09 Jul 2012: Aquaculture Output To Rise
33 Percent Over Next Decade, UN Says

The global aquaculture sector could produce 33 percent more fish for human consumption over the next decade, an increase in production that will help feed a growing world population even as fisheries are overexploited, a new UN report predicts. More than 79 million tons of farmed fish, crustaceans, mollusks and aquatic plants are expected to be produced from 2012 to 2012, a 33 percent growth compared with just a 3 percent growth from capture fisheries, according to the report from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. By 2018, the amount of fish raised in aquaculture operations will exceed the amount caught in the wild for the first time and will account for 52 percent of the total share by 2021, the report states. This increased reliance on farm-raised fish comes as an increasing number of fisheries worldwide are exploited, with about 30 percent of fish stock now overexploited and another 57 percent fully exploited or very close to maximum sustainable production. According to the report, fisheries and aquaculture provide more than 15 percent of the animal protein intake for 4.3 billion people worldwide and account for the primary source of protein for 17 percent of the world’s population.