Combating hunger, malnutrition and poverty remains essential for achieving the goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Aquatic systems are increasingly recognized for the multiple solutions they offer to improve food security and nutrition, alleviate poverty and boost socioeconomic development, particularly for the many coastal and riparian communities around the world, while maintaining a low environmental footprint.
The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024 analyses the status, trends and projections of global fisheries and aquaculture. It features “Blue Transformation in action”, illustrating how FAO is leading collaborative efforts and initiatives in close coordination with Members, partners and key stakeholders to guide global policy processes and disseminate best practices to support sustainable aquaculture intensification and expansion, effective fisheries management and upgraded aquatic food value chains.
World review
Total fisheries and aquaculture production reached an all-time record of 223.2 million tonnes in 2022, 185.4 million tonnes (live weight equivalent) of aquatic animals and 37.8 million tonnes (wet weight) of algae, a 4.4 percent increase from 2020. Sixty-two percent of aquatic animals were harvested in marine areas (69 percent from fisheries and 31 percent from aquaculture) and 38 percent in inland waters (84 percent from aquaculture and 16 percent from capture fisheries). Asian countries produced 70 percent of the aquatic animals, followed by countries in Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean (9 percent each), Africa (7 percent), Northern America (3 percent) and Oceania (1 percent). China remained the major producer (36 percent), followed by India (8 percent), Indonesia (7 percent), Viet Nam (5 percent) and Peru (3 percent).
World aquaculture production reached a new record of 130.9 million tonnes in 2022, valued at USD 313 billion and comprising 94.4 million tonnes of aquatic animals and 36.5 million tonnes of algae. Asia contributed 91.4 percent of the overall total, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (3.3 percent), Europe (2.7 percent), Africa (1.9 percent), Northern America (0.5 percent) and Oceania (0.2 percent). Ten leading countries (China, Indonesia, India, Viet Nam, Bangladesh, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Norway, Egypt and Chile) produced 89.8 percent of the total.
In 2022, production of animal species from aquaculture (51 percent) surpassed for the first time that from capture fisheries, with inland aquaculture producing 62.6 percent of total farmed aquatic animals. The overall increase (7.6 percent) from 2020 was largely in Asia (87.9 percent of the increase), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (7.3 percent), Europe (3.5 percent) and Africa (0.8 percent). This increase occurred mainly in finfish aquaculture (58.1 percent), followed by crustaceans (24.6 percent) and molluscs (15.6 percent).
World capture fisheries produced 92.3 million tonnes in 2022, 91.0 million tonnes of aquatic animals and 1.3 million tonnes of algae. China remained the top capture fisheries producer (14.3 percent), followed by Indonesia (8.0 percent), India (6.0 percent), Peru (5.8 percent), the Russian Federation (5.4 percent), the United States of America (4.6 percent), Viet Nam (3.9 percent) and Japan (3.2 percent).
With 80 million tonnes of aquatic animals produced in 2022, marine capture fisheries remain the principal source (43 percent) of global aquatic animals. About 85 percent of total marine fisheries production was finfish, mainly anchoveta (4.9 million tonnes), Alaska pollock (3.4 million tonnes) and skipjack tuna (3.1 million tonnes). Catches of valuable species groups continued to increase, reaching a record 8.3 million tonnes for tunas and tuna-like species, 3.9 million tonnes for cephalopods and 3.3 million tonnes for shrimps and lobsters. Inland fisheries produced 11.3 million tonnes, harvested mainly in Asia (63.4 percent) and Africa (29.4 percent), where they are important for food security. Lead producers were India (1.9 million tonnes), Bangladesh (1.3 million tonnes), China (1.2 million tonnes), Myanmar (0.9 million tonnes) and Indonesia (0.5 million tonnes). Inland fisheries figures are likely underestimated due to the difficulties most countries face in collecting these data.
Concern over the state of marine fisheries resources continues despite noticeable improvements in several regions. The fraction of marine fishery stocks within biologically sustainable levels decreased to 62.3 percent in 2021, 2.3 percent lower than in 2019. When weighted by their production levels, an estimated 76.9 percent of the 2021 landings from FAO-monitored stocks were from biologically sustainable stocks, significantly higher than the world average of 62.3 percent. Likewise, 86 percent across major tuna stocks were within biologically sustainable levels. These examples confirm that effective fisheries management leads to stock recovery and increased catches, calling for urgent action to expand its enforcement to reverse the declining trend.
