO effectively uses its resources, expertise and comparative advantage to promote collaborative efforts and initiatives involving Members, partners and key stakeholders. Implemented through the Blue Transformation Roadmap – presented at FAO Regional Conferences during 2024 – these efforts focus on priority actions to achieve three global objectives: sustainable aquaculture growth to meet the increasing demand for aquatic foods; effective fisheries management for healthier fishery stocks and equitable livelihoods; and upgrading of aquatic food value chains to guarantee their social, economic and environmental sustainability. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024 has benefited from significant improvements in data collection, analytical and assessment tools, and methodologies generating more reliable and expanded data on the state of world fisheries and aquaculture resources, and their exploitation and utilization. In 2022, fisheries and aquaculture production reached an all-time high of 223.2 million tonnes, worth a record USD 472 billion and contributing an estimated 20.7 kg of aquatic animal foods per capita. This constituted about 15 percent of the animal protein supply, reaching over 50 percent in several countries in Asia and Africa. While capture fisheries production has remained largely unchanged for decades, aquaculture has increased by 6.6 percent since 2020, contributing over 57 percent of aquatic animal products used for direct human consumption.
PART 1 World review (coordinator Stefania Vannuccini)
Global fisheries and aquaculture at a glance: Lahsen Ababouch (lead author) and Stefania Vannuccini
Total fisheries and aquaculture production: Stefania Vannuccini (lead author)
Aquaculture production: Xiaowei Zhou (lead author)
Capture fisheries production: James Geehan (lead author)
The status of fishery resources: Rishi Sharma (lead author, Marine), Felix Marttin (lead author, Inland),
Tarub Bahri, Pedro Barros, Nicolas Gutierrez, Merete Tandstad, Marcelo Vasconcellos, Hilario Murua
(International Seafood Sustainability Foundation), Robert Arthur, Varun Tandon, Abigail Lynch (United
States Geological Survey), Gretchen Stokes, Samuel Smidt, Jesse Wong (University of Florida), Valerio Crespi and Philippe Tous (African Development Bank)
Fishing fleet: Orsolya Mikecz (lead author), Pierre Maudoux and Raymon van Anrooy
Employment in fisheries and aquaculture: Orsolya Mikecz (lead author) and Pierre Maudoux
Utilization and processing: Stefania Vannuccini (lead author), Ansen Ward, Omar Riego Peñarubia and Jogeir Toppe
Apparent consumption of aquatic foods: Adrienne Egger (lead author), Fernanda Grande, Bridget Holmes and
Victoria Padula de Quadros
Trade of aquatic products: Adrienne Egger (lead author)
Status and trends of of Sustainable Development Goal 14 indicators under FAO custodianship: Marc Taconet (lead author),
Anne-Elise Nieblas, Rishi Sharma, Stefania Savoré, Giuliano Carrara, Piero Mannini, Matthew Camilleri,
William Griffin, Marcio Castro de Souza, Mele Tauati and Nicole Franz
PART 2 Blue Transformation in action (coordinator Manuel Barange)
Blue Transformation: a roadmap Manuel Barange (lead author) and Carlos Fuentevilla
Sustainable aquaculture in action (coordinators Xinhua Yuan and Alessandro Lovatelli)
Progress in the development of the FAO Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture: KwangSuk Oh (lead author), Xinting
Shao, Blaise Kuemlangan, Julia Nakamura and Buba Bojang
Supplying quality seed for aquaculture: Graham Mair (lead author), Daniela Lucente and Kiran Viparthi
Pathways to effective aquaculture biosecurity and disease control: Melba Reantaso (lead author) and Esther Garrido
