Feeding the world on fish

Professor Callum Roberts University of York

1954

2003

2009

Landings of bottom fish into England and Wales

Year1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Land

ings

of d

emer

sal f

ish

(tonn

es)

0

200000

400000

600000

800000WWI WWII

Thurstan, Brockington and Roberts, Submitted

Year1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Land

ings

per

uni

t of f

ishi

ng p

ower

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Landings by bottom trawlers (tonnes) into England and Wales per unit of fishing power

Thurstan, Brockingtonand Roberts, submitted

Common Fisheries Policy

The UK Food Standards Agency advises adults to eat 280g of fish per week

Total fish and shellfish landed into the UK (tonnes)

Total UK fish availability

Food Standards Agency recommendation

(UK landings + imports)- exports

UK landings

Total UK fish availability

Food Standards Agency recommendation

(UK landings + imports)- exports

UK landings

(UK landings + imports + aquaculture) - exports

Year

The recent landings gap has been filled by outsourcing overfishingto other countries

Number of bilateral fisheries access agreements between the EU and

other countries since 1983N

umbe

r of a

gree

men

ts in

ope

ratio

n

What is the global picture?

Year1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010G

loba

l fis

h av

aila

bilit

y (g

ram

s/ca

pita

/wee

k)

0

100

150

200

250

Wild fish

Wild fish + aquaculture

The world picture

Global fish availability

2005 FAO Figures Million metric tonnes

Source of fishTotal Available for human

consumptionAvailable after processing

Wild catch 91 55.4 23.8Illegal/unreported catch* 18.5 18.5 8.3Artisanal catch* 20 19 8.2Aquaculture 51.7 51.7 22.2Total 181.2 144.6 62.5

*Estimated figures

Global fish needsAverage recommended adult weekly fish intake for nine nations = 366g

(UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Iceland, Greece, Germany, Austria)

Million metric tonnes

World population 2005Extra fish needed over 2005

Multiple of today's aquaculture

Additional wild catch needed to sustain this much aquaculture**

6.477 billion 99.9 2.9 39.2World population 20509.1 billion 217 5.2 85.2With discards fully used* and no illegal fishing9.1 billion 208.5 5 81.9

* 27 million tonnes**Assumes the same proportion of fishmeal is used for aquaculture as today

Catch more by fishing less

Rate of growth in marine and freshwater aquaculture:Since 1970 = 6.9% per year (suspiciously high)Required to 2050 = 3.5% per year

How can we grow aquaculture production without increasing pressure on wild fish stocks and while minimising other environmental impacts?

What are the alternatives?

Your fish madam -made from the finest

pressed plankton.