Inland fishery stocks can recover rapidly from elevated mortality levels. Fishing pressure can be high because of the many people involved, but environmental factors play a greater role in productivity and resilience. Furthermore, lack of national capacity and resources and the low priority given to inland fisheries are major obstacles to monitoring and managing such fisheries. Recent FAO data indicate that 47 percent of major basins important to inland fisheries are under “low pressure”, 40 percent under “moderate pressure” and 13 percent under “high pressure”. These results can help inform the prioritization of interventions in the context of integrated water resources management.
The world fishing fleet was estimated at 4.9 million vessels in 2022, two-thirds of which were motorized. Asia hosts the world’s largest fishing fleet (71 percent of the total), followed by Africa (19 percent), Latin America and the Caribbean (5 percent), Northern America and Europe (2 percent each), and Oceania (less than 1 percent). Asia hosts the largest fleets of motorized (80 percent) and non-motorized (54 percent) vessels and Africa hosts the second-largest non-motorized fishing fleet. Many fishing nations (e.g. China, Japan and European Union Member States) continue their strategy of reducing fishing vessels.
In 2022, the primary sector of fisheries and aquaculture employed around 61.8 million people, compared with 62.8 million in 2020, with 54 percent engaged in fisheries and 36 percent in aquaculture, while the subsector was not specified for 10 percent of the workforce. Asia provided 85 percent of these jobs, followed by Africa (10 percent) and Latin America and the Caribbean (4 percent), with Europe, Oceania and Northern America combined accounting for just 1 percent. Most aquaculture workers were in Asia (95 percent), followed by Africa (3 percent) and Latin America and the Caribbean (2 percent). In fisheries, 77 percent of the global workforce was in Asia, 16 percent in Africa and 5 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean. Where data are disaggregated by sex (66 percent of the data), women accounted for 24 percent of fishers and fish farmers (28 percent in inland fisheries) and 62 percent of processing workers. Fifty-three percent of women were employed on a full-time basis, compared with 57 percent of men. However, gender inequalities remain, including difference in wages, insufficient recognition of women’s contribution to the sector and gender-based violence.
Utilization and processing of aquatic products continue to improve, making available for human consumption 89 percent of the aquatic animal production in 2022. The remaining volume was used for non-food purposes, mainly to produce fishmeal and fish oil (83 percent). The largest share (43 percent) of aquatic animal foods was distributed in live, fresh or chilled form, followed by frozen (35 percent), prepared and preserved (12 percent), and cured (10 percent). Overall, in high-income countries, aquatic foods are mostly processed, and traditional methods of preservation are increasingly replaced by more value-adding processes in many other countries. By-products traditionally discarded as waste are increasingly used to prepare food and non-food products. For example, in 2022, by-products accounted for 34 percent and 53 percent of the total production of fishmeal and fish oil, respectively.
Global apparent consumption of aquatic animal foods was 162.5 million tonnes in 2021, bringing the average annual growth to 3 percent per year since 1961, exceeding that of all terrestrial meats combined, estimated at 2.7 percent per year over the same period. Asia accounted for 71 percent of this apparent consumption, followed by Europe (10 percent), Africa (8 percent), Northern America (5 percent), Latin America and the Caribbean (4 percent) and Oceania (1 percent). Per capita consumption increased from 9.1 kg per year in 1961 to 20.6 kg per year in 2021.
From 1961 to 2021, consumption of aquatic animal foods in Europe, Japan and the United States of America combined decreased from 47 percent to 18 percent of the total. Meanwhile, the shares of China, Indonesia and India increased from 17 percent to 51 percent for the same period, with China alone absorbing 36 percent of this total. Globally, aquatic animal foods provided 15 percent of animal proteins and 6 percent of all proteins in 2021. They contributed at least 20 percent of the per capita protein supply from all animal sources to 3.2 billion people. Non-high-income countries generally rely more heavily on proteins from aquatic animal foods compared with high-income countries. This reflects the affordability, availability and accessibility of aquatic foods, making them a staple of choice in many culinary traditions of non-high-income countries.
