Fish production is increasing

Global fish production has grown virtually non-stop in the last 65 years reaching an all-time high of 179 million tonnes in 2018. That’s more than a nine-fold increase since 1950.

The total production of fish and seafood of 179 million tons is the weight of the Eiffel Tower every 29 minutes.

The average person eats about 20.5 kilos of fish every year.

And demand keeps growing

The consumption of fish per capita has more than doubled from 9.0 kg in 1961 to 20.5 kg in 2018. In just 7 years from 2011 to 2018 the per capita consumption of fish increased 10 percent.

Demand for seafood is likely to continue to grow together with the growing world population.

Could be headed for collapse

A third of the world’s fish stocks are overfished. We could be heading for a complete collapse of the world’s fish stocks by 2048 as a result of overfishing for human consumption. World oceans would virtually be emptied for seafood.

Increased demand met by fish farming

The total capture of wild fish has been more or less stable for 25 years at around 90 million tons per year (though it increased to 96 million tons in 2018).  Aquaculture production on the other hand has grown massively from less than 5 tons in 1970 to 82 tons in 2018. 

Fish farming or aquafarming is the farming of fish in a controlled and closed environment. Most of the increased demand for fish will be met by increasing production from fish farming. Fish farming already makes up 46 percent of total fish production.

Fish farming is not the solution

Fish farming continues to depend on marine fish as a feed source and add to the pressure on fish stocks. Also, fish farming often uses excessive amounts of chemicals and pollutes the surrounding waters.

What to do?

As consumers, it is becoming more and more important that we support those companies who produce and sell seafood in a sustainable fashion.

Something has gone completely wrong

Some cod caught in the North Sea are shipped to China, processed there, and shipped back to Europe for consumption, travelling a total of 44,000 km. More than around the planet!