Fisheries

Fish (including crustaceans and molluscs) are an important natural food source and industry. World fish consumption in 2016 was 19.7kg per person, accounting for 17.4 percent of all animal protein consumed. For more than 3bn people, the ocean is their primary source of protein. Over 200m people work in the fishing industry. Total fish production in 2017 was 172.6m tonnes, which was worth 383bn USD. Capture production was 53.6 percent of total tonnage while aquaculture was 62.1 percent of the value. 57.8 percent of production was frozen, 25.1 percent was canned, 12.3 percent was cured, and 4.8 percent was freshly consumed. The largest producers of capture production in 2017 were China (16.6 percent), Indonesia (7.2 percent), India (5.8 percent), the USA (5.4 percent), and Russia (4.5 percent). China also had the largest number of fishing boats and fishers. The largest fisheries for capture production were the Pacific Northwest (20.2 percent), Pacific West Central (13.5 percent), the Atlantic Northeast (10.1 percent), the Pacific South East (7.8 percent), the Indian Ocean East (7.6 percent), and the Indian Ocean West (5.7 percent). The largest producers of aquaculture in 2017 were China (58.4 percent), India (7.7 percent), and Indonesia (7.6 percent). Freshwater fish was 55.8 percent of total aquaculture production. Around 37.6 percent of fish production was exported in 2017. The largest exporters were Norway (12 percent), China (10.6 percent), and India (5.6 percent). The largest importers were the USA (14.32 percent), Japan (8.97 percent), China (6.2 percent), Spain (5.3 percent), France (5.04 percent), and Vietnam (5 percent). Salmon and trout were the most valuable fish exports (18 percent of value), followed by prawns and shrimp (17 percent). Sustainable Development Goal 14 covers the sustainable use of marine resources. From 1974 to 2015, the percentage of fisheries being fished in a sustainable manner fell from 90 percent to 66.9 percent. Aquaculture is expected to fill any future demand gap. Generally the oceans are in a healthy state. However, rising water temperatures because of global warming pose a long-term risk to their sustainability. Plastic waste is also a big problem both in terms of marine life and the human food chain.