Sustainable fisheries and aquaculture for food security and nutrition

119 Pages·2014·2.61 MB·English

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HLPE

REPORT
Sustainable fisheries and aquaculture
for food security and nutrition
A report by
The High Level Panel of Experts
on Food Security and Nutrition
June 2014
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HLPE Steering Committee members (June 2014)
Per Pinstrup-Andersen (Chair)
Maryam Rahmanian (Vice-Chair)
Amadou Allahoury
Marion Guillou
Sheryl Hendriks
Joanna Hewitt
Masa Iwanaga
Carol Kalafatic
Bernardo Kliksberg
Renato Maluf
Sophia Murphy
Ruth Oniang’o
Michel Pimbert
Magdalena Sepúlveda
Huajun Tang
HLPE Project Team members
Christophe Béné (Team Leader)
Gro-Ingunn Hemre
Moenieba Isaacs
Vijay Gupta Modadugu
Meryl Williams
Ningsheng Yang

Coordinator of the HLPE
Vincent Gitz

This report by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) has been
approved by the HLPE Steering Committee.
The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Committee on World Food
Security, of its members, participants, or of the Secretariat.
This report is made publicly available and its reproduction and dissemination is encouraged. Non-
commercial uses will be authorised free of charge, upon request. Reproduction for resale or other
commercial purposes, including educational purposes, may incur fees. Applications for permission to
reproduce or disseminate this report should be addressed by e-mail to [email protected] with copy to
[email protected].

Referencing this report:
HLPE, 2014. Sustainable fisheries and aquaculture for food security and nutrition. A report by the
High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of the Committee on World Food Security,
Rome 2014.
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This report is dedicated to the memory of Chandrika Sharma
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HLPE Reports series
#1 Price volatility and food security (2011)
#2 Land tenure and international investments in agriculture (2011)
#3 Food security and climate change (2012)
#4 Social protection for food security (2012)
#5 Biofuels and food security (2013)
#6 Investing in smallholder agriculture for food security (2013)
#7 Sustainable fisheries and aquaculture for food security and nutrition (2014)
#8 Food losses and waste in the context of sustainable food systems (2014)

All HLPE reports are available at www.fao.org/cfs/cfs-hlpe

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Contents

FOREWORD ............................................................................................................. 11
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................. 13
Main findings..................................................................................................................................... 13
Recommendations ........................................................................................................................... 18
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 23
1 IMPORTANCE OF FISH FOR FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION ................. 27
1.1 Fish for food: growing significance of fish availability and demand ................................ 27
1.1.1 Trends in fish production .............................................................................................. 27
1.1.2 Trends in fish consumption: Fish for whom? ................................................................ 30
1.1.3 Trends in prices of fish ................................................................................................. 31
1.1.4 Outlook in fish supply and demand .............................................................................. 32
1.2 Fish for cash: fisheries and aquaculture activities as a source of income and
livelihoods for food security .................................................................................................. 34
1.3 Fish self-consumption for household nutrition security .................................................... 36
1.4 Fish’s nutrition and human health benefits.......................................................................... 37
1.5 Fish losses and implications on food security and nutrition ............................................. 40
2 TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE FOR
BETTER FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION .................................................. 43
2.1 Some important features of the sector to understand how it relates to sustainability ... 43
2.2 Resource and environmental risks and pressures affecting the world fisheries and
consequences for food security ............................................................................................ 45
2.2.1 Overfishing and the “world fisheries crisis” .................................................................. 45
2.2.2 Environmental pressures on marine and inland fisheries ecosystems ........................ 48
2.2.3 Climate change ............................................................................................................. 50
2.3 Opportunities and challenges in aquaculture for food security ........................................ 51
2.3.1 Relative resource efficiency of aquaculture production systems ................................. 51
2.3.2 Aquaculture feed and the use of fishmeal and fish oil.................................................. 52
2.3.3 Challenges and opportunities of genetic improvements in aquaculture....................... 53
2.3.4 Technological opportunities and challenges in aquaculture ........................................ 54
2.4 Economics of fisheries and aquaculture for food security and nutrition:
scale and trade aspects .......................................................................................................... 54
2.4.1 Scale of operations and food security .......................................................................... 54
2.4.2 Fish trade and food security ......................................................................................... 59
2.5 Social and gendered aspects of fisheries and aquaculture for food security
and nutrition ............................................................................................................................ 65
2.5.1 Social factors affecting food security at household level.............................................. 65
2.5.2 Gender, food security and nutrition .............................................................................. 66
3 GOVERNANCE OF FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE FOR
FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION ................................................................. 73
3.1 Overview of governance issues of fisheries and aquaculture ........................................... 73
3.2 International level governance .............................................................................................. 74
3.2.1 Intergovernmental processes and UN agreements related to sea and fisheries ......... 76
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3.2.2 Agreements and instruments connected to fish ........................................................... 79
3.2.3 International initiatives .................................................................................................. 80
3.3 Regional level governance ..................................................................................................... 83
3.4 Governance and management of resources at national and sub-national levels ............ 83
3.4.1 Capture quotas ............................................................................................................. 84
3.4.2 Marine Protected Areas and food security ................................................................... 85
3.4.3 Decentralized governance ............................................................................................ 85
3.4.4 Land-water-sea interactions ......................................................................................... 87
3.4.5 Aquaculture development and rights of access to land, water and infrastructure ....... 89
3.4.6 Governance in fish food chains .................................................................................... 90
3.4.7 Implementation of rights-based approaches at national level ...................................... 91
3.5 Better governance for more food security and better nutrition ......................................... 91
4 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................. 93
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 99
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... 114
APPENDICES ......................................................................................................... 115
A1 Total protein consumption in g/capita/day the countries with the highest part
of fish in total animal protein consumption in 2010 .......................................................... 115
A2 Nutrient content of fish and other foods (per 100 g) ......................................................... 116
A3 The HLPE project cycle ........................................................................................................ 117

