The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has affirmed the central role of aquaculture as the world’s main source of animal protein, predicting that it would provide more than half of the global fish consumption this year.
FAO thus provides the scientific basis for strengthening marine and
marine aquaculture rather than capture fisheries, as what Agriculture
Secretary Proceso J. Alcala has been advocating.
In its latest global report, FAO noted that aquaculture has beaten
other industries since it has become the world’s fastest-growing source
of animal protein as commercial fisheries retreat on account of
diminishing fish populations in the open seas.
Earlier, Dr. Joebert D. Toledo, chief of the Southeast Asian
Fisheries Development Center-Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC-AQD), said
aquaculture is moving to be the main source of food fish in the
Philippines, with more mariculture parks being established to ease the
pressure on 13 key fishing grounds in the archipelago.
FAO said that global fish production from aquaculture grew more than
60 percent between 2000 and 2008, with yield rising from 32.4 million
metric tons (MMT) to 52.5 MMT.
This year, FAO projected that aquaculture would account for more than 50 percent of the world’s food fish consumption.
“With stagnating global capture fishery production and an increasing
population, aquaculture is perceived as having the greatest potential to
produce more fish in the future to meet the growing demand for safe and
quality aquatic food,” the report revealed.
FAO noted that as output and value from aquaculture rises, it will
help reduce poverty and improve food security in many countries in spite
of the fact that it has not developed evenly around the world.
The Asia-Pacific region dominates aquaculture, accounting for 89.1
percent of output in 2008, with China as the biggest with 62.3 percent.
FAO noted that of the 15 leading aquaculture-producing countries, 11 are in the Asia-Pacific region.
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