Almost 46 percent of the world’s total fish production in 2018 came from aquaculture, up from 25.7 percent in 2000. The sub-sector is also a growing employer across the world. It employs over one-third of all the global work force in fisheries and aquaculture—35 percent in 2018, up from 17 percent in 1990. It is expected to contribute 48 percent of global fish production by 2030. Investor interest in aquaculture is increasing in many countries, especially in Asia.
Such economic growth must be matched with socio-environmental concerns. New trends in aquaculture activities need to be identified. Occupational safety and health issues need to be addressed, while accounting for women’s work, social development and gender relations. Crucially, any threats to fishing communities from aquaculture operations, including their tenure rights, must be addressed. There is also a need to outline responsible practices and appropriate forms of small-scale aquaculture.
ICSF’s aquaculture programme will look at how the sector can contribute to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030. How to better understand this growth and its implications. How to secure local community rights over water bodies. How to build capacities, use local species that contribute to food security.
In 2010 ICSF and Kolkata’s Inland Fisheries Society of India (IFSI) held a workshop titled ‘Small Indigenous Freshwater Fish Species: Their Role in Poverty Alleviation, Food Security and Conservation of Biodiversity’ to bring together stakeholders. It highlighted the role of small indigenous freshwater fish species (SIFFS)—of unique nutritional benefit if cooked in traditional ways—in rural food and livelihood security, as also in conserving biodiversity. Their socioeconomic and cultural relevance, how to enhance access, especially of women, to better income and nutrition.
ICSF will launch a new programme in 2020 to study India’s aquaculture systems to promote sustainable development and a human rights-based approach.
Aquaculture is poised for boom all over the world especially in countries like India where it is traditionally practised. ICSF launched a new programme in 2020 to study India’s aquaculture systems to promote sustainable development and a human rights-based approach. India’s Neel Kranti Mission (Mission Blue Revolution) aims to triple fish production, especially from aquaculture.
The documentary film Unseen Faces, Unheard Voices showcase the impacts of the boom in aquaculture on women in the floodplain regions of the Indian coastal state of West Bengal. Shot...
A Case for a Human Rights-based Approach to Indian Aquaculture Systems by Neena Elizabeth Koshy examines the void & facets if aquaculture is to become sustainable & is able to...
This is the report on the workshop on “Small Indigenous Freshwater Fish Species: Their Role in Poverty Alleviation, Food Security and Conservation of Biodiversity”. This workshop was organized as a...
This study commissioned by International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF), explores how developments in the aquaculture sector could affect the social, economic, cultural and political rights of these communities,...
Hundreds of inland fishermen, often the more marginalized amongst the fishworker communities in the affected countries, have been overnight deprived of their incomes, as consumers began to totally reject the...
Illuminating Hidden Harvests: the contributions of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development (hereinafter IHH) is a global study uncovering the contributions and impacts of small-scale fisheries through a multidisciplinary approach to...
The Eleventh Session of the Sub-Committee on Aquaculture of the FAO Committee on Fisheries was held virtually in Rome, Italy, from 24 to 27 May 2022. The Sub-Committee commended FAO’s...
The 2022 edition of The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture coincides with the launch of the Decade of Action to deliver the Global Goals, the United Nations Decade of...
The conservation, sustainable use and development of aquatic genetic resources (AqGR) is critical to the future supply of fish. The State of the World’s Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and...
The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture aims to provide objective, reliable and up-to-date information to a wide audience – policymakers, managers, scientists, stakeholders and indeed everyone interested in the...
The objective of this paper was to provide a timely and indicative global overview of the impacts of COVID-19 on fisheries and aquaculture as well as to share examples of...
With a view to sharing information among its countries and facilitating a reflection on future responses, the GFCM has conducted a preliminary analysis of the impacts of this crisis on...
The 2020 edition of The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture was completed as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic spread around the world. Therefore, the publication makes reference to, but...
This technical report is part of the FAO-TZ project “Support to Seaweed Diseases and Die-off Understanding and Eradication in Zanzibar” TCP/URT/3601/C1. It covers an initial analysis of the die-offs due...
This document was prepared within the framework of the FAO’s Strategic Objective 1 (SO1): Help eliminate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. This document served as a background paper to present the...