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, the FAO says.
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 the 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 the FAO's Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy and Economics Division and one of the lead authors of the 120-page report.
Africa, with formidable water resources, should also host ongoing rapid growth of more than five 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 and to a record production of 66.5 million tonnes in 2012, up almost 30-fold since 1970. About 50 percent of the US$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 five percent over the next decade, thanks largely to reduced waste as well as better gear reducing unwanted by-catch and improved fisheries management.
Global per capita fish consumption increased from 9.9kg in 1970 to 19.1kg 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 21kg 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.
Read more HERE.
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 the FAO and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
 |
| Fish farming to grow more rapidly! |
"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 the FAO's Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy and Economics Division and one of the lead authors of the 120-page report.
Africa, with formidable water resources, should also host ongoing rapid growth of more than five 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 and to a record production of 66.5 million tonnes in 2012, up almost 30-fold since 1970. About 50 percent of the US$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 five percent over the next decade, thanks largely to reduced waste as well as better gear reducing unwanted by-catch and improved fisheries management.
Global per capita fish consumption increased from 9.9kg in 1970 to 19.1kg 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 21kg 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.
Read more HERE.
The Aquaculturists
This blog is maintained by The Aquaculturists staff and is supported by the
magazine International Aquafeed which is published by Perendale Publishers Ltd
For additional daily news from aquaculture around the world: aquaculture-news