Fisheries
4. How are fishery products used?
- 4.1 What are the general trends in processing and consumption?
- 4.2 How much is consumed per person?
- 4.3 What role can fisheries play in national development and poverty reduction?
4.1 What are the general trends in processing and consumption?
The source document for this Digest states:
In 2002, about 76 percent (100.7 million tonnes) of estimated world fish production was used for direct human consumption (Table 1
). The remaining 24 percent (32 million tonnes) was destined for non-food products, in particular the manufacture of fishmeal and oil. If China is excluded, the shares are 74 percent (65.5 million tonnes) and 26 percent (23 million tonnes), respectively (Table 2 and Figure 2 ). More than 79 percent (35 million tonnes) of China’s reported fish production (44 million tonnes) was apparently used for direct human consumption, the bulk of which was in fresh form (75.5 percent). The remaining amount (an estimated 9.1 million tonnes) was reduced to fishmeal and other non-food uses, including direct feed for aquaculture. Table 1: World Fisheries production and utilization
Table 2: Fisheries production and utilization
In 2002, 70 percent (62 million tonnes) of the world’s fish production, excluding China, underwent some form of processing. Sixty-three percent (39 million tonnes) of this processed fish was used for manufacturing products for direct human consumption and the rest for non-food uses. The many options for processing fish allow for a wide range of tastes and presentations, making fish one of the most versatile food commodities. Yet, unlike many other food products, processing does not generally increase the price of the final product and fresh fish is still the most widely accepted product on the market.
During the 1990s, the proportion of fish marketed in live/fresh form worldwide increased compared with other products (Figures 21
and 22 ). Excluding China, live/fresh fish quantity increased from an estimated 17 million tonnes in 1992 to 26 million tonnes in 2002, representing an increase in its share in total production from 20 percent to 30 percent. Processed fish for human consumption (frozen, cured and canned) remained relatively stable at around 39 million tonnes. Freezing represents the main method of processing fish for food use, accounting for 53 percent of total processed fish for human consumption in 2002, followed by canning (27 percent) and curing (20 percent). In developed countries, the proportion of fish that is frozen has been constantly increasing, and it accounted for 42 percent of production in 2002. By comparison, the share of frozen products was 13 percent of total production in developing countries, where fish is largely marketed in fresh/chilled form. Utilization of fish production shows marked continental, regional and national differences. The proportion of cured fish is higher in Africa (16 percent in 2002) and Asia (11 percent) compared with other continents. In 2002, in Europe and North America, more than two-thirds of fish used for human consumption was in frozen and canned forms. In Africa and Asia, the share of fish marketed in live or fresh forms was particularly high. Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine the exact amount of fish marketed in live form from available statistics. The sale of live fish to consumers and restaurants is especially strong in Southeast Asia and the Far East.
In 2002, almost all the fish products used for non-food purposes came from natural stocks of small pelagics, which represented 37 percent of total capture fisheries. Most of these fishery products were used as raw material for the production of animal feed and other products. Ninety percent of world fish production (excluding China) destined for non-food purposes was reduced to fishmeal/oil; the remaining 10 percent was largely utilized as direct feed in aquaculture and for fur animals. The quantity of pelagic fish used for animal feed (21 million tonnes) was slightly (3 percent) higher than that in 2001, when production was 13 percent lower than levels in 2000. But it is still well below peak levels of more than 29 million tonnes recorded in the mid-1990s.
Source & ©: FAO "The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture, 2004"
Part 1: World review of fisheries and aquaculture, Fish utilization
4.2 How much is consumed per person?
The source document for this Digest states:
In 2002, average apparent per capita consumption of fish, crustaceans and molluscs worldwide was estimated to be about 16.2 kg, 21 percent higher than in 1992 (13.1 kg). This growth is largely attributable to China, whose estimated share of world fish production increased from 16 percent in 1992 to 33 percent in 2002. If China is excluded, the per capita fish supply would be 13.2 kg, almost the same as in 1992. Following a peak of 14.6 kg in 1987, world per capita fish supply, excluding China, showed a declining trend from the late 1980s to the early 1990s but has stabilized since then (Figure 2). The declining trend was mainly caused by population growth outpacing that of food fish supply during the 1987–2002 period (1.3 percent per annum compared with 0.6 percent, respectively). For China, the corresponding annual increase since 1987 was 1.1 percent for population growth and 8.9 percent for food fish supply. In 2002, per capita fish supply in China was about 27.7 kg.
