Volume 61, May 2016, Pages 126–131
View Point
- a WorldFish, Jalan Batu Maung, Batu Maung, 11960 Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia
- b Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Department of Nutrition, 677 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115, USA
- c Tufts University, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, 150 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02111, USA
- d The University of Queensland, School of Public Health, Herston Road, Herston, Queensland 4006, Australia
- e Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation – CSIRO, Agriculture Flagship, 306 Carmody Road, St Lucia, Queensland 4067, Australia
- f Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, Via delle Terme di Caralla, Rome 00153, Italy
- g University of Washington, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, College of the Environment, 3707 Brooklyn Avenue NE, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
- Received 11 December 2015, Revised 19 February 2016, Accepted 22 February 2016, Available online 15 March 2016
- Under a Creative Commons license
Open Access
Highlights
- •
- The importance of the fisheries sector in global food systems is often overlooked.
- •
- Nutrition-sensitive fisheries policies are needed to contribute to healthy diets.
- •
- Policy focus on aquaculture productivity and economic gains inhibits healthy diets.
- •
- Complementarity of capture fisheries and aquaculture improves nutrition and health.
Abstract
The
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda makes achieving food
security and ending malnutrition a global priority. Within this
framework, the importance of fisheries in local and global food systems
and its contribution to nutrition and health, particularly for the poor
are overlooked and undervalued. This paper reviews current fish
production and consumption from capture fisheries and aquaculture,
highlights opportunities for enhancing healthy diets and outlines key
multi-sectoral policy solutions. Mirroring the call for a
diversification of agricultural research and investment beyond a few
staple grains, it is anticipated that productivity gains for a few
farmed aquatic species will not suffice. Capture fisheries and
aquaculture have a complementary role to play in increasing fish
availability and access, and must be promoted in ways that support
measurable nutrition and health gains. This paper argues that the lack
of a nutrition-sensitive policy focus on capture fisheries and
aquaculture represents an untapped opportunity that must be realised for
ensuring sustainable healthy diets for all.
Keywords
- Fisheries policies;
- Nutrition-sensitive fisheries;
- Diverse food systems;
- Healthy diets;
- Capture fisheries;
- Aquaculture
Introduction
A
core vision of the post-2015 development agenda is a “healthy life for
all” in a world where everyone consumes food that is “affordable and
nutritious” (United Nations, 2015).
Several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (No. 2 and No. 14
in particular) speak to the importance of supporting consumer choice and
enhanced nutrition by promoting agricultural productivity among
small-scale producers and supporting links between local and global
markets. Those goals focus on the importance of sustaining food
production, on the one hand, and on securing year-round access to
diverse foods, on the other.
Fish1
production and trade contribute significantly to global agricultural
output. Fish production in 2012 exceeded 158 million metric tons, while
the value of international fish trade amounted to USD129 billion (HLPE, 2014).
An increasingly large share of fish entering global markets derives
from aquaculture (the farming of aquatic animals and plants); the
world’s fastest growing food production sector for more than four
decades (Tveterås et al., 2012).
Much of fish produced and traded within low-income countries derives
from capture fisheries (non-fed fish harvested from undomesticated
ecosystems). These two production systems have important complementary
roles in meeting rising demand for fish and other products (such as
animal feed and fish oil), and enhancing incomes and nutrition among
smallholder producers, fishers and poor consumers. However, fisheries
policies are increasingly articulated around value-creation through
export to urban and international markets. Capture fisheries
institutions concentrate ownership and use of fishing assets to maximize
economic output which may bring benefits to resource conservation and
trade, but decreases the quantity of fish available on local markets (Béné et al., 2010). Aquaculture policies tend to focus on maximizing productivity and economic efficiency (Hishamunda et al., 2009).
These policies leave little room for promoting diversity of systems and
species, or accessibility of fish among poor consumers whose diets
typically lack nutrient-rich foods.
Acknowledging
the need for public health policymakers to actively engage with
agricultural sub-sectors, the Second International Conference on
Nutrition (ICN2) stated that “fisheries and aquaculture need to be
addressed comprehensively through coordinated public policies” (FAO and WHO, 2014).
The call for improved policy coordination, environmental protection,
enhanced fish production and reduced loss and waste represents a major
opportunity to promote capture fisheries and aquaculture as key
nutrition-sensitive agricultural sub-sectors.
The
term ‘nutrition-sensitive agriculture’ was described by Ruel and
colleagues as agriculture policies and interventions that support
improved nutrition outcomes as distinct from ‘nutrition-specific’ public
health interventions (such as vitamin A supplementation or promotion of
exclusive breastfeeding) (Ruel et al., 2013).
While there is much debate regarding the impact of agriculture on
nutrition, fish systems are rarely mentioned. Indeed, the role of the
fisheries sector in improving diets continues to be overlooked in
discussions of sustainable food systems. The benefits of fish for health
are well demonstrated. Can fisheries play a greater role in healthy
diets in coming years? In answering in the affirmative, this paper
argues that the lack of a nutrition-sensitive policy focus on capture
fisheries and aquaculture represents an untapped opportunity.
This
paper has three parts: the first describes the current state of
production and consumption of fish in selected countries and evidence on
the value of fish to nutrition and health. Section ‘Capture fisheries
and aquaculture in healthy diets’ explores opportunities for enhancing
future diets and challenges to production and trade, with a focus on
low-income countries where the highest burden of undernutrition and
micronutrient deficiencies are found. Section ‘Policies for
nutrition-sensitive capture fisheries and aquaculture’ proposes a policy
agenda to enhance and sustain the capture fisheries and aquaculture
sub-sectors as a core part of the SDGs development agenda to 2030.