Global trade of aquatic products continues to grow, involving over 230 countries and territories and generating a record USD 195 billion in 2022. It represented over 9.1 percent of total agricultural trade (excluding forest products) and about 1 percent of total merchandise trade value. In countries and territories such as the Faroe Islands, Maldives and Seychelles, however, it accounted for over 30 percent of total merchandise trade.
Exports of aquatic animals increased from USD 7.9 billion in 1976 to 192 billion in 2022 at an average annual growth rate of 7.2 percent in nominal terms and 4.0 percent in real terms, facilitated by the liberalization of trade policies, reduced transportation costs, and improved technology, logistics and storage. China remains the main exporter of aquatic animal products (12 percent in value), followed by Norway (8 percent), Viet Nam (6 percent), Ecuador (5 percent) and Chile (4 percent). The European Union was the largest single market importing USD 62.7 billion of aquatic animal products, including USD 29.5 billion of intra-European Union trade. The largest single importing country was the United States of America (17 percent), followed by China (12 percent), Japan (8 percent), Spain (5 percent) and France (4 percent).
The most traded aquatic animal products in 2022 were finfish (65 percent of the total value), crustaceans (23 percent), and molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates (11 percent). By species groups, salmonids remain the most valuable (20 percent in value), followed by shrimps and prawns (17 percent), cods, hakes and haddocks (9 percent), tunas, bonitos and billfishes (9 percent), and cephalopods (7 percent).
FAO supports its Members and other actors to work towards achieving several SDG targets, in particular the targets of SDG 14 (Life below Water) relevant to fisheries and aquaculture, measuring and reporting progress through the SDG indicator framework.
Overall, there has been good progress in the adoption of the SDG 14 monitoring and reporting framework by countries across the biological, social and economic sustainability dimensions covered by the four fisheries indicators under FAO custodianship. FAO has successfully supported the development of the indicators, their monitoring and reporting methodologies and the related capacity development.
Significant progress towards the adoption of instruments to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (Indicator 14.6.1) and to support small-scale fisheries (Indicator 14.b.1) has been achieved. This testifies to the general uptake of international policies and guidelines by countries. However, there remains much to do in terms of implementation on the ground. On the other hand, the indicator on increasing the economic benefits from sustainable marine fisheries (Indicator 14.7.1) is lagging, while the percentage of fishery stocks within biologically sustainable levels (Indicator 14.4.1) continues to drift from its target.
Full implementation and reporting by Members are works in progress and challenges remain, especially for developing countries. Moreover, the good reporting by certain countries should not distract attention from those countries still unable to report, including many least developed countries and Small Island Developing States. FAO encourages countries to implement the Blue Transformation Roadmap to catalyse change in aquatic food systems and achieve sustainable aquaculture growth, effective fisheries management and upgraded value chains.
Blue Transformation in action
Blue Transformation: a roadmap
In 2021, FAO launched the Blue Transformation vision, aimed at maximizing the opportunities presented by aquatic food systems to enhance food security, improve nutrition, eradicate poverty and support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In line with the FAO Strategic Framework 2022–2031 and its corporate strategies,a the Blue Transformation Roadmap proposes clear objectives, concrete priority actions and quantifiable targets to guide, monitor and report on global efforts to achieve this vision.
Sustainable aquaculture in action
FAO collaborates with Members and a global network of practitioners and experts to support initiatives and disseminate innovations and technology, aiming to achieve healthier, more efficient and safer aquaculture production. Examples of initiatives deployed include development of the Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture, a negotiated global document that will guide sustainable aquaculture expansion and intensification into the future; implementation of the Global Plan of Action for the Conservation, Sustainable Use and Development of Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture for rational and effective management of aquatic genetic resources; promotion of the global information system on aquatic genetic resources; adoption and implementation of the Progressive Management Pathway for aquaculture biosecurity and for antimicrobial resistance; elaboration of National or Regional Aquatic Organism Health Strategies to achieve aquatic biosecurity and address disease challenges; piloting of the transfer and adoption of innovative systems and technologies to expand aquaculture into new regions, improve feeding management, aquafeed supply and on-farm made aquafeeds with use of local ingredients or fish silage, and encourage aquaculture digitalization; and establishment of the Global Sustainable Aquaculture Advancement Partnership, a platform to enhance the scientific basis of aquaculture and promote continuous innovations.