Innovative aquaculture systems and aquafeed solutions: Fernanda Garcia Sampaio (lead author), Samantha Bryn Beckert, Anton Ellenbroek, Mohamed El Syed Mohamed Megahed, Yvette Diei Ouadi, Omar Riego Peñarubia, Jogeir Toppe, Omardath Maharaj, Phil Lashley, Alessandro Lovatelli and Valerio Crespi
The importance of partnerships for sustainable aquaculture development: Matthias Halwart (lead author), Austin Stankus, Lionel Dabbadie and Housam Hamza
Improving fisheries sustainability (coordinators Vera Agostini and Felix Marttin)
Progress in implementing the FAO Port State Measures Agreement: Matthew Camilleri (lead author) and Alicia
Mosteiro
Progress in implementing the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication: Franz Nicole (lead author), Mele Tauati, Lena Westlund, Daniela Kalikoski and Jennifer
Gee
Managing shared fishery resources: the growing role of regional fishery bodies: Piero Mannini (lead author), Eszter
Hidas, Kim Stobberup, Kathrin Hett, Stefania Savoré, Aureliano Gentile and Viktoria Varga Lencses
Managing marine fisheries for sustainability: a focus on the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries: Nicolas Gutierrez
(lead author), Felix Marttin, Merete Tandstad and Varun Tandon
Evolving the way we assess the status of marine fishery stocks: Rishi Sharma (lead author), Felix Marttin, Marc
Taconet, Diana Fernandez Reguera and Anne-Elise Nieblas
Management priorities for inland fisheries: Felix Marttin (lead author), Valerio Crespi, Varun Tandon and John
Valbo-Jørgensen
Technology and innovation for sustainable fisheries: Raymon van Anrooy (lead author), Anton Ellenbroek, Marc
Taconet, Jonathan Lansley, Florence Poulain, Pedro Guemes and Ahmed Al Mazrouai
Innovations in sustainable trade and value chains (coordinators Audun Lem and Jogeir Toppe)
The WTO Agreement on fisheries subsidies, the sustainability of fishery stocks and the role of FAO: Audun Lem (lead author), Marcio Castro de Souza and Pinar Karakaya
Social sustainability in fisheries and aquaculture: Mariana Toussaint (lead author), Marcio Castro de Souza, Audun
Lem, Jennifer Gee, Matteo Luzzi, Rachel Matheson and Nianjun Shen
GLOBEFISH: 40 years of market monitoring and marketing intelligence: Audun Lem (lead author), Hassan Abdullayev and José Estors Carballo
FAO’s standard setting on traceability and certification: Nada Bougouss (lead author), Aureliano Gentile, Nianjun
Shen, Pedro Guemes and Ahmed Al Mazrouai
FISH4ACP: transforming aquatic food systems through a value chain approach: Gilles van de Walle (lead author), Greta
Barbera and Maarten Roest
Multidimensional solutions to food loss and waste: Ansen Ward (lead author), Omar Peñarubia and Nianjun Shen
Aquatic food safety: Esther Garrido Gamarro (lead author), Jogeir Toppe and Markus Lipp
PART 3 Outlook and contemporary issues (coordinators Manuel Barange and Vera Agostini)
Aquatic foods: an untapped potential for healthy diets: Jogeir Toppe (lead author), Molly Ahern, Fernanda Grande, Doris Rittenschober, Bridget Holmes, Yuko Nanjo, Ros Rolle, Ti Kian Seow, Fatima Hachem and Andrea Polo Galante
The key role of aquatic foods in climate action: Xuechan Ma (lead author), Diana Fernandez Reguera, Fernanda
Garcia Sampaio, Jose Aguilar Manjarrez, Tarub Bahri, Angela Lentisco, Jeffrey Kinch, Jose Parajua,
Florence Poulain, Felix Marttin, Jeffy Gomez, Vasco Schmidt and Iris Monnereau
Impacts of El Niño on marine fisheries and aquaculture: Iris Monnereau (lead author), Dimitri Gutiérrez (Peruvian
Institute of Marine Research), Salvador Emilio Lluch-Cota (Biological Research Centre of the Northwest), Vera Agostini and Manuel Barange
Fisheries and aquaculture in the context of global biodiversity agreements: Kim Friedman (lead author), Piero Mannini,
Amparo Perez Roda, Vera Agostini and Diana Fernandez Reguera
Fisheries and aquaculture projections, 2022–2032: Stefania Vannuccini (lead author) and Adrienne Egger