Fisheries and Aquaculture

Ocean and inland waters (lakes, rivers and reservoirs) provide significant benefits to humanity, encompassing;

Food and nutrition security from fisheries and aquaculture,

Reduce food loss. Storing produce in waterproof sacks in moisture-controlled warehouses, preserving produce like chilies using solar dryers and building links to markets are some of the ways farmers can reduce post-harvest losses, meaning higher incomes and a lower carbon footprint.

Ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, water filtration, atmospheric and temperature regulation, protection from erosion and extreme weather events.

Fisheries and aquaculture supply 17 percent of global animal proteins and support livelihoods of about 660– 820 million livelihoods (or 10–12 percent of the world’s population). Currently 3 billion people depend on fish for twenty percent of their average per capita intake of animal protein. It is greater for the Low Income Food Deficit Countries (LIFDCs) and much greater for the population of many SIDS. More than 40 percent of the global population lives within 100 kilometers of the coast. Thirteen of the world’s 20 mega-cities lie along coasts. Nearly 700 million people live in low-lying coastal areas less than 10 meters above sea level. Over 90 percent of the livelihoods that are directly dependent on fisheries and aquaculture occur in developing countries, mostly in small-scale operations.

Marine ecosystem services have substantial economic value. While exact figures are still debated, the estimated figures are in the order of trillions of US dollars annually. Nearly three-quarters of this value resides in coastal zones. These ecosystem services offer a renewable opportunity to meet basic human needs, support a healthy and sustainable economy, and provide jobs for a growing global population. Aquatic ecosystems act as important reservoirs for inorganic carbon with the oceans storing roughly 50 times more carbon dioxide (CO2) than the atmosphere; ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrasses, and inland waters are among the most efficient ecosystems in sequestering CO2 in the form of ‘blue carbon’ sinks.

They can sequester up to five times the amounts of carbon absorbed by tropical forests and function as important nursery, feeding and reproduction areas for many species. In addition, mangrove forests provide natural protection against storms and erosion for coastal communities and breeding grounds for many aquatic species. Almost 80 percent of global trade in goods is transported by sea. Coastal tourism is a key engine of economic growth for many coastal countries, in particular in the SIDS. Ocean revenues include some US$ 161 billion annually from marine and coastal tourism, in addition to a growing range of products such as antibiotics, antifreeze, antifouling paints.

Experts predict that ocean energy, which is still in its early stages of development, could be key for meeting the world’s energy demands, including with aquatic biofuels and renewable energies. One of the biggest challenges of the 21st century is food and nutrition security: how to feed a population expected to reach 9.5 billion people by 2050 in the face of climate change, economic and financial uncertainty and the growing competition for natural resources. Unfortunately, the asset base of oceans and inland waters has been eroding rapidly because of over-fishing, pollution from land-based sources, mangrove deforestation, climate change, increase in hypoxic areas or “dead zones”, expansion of invasive species and ocean acidification.

Mangroves have been reduced to 30 to 50 percent of their historical cover. Over 80 percent of the 232 marine eco-regions reported the presence of invasive species which is the second most significant cause of biodiversity loss on a global scale. The multiple challenges of food insecurity and malnutrition, climate change, degradation of ecosystems, and economic recession require an integrated response and an urgent transition of the world economy towards a sustainable, inclusive and resource efficient path.

Tashi International Initiative for Innovation, Science and Economic Development will support stakeholders in Aquaculture by introducing additions like;

Strengthening and reforming the policy and legislative framework at the national and regional levels is the essential entry point for improving the institutions that manage the fisheries.

Responsible intensification of aquaculture. Increase global aquaculture production to meet increased demand for fish as the demand and world population grow. The initiative supports this aim by providing technical and capacity building to Governments and farmers to develop national strategies for aquaculture development, disseminate and adopt better management and governance policies and best practices that increase productivity and reduce environmental and disease risk to stimulate investment.

Secured food systems and improved livelihoods Significant inefficiencies still characterize the seafood value chains, particularly in coastal and island developing nations, often due to a lack of skills, technology and infrastructure. These inefficiencies reduce value addition, cause post-harvest losses (up to 35 percent in some African countries) and reduce market access opportunities. Additional issues are the necessity to balance between fish export and food security objectives, the inequitable distribution of the benefits accrued from the value chain making fisher folks involved in small scale fishing the most vulnerable and the poorest of the poor in many developing countries.

Economic growth from ecosystem services Given the value of oceans in the context of restoring/protecting the carbon sequestration capacities of the coastal habitat, there is a viable market for carbon trading much like the one on land, although significant efforts are required to turn this into reality. Blue carbon could be traded and handled in a similar way to green carbon (such as forest carbon under the UN collaborative initiative on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, UN-REDD) and entered into emission and climate mitigation protocols along with other carbon-binding ecosystems.

Data collection, monitoring and evaluation. A key challenge for the promotion of the Blue Growth concept and approach is the collection of data and information, their sharing across a range of scientific domains, and the development of analytical methodologies on a range of criteria of the three dimensions of sustainability. Current methodologies on food security and fisheries and aquaculture economics will remain useful, although require some refinement.

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