Improving fisheries sustainability
FAO-led initiatives aim to achieve sustainable fisheries and equitable livelihoods by supporting the adoption and implementation of international instruments and sustainable practices. These initiatives cover actions to enhance national capacities to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; to develop and implement participatory National Plans of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries and integrate them in broader policies of agrifood systems, sustainable development and livelihoods; to strengthen the capacity of regional fishery bodies to address challenges presented by newly adopted agreements dealing with fisheries subsidies, the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity and plastic pollution; to upgrade science-based approaches to assess the status of world marine fishery resources and the threats to inland fisheries, using reliable data collection protocols, privileging participatory and integrated approaches and traditional knowledge; and to disseminate cost-effective technologies and innovations on responsible fishing, processing and distribution, safety at sea, energy efficiency, and reliable data and data collection systems.
Innovations in sustainable trade and value chains
To upgrade aquatic food value chains and guarantee their social, economic and environmental sustainability, FAO supports Members to comply with trade agreements and market access requirements. Actions and initiatives include support to implement fisheries management systems and combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing for ensuring that countries comply with the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, particularly its provisions prohibiting subsidies linked to overfished stocks and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; development of global guidance on social responsibility in fisheries and aquaculture value chains to address issues of gender equality, decent work and occupational safety; promotion of guidance on end-to-end traceability to ensure product quality, safety, legality and sustainability; endorsement of the multidimensional solutions approach to reduce food loss and waste in aquatic food systems, based on a multistakeholder platform involving a wide range of public and private stakeholders; and support to expert consultations and provision of advice on the risks and benefits of aquatic food consumption in relation to emerging chemical contaminants.
Outlook and contemporary issues
Aquatic foods are considered among the healthiest and their consumption is linked to improved public health outcomes. The importance of fisheries and aquaculture is increasingly recognized in global fora, underlying the potential of aquatic food systems to provide solutions for improving food security, healthy diets, economic development and environmental protection.
Aquatic foods: an untapped potential for healthy diets
Consumption of whole fish provides important essential nutrients – in particular omega-3 fatty acids, minerals and vitamins – and is relatively affordable for low-income populations, ensuring their access to nutritious foods. During processing, many parts considered not edible are often discarded. These parts are rich in micronutrients, and adoption of simple low-cost technologies such as drying, smoking, fermentation and milling can transform them into affordable and nutritious products. FAO supports home-grown school feeding programmes to produce aquatic foods using locally produced small fish or fish powders made from fisheries by-products. For example, acceptability of dried fish powder produced from tuna frames in Ghana and fish cake from whole tilapia in Guatemala was high, enabling the provision of more foods, improving nutrition, reducing the cost per meal, and lessening the environmental impact.
To promote consumption of aquatic foods and increase public awareness of their nutritional and health benefits, FAO has prepared a global nutrient conversion table for application to the FAO Supply Utilization Accounts, based on national or regional food composition data. The global table provides data required to generate statistics on aquatic foods for energy, macronutrients, micronutrients, and polyunsaturated and omega-3 fatty acids.
The key role of aquatic foods in climate action
Policies in recent years have focused on the nexus between climate change, aquatic ecosystems and food production within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The 2023 UNFCCC Ocean Dialogue recognized the significant potential of aquatic foods for providing critical climate solutions and the importance of integrating them into both national and multilateral climate action-related processes. The FAO field programmes implementing climate change adaptation solutions for aquatic food systems across regions support highly vulnerable coastal and riparian communities to reduce vulnerability, boost resilience, and diversify local food systems and livelihoods. They integrate traditional knowledge for adapting to climate change in specific areas, offer key insights into local species most suited to adapt to evolving conditions, and engage stakeholders including youth, women and Indigenous Peoples. Ensuring access to climate finance for the aquatic food sector is challenging – especially for small-scale producers, who lack awareness of funding possibilities and the know-how to access them. FAO has developed climate finance training materials and guidance to help governments and other stakeholders assess climate risks, build climate rationale, develop adaptation actions, and formulate adaptation finance proposals.