List of Figures

Figure 1 Conceptual representation of the different pathways between fish and food security
and nutrition ........................................................................................................................ 28
Figure 2 World fish production and utilization in 1950-2012 ............................................................. 29
Figure 3 Relative contribution of aquaculture and capture fisheries to food fish production
per capita for the world and for China ................................................................................. 30
Figure 4 Regional evolutions of fish consumption per capita ............................................................ 31
Figure 5 Trends in the FAO fish prices index .................................................................................... 33
Figure 6 Past and projected prices for crops, livestock products (including fish) and fishmeal
and fish oil ........................................................................................................................... 33
Figure 7 Relative contribution of fishing activities to household income for riverine farmer
and fisher communities along the Luilaka and Salonga rivers in the Democratic
Republic of Congo ............................................................................................................... 35
Figure 8 Nitrogen and phosphorous emissions for animal production systems ............................... 52
Figure 9 Fish trade in LIFDCs, developing and developed countries ............................................... 59
Figure 10 Main international texts and agreements related and connected to sea and fisheries ....... 75
Figure 11 HLPE project cycle ............................................................................................................ 118

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List of Tables

Table 1 Contribution of fish production to agricultural gross domestic product ............................... 36
Table 2 Views and counterviews in the fisheries crisis scientific debate ......................................... 46
Table 3 Feed and protein conversion efficiency of the major animal foods ..................................... 52
Table 4 Comparisons between small-scale and large-scale fisheries in previous studies .............. 55
Table 5 Direct and indirect impacts of fish trade on food security ................................................... 61
Table 6 Global capture fisheries employment by gender................................................................. 68
Table 7 Women in fisheries workforce in developing countries ....................................................... 69

List of Boxes

Box 1 Fishing as a secondary – yet critical – source of income ...................................................... 35
Box 2 Fish’s nutritional benefits: sardine as an example ................................................................. 39
Box 3 Is there a difference between wild fish and farmed fish from the point of view of
human nutrition? .................................................................................................................... 39
Box 4 The historical purpose of fish stock assessments ................................................................. 47
Box 5 Impact of dams on river fisheries – the case of the Mekong ................................................. 48
Box 6 Overcoming challenges to local fish availability to satisfy recommended
fish-based diets in Pacific Islands .......................................................................................... 49
Box 7 Capture of wild seed – the case of shrimp in Asia and in Latin America .............................. 49
Box 8 Contributions of large-scale small oil-rich pelagic fisheries to food and nutrition security:
the examples of sardine and horse mackerel ........................................................................ 56
Box 9 Impact of large-scale trawling on small-scale fishing communities – some livelihood
and food security implications ............................................................................................... 57
Box 10 Benefits of local fish trade – the case of inland fisheries ....................................................... 62
Box 11 Why an Africa-to-Africa trade? .............................................................................................. 63
Box 12 Challenges and opportunities to local food security benefits of large-scale,
global trade oriented fisheries: canned tuna as an example ................................................. 64
Box 13 Flag States, Port States, Land-locked States and Market States ......................................... 77
Box 14 The code of conduct of responsible fisheries ........................................................................ 78
Box 15 A brief overview of the ecosystem approach to fisheries and aquaculture ........................... 81
Box 16 A foaming set of international initiatives on oceans, blue growth and water ......................... 82
Box 17 Value and challenges for local governance ........................................................................... 87
Box 18 Examples of Territorial use-rights in fisheries........................................................................ 88
Box 19 A community based public-private partnership to develop sea cucumber farming
in southwest Madagascar ...................................................................................................... 90
Box 20 The right to food in action in fisheries in South Africa ........................................................... 91

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