Food for all: designing sustainable and secure future seafood systems

Abstract

Graphic abstract Food from the sea can make a larger contribution to healthy and sustainable diets, and to addressing hunger and malnutrition, through improvements in production, distribution and equitable access to wild harvest and mariculture resources and products. The supply and consumption of seafood is influenced by a range of ‘drivers’ including ecosystem change and ocean regulation, the influence of corporations and evolving consumer demand, as well as the growing focus on the importance of seafood for meeting nutritional needs. These drivers need to be examined in a holistic way to develop an informed understanding of the needs, potential impacts and solutions that align seafood production and consumption with relevant 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This paper uses an evidence-based narrative approach to examine how the anticipated global trends for seafood might be experienced by people in different social, geographical and economic situations over the next ten years. Key drivers influencing seafood within the global food system are identified and used to construct a future scenario based on our current trajectory (Business-as-usual 2030). Descriptive pathways and actions are then presented for a more sustainable future scenario that strives towards achieving the SDGs as far as technically possible (More sustainable 2030). Prioritising actions that not only sustainably produce more seafood, but consider aspects of access and utilisation, particularly for people affected by food insecurity and malnutrition, is an essential part of designing sustainable and secure future seafood systems. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11160-021-09663-x.

Harnessing the diversity of small-scale actors is key to the future of aquatic food systems

“…Failure to address the diverse and dynamic nature of SSFA risks jeopardizing their persistence and the food systems of which they are part. While the viability of SSFA appears key for equitable and sustainable food systems 10 , 'blue economy' narratives 11,12 grounded in expansion of capital-intensive fisheries, transnational investments and offshore mariculture have gained traction in national and international policy debates. These narratives tend to further homogenize SSFA as dysfunctional, vulnerable and/or marginal, and give preference to industrial over small-scale modes of production 10,11 .…”

“…While the viability of SSFA appears key for equitable and sustainable food systems 10 , 'blue economy' narratives 11,12 grounded in expansion of capital-intensive fisheries, transnational investments and offshore mariculture have gained traction in national and international policy debates. These narratives tend to further homogenize SSFA as dysfunctional, vulnerable and/or marginal, and give preference to industrial over small-scale modes of production 10,11 . Interactions between industrial fishing and aquaculture interests with SSFA are heterogeneous and can range from cooperation and interdependence 13 to competing and undermining sustainability with immediate impacts on SSFA viability 14 .…”

Safeguarding marine life: conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems

“…Assumptions included i) general ocean resource use and knowledge production continue, ii) no new major international agreements are ratified (however, existing discussions will continue), iii) the globe is locked into some degree of climate change over the coming decade, iv) human populations will continue to increase and v) no new large-scale human conflicts emerge. Moreover, we assumed that vi) demand for seafood will continue to rise and that vii) food insecurity, in terms of availability, access, utilisation and stability, will remain a challenge for some regions and people (see Farmery et al 2021 , this issue), and that viii) climate-driven redistribution of species in the ocean will continue as per projected trends (see Melbourne-Thomas et al 2021 , this issue).…”

Interventions for improving the productivity and environmental performance of global aquaculture for future food security

“…Although competition among different uses of land and water can limit scope for spatial expansion of aquaculture in some locations, the availability of feed resources, technological capacity, and socioeconomic factors, such as demand, generally pose greater constraints to increasing fed aquaculture production. [29][30][31][32] Fish have metabolic advantages over terrestrial animals, as they are cold blooded and neutrally buoyant in water and thus do not need to expend energy maintaining body temperature, building supportive structures, or fighting gravity. Some forms of aquaculture do not compete for land (e.g., cages or suspended bivalves), and in forms that do (e.g., ponds), farmed aquatic animals utilize all three spatial dimensions (length, breadth, and depth) for production.…”