Impacts of El Niño on marine fisheries and aquaculture
The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events cause natural ocean conditions to alter due to changes in sea surface temperature and upwelling, affecting food availability and suitability of habitats for fish and other marine species. El Niño events have been linked to declines in fish catch from a variety of fisheries such as those in the North Pacific and the East China Sea, as well as those of highly migratory species and of Peruvian anchoveta in the Eastern Pacific. They affect aquaculture infrastructure and cultured organisms; for example, conditions resulting from El Niño events can strongly affect the growth and survival of seaweed farmed in the Philippines, where this industry supports around 200 000 family farms.
According to FAO’s retrospective analysis (1950 to 2023), strong to extraordinary Eastern Pacific El Niño events affected marine fisheries in 11 of the 19 marine FAO Major Fishing Areas. Impacts differ across geographical areas, target species, and types of fishing or aquaculture, and may be both negative and positive. For example, 2023 El Niño conditions diminished the habitat and food availability of Peruvian anchoveta, leading to a 50 percent reduction in landings compared with 2022. On the other hand, the 2023–2024 El Niño had a positive impact on skipjack fishing and catchability of yellowfin tuna in the exclusive economic zones of the Pacific Island Countries and Territories.
Climate models project more frequent extreme ENSO events due to global warming. It is therefore vital to implement adaptive fisheries management measures such as dynamic adjustment of the fishing season and limiting access to fishing grounds based on near real-time monitoring.
Fisheries and aquaculture in the context of global biodiversity agreements
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is a multilateral treaty to conserve biodiversity while ensuring sustainable and fair use of its components and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from genetic resources. Under the CBD’s 2050 vision of ”Living in harmony with nature”, the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of Parties adopted the landmark Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) in 2022 to be used by countries to develop National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans. Aquatic food systems are directly related to many GBF targets such as management of aquatic spaces; reduction of species extinction risk; sustainability of use and trade of wild aquatic species; and actions to deter and mitigate the impacts of invasive alien species. FAO is working across stakeholder groups to identify the opportunities and challenges for the timely implementation of the framework in aquatic food systems.
In 2023, United Nations Member States agreed to an international legally binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. The agreement covers 64 percent of the total ocean surface area and around half the surface area of the planet. It tackles threats such as climate change and overfishing, and promotes coordination between relevant bodies, including regional fishery bodies. The agreement represents an opportunity to build on existing policy instruments, processes and works of sectoral bodies.
To address plastic pollution, the United Nations Environment Programme-led Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee is developing an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. FAO is actively participating in the consultations, providing technical advice on fisheries and aquaculture.
Fisheries and aquaculture projections, 2022–2032
The FAO outlook for fisheries and aquaculture foresees an increase in world production, apparent consumption and trade for the period up to 2032, although at slower rates compared with previous decades. World production of aquatic animals is projected to reach 205 million tonnes in 2032, 111 million tonnes from aquaculture and 94 million tonnes from capture fisheries, increasing respectively by 17 percent and 3 percent. Aquaculture will account for 54 percent of the total production of aquatic animals and 60 percent of total aquatic food for human consumption, estimated at 184 million tonnes or 90 percent of total production. Apparent consumption of aquatic animal foods will increase by 12 percent to supply on average 21.3 kg per capita in 2032, driven mostly by rising incomes and urbanization, improvements in post-harvest practices and distribution, and dietary trends. Unfortunately, per capita apparent consumption in Africa will continue decreasing, alarmingly more so in sub-Saharan Africa, where many depend on aquatic foods to meet their nutritional needs, particularly for animal proteins and micronutrients. Exports of aquatic products will continue to grow but will represent only 34 percent of total production in 2032, compared with 38 percent in 2022. Prices are expected to continue declining slightly in both nominal and real terms until 2025–2027, before increasing again.
