A fresh look at inland fisheries and their role in food security and livelihoods

Abstract

The role of inland fisheries in livelihoods, food security and sustainable development is often overshadowed by the higher profile interest in ocean issues. Whilst inland fisheries' catch and contribution to global nutrition, food security and the economy, are less than that of marine fisheries, global‐level comparisons of fish production obscure considerable livelihood impacts in certain countries and sub‐national areas. To highlight these contributions, this paper synthesizes recent data and innovative approaches for assessing such livelihood contributions and their importance in countries with limited access to ocean resources and aquaculture. Inland fisheries are crucial for many socially, economically and nutritionally vulnerable groups of people around the world, but the challenges in monitoring inland fisheries preclude a complete understanding of the magnitude of their contributions. This situation is rapidly improving with increasing recognition of inland fisheries in development discourses, which has also encouraged research to enhance knowledge on the importance of inland fisheries. We review this work, including collated information published in a recent Food and Agriculture Organization report, to provide an up to date characterization of the state of knowledge on the role of inland fisheries.

Fish Consumption Behaviour and Perception of Food Security of Low-Income Households in Urban Areas of Ghana

“…This is followed by the sardinella (amane/eban) with 28.7%, seabream with 11.5%, Atlantic horse mackerel (9.0%), and anchovy (6.8%). Consistent with findings of other studies [22][23][24][25], this paper demonstrates that small pelagic fish species such as mackerel, sardinella, and anchovies are more frequently consumed by poor households compared to large pelagic species such as tuna and demersal species such as cassava fish, which are considered relatively expensive.…”

Maintaining Diversity of Integrated Rice and Fish Production Confers Adaptability of Food Systems to Global Change

“…In addition to evaluating food system performance, a shift in approach to metrics can improve tracking of feedback loops among food system components and outcomes and can facilitate course-checking and course-correction. Existing measures must also be refined to better distinguish among production practices, especially to better account for fisheries and diverse aquatic foods (Thilsted et al, 2016;Funge-Smith and Bennett, 2019). For example, in rice and fish producing nations, rice monoculture and aquaculture areas are often well-represented in national statistics, but areas of integrated and agroecological production such as rice field fisheries remain largely unrepresented or misrepresented as rice monoculture.…”

“…Recent research illustrates the magnitude of inland capture fisheries contributions to food and nutrition security (Fluet-Chouinard et al, 2018). Yet, the low profile of inland fisheries in national and global policies, including their absence in the Sustainable Development Goals, persists to this day (Cooke et al, 2016;Funge-Smith and Bennett, 2019). This is most likely due to a combination of factors, including the difficulty of collecting reliable data to fulfill official statistics (Coates, 2002;Bartley et al, 2015), the popular crisis narrative of declining fisheries (Friend et al, 2009), and of the fact that fisheries are not easily amended to the Green Revolution approach of increasing productivity.…”

“…As of 2013, capture fisheries still contributed substantially to inland fish production in Bangladesh (36%), Cambodia (86%), and Myanmar (49%; FAO, 2020a). While growth in aquaculture production has continued, the relative contributions of inland capture fisheries remain sizeable in terms of fish production (Edwards et al, 2019;Funge-Smith and Bennett, 2019), food provision (Arthur and Friend, 2011;Fluet-Chouinard et al, 2018), and nutrition (Halwart, 2006;Kawarazuka and Béné, 2011;Thilsted et al, 2016;Golden et al, 2019).…”

Rapid change in Yangtze fisheries and its implications for global freshwater ecosystem management

“…Freshwater capture fisheries are essential for food security and biodiversity conservation worldwide (Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2016; Funge‐Smith & Bennett, 2019; Lynch et al, 2017; McIntyre, Reidy Liermann, & Revenga, 2016; Welcomme, Valbo‐Jorgensen, & Halls, 2014; Youn et al, 2014). Global production from inland capture fisheries was approximately 11.9 million metric tonnes in 2014, accounting for 7.1% of the total global production according to a report by FAO (2016).…”