Combating hunger, malnutrition and poverty remains crucial to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the international community in 2015. Aquatic systems (in fisheries and aquaculture) are gaining increasing recognition for the diverse solutions they offer to food security and supply. They alleviate poverty and promote socio-economic development, particularly in many coastal and riparian regions around the world. At the same time, their ecological footprint is relatively small. Where is the action, and what are the prospects?
The status quo
According to estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), total production from fisheries and aquaculture reached a record 223 million tonnes of live weight in 2022 (more recent data is not yet available). This represents an increase of 4% compared to 2020. Looking only at animal products, i.e. excluding algae, the total amount is a good 185 million tonnes. By way of comparison, global production of pork and beef combined amounted to 175 million tonnes in 2022. A good 60% of aquatic animals were harvested in marine areas, with the rest coming from inland waters. As expected, fishing dominates in marine areas (with 70% of production), while aquaculture dominates in inland waters (84%).
More animals produced in aquaculture than in fisheries
Global aquaculture production also reached a record high in 2022, at just under 131 million tonnes (+8% compared to 2020). If algae are excluded from the calculation (which amount to approximately 38 million tonnes, almost all of which are produced in aquaculture), this leaves a production of just over 94 million tonnes for aquatic animals. This means that the production of aquaculture species exceeded that of fisheries for the first time. With a share of almost two-thirds, the focus of aquaculture is on inland water facilities.
China as the centre of aquaculture
Almost 90% of the increase in production recorded in global aquaculture facilities since 2020 is concentrated in Asia. This regional dominance in recent developments is also reflected in overall production, with Asia accounting for 91% of total production. China alone, with a production of 53 million tonnes, accounts for 56% of the market, followed far behind by India in second place with around one-fifth of this figure. All other Asian countries together account for a further 22% of international aquaculture production.
Fisheries production stagnates
Global production of animal products from fisheries recently reached a good 91 million tonnes (plus 1 million tonnes of algae for the sake of completeness). This figure is only slightly higher than in the 1990s and has remained within a range of 86 to 93 million tonnes since the late 1980s. In contrast to aquaculture, there are slightly more major players in the fishing industry: China is also number one here (14%), followed by Indonesia, India, Peru, Russia, the USA, Vietnam and Japan (each with between 3 and 8%). In contrast to aquaculture, where the ten largest producers account for 90% of the market share, the top ten in the fishing industry together account for ‘only’ 56%. With 80 million tonnes of aquatic animals produced, marine fisheries are the main source (43%) of global aquatic animals. Inland fisheries accounted for 11 million tonnes, mainly in Asia and Africa, where they play an important role in food security. The leading producers here are India, Bangladesh, China, Myanmar and Indonesia. However, the FAO considers the figures for inland fisheries to be underestimated. The reason given for this is that most countries have difficulties in collecting this data.
Livelihood for millions of people - mainly in Asia
An estimated 22 to 25 million people live directly from aquaculture production. If fisheries are included, the total number of people involved in primary production worldwide rises to 62 million. The vast majority of these people work in Asia (85%) and Africa (10%). By comparison, Europe, Oceania and North America together account for just 1%. Ninety per cent (165 million tonnes) of the 185 million tonnes of aquatic animals produced by these people (i.e. fisheries plus aquaculture) go directly into the human food chain. A further 9% (17 million tonnes of fish meal and oil) is used in other areas, for example as animal feed. The remaining 4 million tonnes covers a wide range of uses, including ornamental fish for aquariums, breeding animals for aquaculture, bait fish, feed for aquaculture production, raw materials in pet food and pharmaceutical purposes. Incidentally, aquaculture production with supplementary feeding is growing faster than that of facilities without supplementary feeding: worldwide, the share of total production originating from aquaculture without supplementary feeding has fallen from 40% to 27% since 2000.
Increasing importance of aquaculture
Global consumption of food from aquatic animals amounted to approximately 163 million tonnes in 2021. Asia accounted for the majority of this (70%), followed by Europe (10%), Africa (8%) and North and Latin America, the Caribbean and Oceania (each < 5%). Annual per capita consumption at global level was most recently around 20.6 kg (the figure is higher in Asia, for example in China it is almost 42 kg); it has thus more than doubled since the 1960s. The main factors driving the long-term upward trend in per capita consumption of aquatic animal products are similar to those for other animal protein sources: urbanisation, rising incomes and demographic changes (e.g. smaller household sizes).
Asia's role in consumption is growing
In recent decades, the importance of Europe, Japan and the USA in the total consumption of aquatic animal foods has declined sharply (from 47% to 18% since 1961). At the same time, the share of China, Indonesia and India tripled to a total of 51% over the same period, with China alone accounting for 36% of total consumption. Globally, aquatic animal foods recently accounted for 15% of total animal protein consumption. In low-income countries, the importance of protein intake from aquatic animals is generally higher than in industrialised countries.
Global trade in aquatic products continues to grow and now encompasses more than 230 countries and territories; record sales of US$195 billion are forecast for 2022, representing 9% of total global agricultural trade.
Three species account for one-fifth of animal aquaculture production
The FAO lists around 564 taxonomically recognised farmed species in its data sets. The largest group comprises 368 fish species. This is followed by 88 species of molluscs, 62 species of crustaceans, three species of frogs and two species of turtles. In addition, there are 32 algae, two cyanobacteria and seven species of marine invertebrates. Despite this great diversity, a relatively small number of ‘staple’ species dominate global aquaculture production. In terms of individual species, the white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) is the most important product of animal aquaculture, with a recent production of 6.8 million tonnes of live weight. It is closely followed by cupped oysters (Crassostrea spp.) and grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus), each with 6.2 million tonnes, and Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) with 5.2 million tonnes.
Taken together, carp species are by far the most important in animal aquaculture. With a production of 31.8 million tonnes, they account for around one third of total global production. Shrimp (almost 8 million tonnes or 8.5%) and oysters (7 million tonnes or 7.5%) follow in second and third place. If catfish, cichlids and salmonids are also included, then roughly two thirds of global animal aquaculture production is accounted for.
Aquaculture is of minor interest on the European continent
Production in Europe totalled 3.5 million tonnes of aquatic animals in the reporting year (roughly equivalent to the combined beef production of Germany and Denmark), with an above-average increase of 7% compared to the previous survey in 2020. Almost all of this growth is attributable to Norway (a good two-thirds of the increase) and Russia (22% of the increase).
In addition, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greece, France, Italy, Ireland and Croatia also recorded increases in aquaculture production. In contrast, 17 European countries reported a decline in production, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Bulgaria, Denmark and Ukraine.
Norway is a major exporter of aquatic animals
With a total aquaculture production of around 1.65 million tonnes, Norway accounts for almost 50% of the European market. The top five producers on the continent are rounded off by Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom and France. Their production volumes range from just under 200,000 to over 320,000 tonnes.
Aquaculture accounts for 40% of Norway's total production of aquatic animals. Despite its comparatively low production, Norway is number two in the global trade in aquatic animals with a turnover of US$15.5 billion (corresponding to a market share of 8%), behind China (US$22.4 billion or 12%). The Norwegians generate three quarters of their export turnover with salmon, which is sold in more than 140 countries. The largest customers were most recently Poland, Denmark and the USA.