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Add to Preferred SourcesWider, appropriate and long-term application of genetic improvement in aquaculture, with a focus on selective breeding, will help boost food production to meet a projected increase in demand for fish and fish products with relatively little extra feed, land, water and other inputs, according to a new FAO report.
The State of the World’s Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture reviews our use of aquatic genetic resources both in capture fisheries and in aquaculture, in areas under national jurisdiction. The first-ever global report of its kind is based on information provided by 92 countries, together representing 96 percent of global aquaculture production and over 80 percent of capture fisheries production.
Aquaculture is lagging far behind terrestrial agriculture – both crops and livestock – in terms of the characterization, domestication and improvement of its genetic resources for food production. The report concludes that we have the opportunity to significantly enhance sustainable aquaculture production through the strategic management and development of some of the more than 550 species currently used in aquaculture.
According to the report, we are still largely farming wild fish, with 45 percent of cultured species being little different from their wild counterparts. The report also notes that just over half of the reporting countries consider that genetic improvement is having a significant impact on their aquaculture production, in contrast with the extensive use of improved breeds and varieties in livestock and crop production. The report stresses the potential for sustainable production gains through the genetic improvement of farmed aquatic resources.
“I strongly welcome this report which is the fruit of a multi-year, country-driven process of data collection and analysis,” said FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu. “It highlights the pressures that a growing demand for fish and fish products will place on farmed species, their wild relatives, and the habitats they depend on, as well as the opportunities for sustainable growth. This is why it is crucial that we safeguard, manage and further develop the planet’s aquatic genetic resources, allowing organisms to grow, to adapt to natural and human-induced impacts such as climate change, to resist diseases and parasites, and to continue to evolve to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and our continued fight for a Zero Hunger world.”
According to FAO, a growing human population is expected to drive an increase in fish consumption of approximately 1.2 percent per annum over the next decade. Production of fish and fish products is estimated to reach over 200 million tonnes by 2030.
Read and download the full report: State of the World’s Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
Original source: FAO
Published on 23 August 2019