Fish represents a valuable source of micronutrients, minerals, essential fatty acids and proteins in the diet of many countries. It is estimated that fish contributes up to 180 kilocalories per capita per day, but reaches such high levels only in a few countries where there is a lack of alternative protein foods, and where a preference for fish has been developed and maintained (for example in Iceland, Japan and some small island developing states). More commonly, fish provides about 20 to 30 kilocalories per capita per day. Fish proteins are a crucial dietary component in some densely populated countries, where the total protein intake level may be low, and are significant in the diets of many other countries. For instance, fish contributes to, or exceeds 50 percent of total animal proteins in some small island developing states and in Bangladesh, Cambodia, the Congo, the Gambia, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia, Japan, Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka.
Figure 23:Protein Supply by Food Group Overall, fish provides more than 2.6 billion people with at least 20 percent of their average per capita intake of animal protein. The share of fish proteins in total world animal protein supplies rose from 14.9 percent in 1992 to a peak of 16.0 percent in 1996, before declining slightly to 15.9 percent in 2001. Corresponding figures for the world, excluding China, show an increase from 14.3 percent to 14.7 percent in 2001 during the same period. Figure 23
presents the contributions of major food groups to total protein supplies. In industrialized countries (Table 10
), apparent fish consumption rose from 24 million tonnes (live weight equivalent) in 1992 to 26 million tonnes in 2001, with a rise in per capita consumption from 28.0 kg to 28.6 kg. The contribution of fish to total protein intake declined slightly from 8.0 percent in 1992 to 7.7 percent in 2001. In these countries, the share of fish in total protein intake rose consistently until 1989 (by between 6.5 percent and 8.5 percent), when it began a gradual decline as the consumption of other animal proteins began to increase; by 2001, its contribution was back at the levels prevailing in the mid-1980s. Since the early 1990s, consumption of fish protein has remained relatively stable at around 8.1–8.3 g per capita per day, while the intake of other animal proteins has continued to rise." Table 10: Food fish supply by continent and economic grouping 2001
In 1992 the average per capita apparent fish supply in low-income food-deficit countries (LIFDCs) was 9.5 kg – only one-third of the estimated supply in the richest countries. The gap has been reduced progressively and by 2001 average per capita consumption (14.0 kg) had reached more than half that of the more affluent economies. However, if China is excluded, per capita supply in the other LIFDCs is still relatively low, at an estimated 8.5 kg in 2001, with a growth rate of less than 1 percent per year since 1992. Notwithstanding the relatively low fish consumption by weight in LIFDCs, the contribution of fish to total animal protein intake in 2001 was significant at more than 20 percent, and may be higher than indicated by official statistics in view of the unrecorded contribution of subsistence fisheries. However, the share of fish proteins in animal proteins has continued unchanged over the past three decades as a result of the fast growth in the consumption of other animal proteins.
Figure 24:Fish Supply Per Person
Figure 25:Fish Protein Supply
Figure 26:Contribution of Aquaculture and Capture Fisheries The role of fish in nutrition shows marked continental, regional and national differences as well as income-related variations (Figures 24
and 25 ). For example, worldwide, 100 million tonnes were available for consumption in 2001, but only 6.3 million tonnes were consumed in Africa (7.8 kg per capita); two-thirds of the total were consumed in Asia, of which 34.8 million tonnes were consumed outside China (14.1 kg per capita) and 32.3 million tonnes in China alone (25.6 kg per capita). Per capita consumption in Oceania was 23.0 kg, in North America 21.6 kg, in Europe 19.8 kg, in Central America and the Caribbean 9.3 kg and in South America 8.7 kg. In 2002, 60.5 percent of the world food fish supply originated from capture fisheries production; the remaining amount came from aquaculture (Figure 26
). The contribution of inland and marine capture fisheries to per capita food supply declined slightly in the last decade and in particular since 1997, with a decrease of the per capita supply from almost 10.8 kg in 1997 to 9.8 kg in 2002. Worldwide, excluding China, per capita food fish supply from capture fisheries declined from 11.5 kg in 1997 to 10.8 kg in 2002. On the other hand, excluding China, the average contribution of aquaculture to per capita supply grew from 13.0 percent in 1992 to 18.4 percent in 2002, corresponding to an increase from 1.7 kg per capita in 1992 to 2.4 kg in 2002 (average annual growth of 3.5 percent). Corresponding figures for China indicate an increase from 55.5 percent in 1992 to 79.8 percent in 2002. The per capita supply from aquaculture in China is reported to have increased from 7.1 kg in 1992 to 21.8 kg in 2002, implying an annual average growth of 11.9 percent. Fish consumption is distributed unevenly around the globe; there are significant differences among countries, with per capita apparent consumption ranging from less than 1 kg per capita to more than 100 kg. Geographical differences are also evident within countries, with consumption usually being higher in coastal areas. Dietary consumption patterns are influenced by complex interactions of several factors such as availability, income, prices, tradition and tastes, as well as demographic and lifestyle trends. Over the last few years, the consumption of fish and fishery products has been strongly influenced by improvements in transportation, in marketing and in food science and technology, which have led to significant improvements in efficiency, lower costs, wider choice and safer and improved products. The extent and range of these changes have varied among regions. In general, there has been a growth of fish and fishery products marketed in fresh form and in the production of ready-to-cook or ready-to-eat products, particularly in wealthy economies.
Differences in consumption patterns by species are even more marked. Demersal fish are preferred in northern Europe and North America, whereas cephalopods are consumed extensively in several Mediterranean and Asian countries, but to a much lesser extent in other regions. Despite the fast-growing contribution of aquaculture to food fish supplies and related reduction in the price of traded commodities, crustaceans are still high-priced commodities and their consumption is mostly concentrated in affluent economies. Of the 16.3 kg of fish per capita available for consumption in 2001, the vast majority (74 percent) comprised finfish. Shellfish supplied 25 percent – or about 4 kg per capita, subdivided into 1.5 kg of crustaceans, 2.0 kg of molluscs and 0.5 kg of cephalopods.
Freshwater and diadromous species accounted for 29 million tonnes of the total supply (about 4.7 kg per capita). Marine finfish species provided more than 45 million tonnes, of which almost 18 million tonnes were demersal species, 19 million tonnes pelagics and 9 million tonnes unidentified marine fish. The remaining share of the total food supply consisted of shellfish, of which 9.2 million tonnes were crustaceans, 3.3 million tonnes were cephalopods and 12.7 million tonnes were other molluscs. Historically, there have not been any dramatic changes in the share of most of the broader groups in average world consumption: demersal fish species have stabilized at around 2.9 kg per capita and pelagic fish at 3.0 kg. Crustaceans and molluscs are exceptions in that they showed a considerable increase between 1961 and 2001: the per capita availability of crustaceans increased more than three-fold, from 0.4 kg to 1.5 kg (mainly as a result of the increased production of shrimps and prawns from aquaculture), and the availability of molluscs (excluding cephalopods) increased from 0.6 kg to 2.1 kg per capita.
Source & ©: FAO "The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture, 2004"
Part 1: World review of fisheries and aquaculture, Fish utilization
4.3 What role can fisheries play in national development and poverty reduction?
The source document for this Digest states:
Box 3 Mainstreaming fisheries into national development and poverty reduction strategies
The fisheries sector plays an important role in the alleviation of poverty and the achievement of food security in many parts of the world. Fisheries exports now generate more foreign exchange (either through export earnings or licence receipts) than the revenues earned from any other traded food commodity such as rice, cocoa, coffee or tea. Worldwide, more than 38 million people are directly engaged in fishing and fish farming as a full-time or, more frequently, part-time occupation, and fishery products account for 15–16 percent of global animal protein intake. Seventy percent of the fish for human consumption is presently supplied by developing countries. The fisheries sector is particularly important for 44 countries (15 small island developing states [SIDS], 12 African and 12 Asian countries, 3 transition economies and 2 Latin American countries) where the sector makes a significant contribution to both exports and domestic nutritional intake.1 However, this contribution is generally not reflected in the national policies of these countries.
A recent study2 showed that many national development plans [NDPs], poverty reduction strategy papers [PRSPs], World Bank Country Assistance Strategies and EU Country Strategy Papers only briefly acknowledge the fisheries sector. In general, national policy documents fail to integrate substantially the fisheries sector; nor do they recognize the causal linkages between fisheries and poverty. The sector has been most effectively mainstreamed in Asia (in the case of PRSPs and NDPs), closely followed by the African economies and the SIDS. By contrast, Latin America, which is home to two of the top six global fishing nations (Chile and Peru), scores extremely poorly in this regard.
In addition, an approach to fisheries mainstreaming that pays attention to gender roles is only apparent in a few national policy documents notwithstanding the marked demarcation of the sector in gender role terms. Moreover, despite FAO's wide-ranging efforts to promote the sustainable exploitation of aquatic living resources in harmony with the environment, through the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, just one NDP (Malaysia) makes explicit reference to the Code.
Further efforts should therefore be made to ensure the effective integration of fisheries into key national policy documents relating to poverty reduction and rural development, paying particular attention to gender issues and internationally recognized fishery development instruments such as the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.
1 The sector was deemed to be significant in those instances where the contribution of fisheries to agricultural export trade and daily animal protein intake is greater than 10 per cent.
2 FAO. 2004. Mainstreaming fisheries into national development and poverty reduction strategies: current situation and opportunities, by A. Thorpe. FAO Fisheries Circular No. 997. Rome.
Source & ©: FAO "The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture, 2004"
Part 1: World review of fisheries and aquaculture, Fish utilization. Box 3
