Posted on July, 05 2024

How do we sustainably feed the world? It’s one of the most pressing issues of our time given the enormous pressures placed on natural resources.



In June 2024, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) published its biennial flagship report: the State of the World’s Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA). It laid bare a stark reality of the challenges facing global food security. Already, over 3.1 billion people – more than 40% of the world population – cannot afford a healthy diet, with hunger and malnutrition occurring unevenly across and within continents and countries. 

It’s hardly surprising, then, to learn from SOFIA 2024 that aquatic systems – the world’s oceans and inland water bodies – are increasingly recognized as vital for food and nutrition security. But how can this service be secured if demand outstrips supply? What if the act of “harvesting” aquatic foods – through fishing and aquaculture – damages or destroys the ecosystems that nurture it? 

Over the past decades we’ve gotten better at finding and catching fish. Despite this, SOFIA shows us that since the late 1980s, global capture fisheries production has fluctuated between 86 and 94 million tonnes per year. The stocks are simply not there in the numbers for our improved techniques to yield greater returns. To make matters worse, the proportion of this production coming from stocks not fished within biologically sustainable limits has been increasing since 1974 when it was 10%, to the current SOFIA 2024 estimates showing 37.7%. 

The answer is simple: just and equitable aquatic food security can only be achieved when the emphasis is first placed on securing healthy, resilient, productive and biodiverse natural systems. To this end, the SOFIA report notes two key points: the need to accelerate fishery stock conservation and rebuilding, and the need to strengthen the resilience of aquatic food systems. 

The FAO’s Committee on Fisheries (COFI) will convene over 100 countries this month to discuss global fisheries and aquaculture policy. With the right direction, these discussions and the policy decisions taken by governments can lead to the implementation of sustainable practices, protection of marine ecosystems, and enhancement of food security for millions. Their decisions, in short, can affect us all. 

For the FAO to achieve its vision of “better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life that leaves no one behind” WWF recommends the following points which address key agenda items up for discussion at COFI 36. (Full details can be seen in our joint NGO COFI 36 Policy Brief.)

Accelerate Fishery Stock Conservation and Rebuilding 
Fisheries are often treated simply as “stocks,” but the commoditization of wildlife that performs essential ecosystem functions can often come at the expense of establishing the measures needed to ensure healthy populations in the first place. Abundant wild fish populations support sustainable fisheries, so it is essential to establish policies that rebuild depleted populations to sustainable levels over the long term. Fishing also impacts habitats and is the leading driver of declines for many threatened species; it is essential to establish policies and practices that reduce this collateral damage. This includes reducing fishing effort to sustainable limits, improving data collection, minimizing bycatch, and combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.

Support Small-Scale Fisheries
With nearly 500 million people at least partially dependent on small-scale fisheries for their livelihoods, there’s nothing small about small-scale fisheries. WWF supports full implementation of the FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries, which present a roadmap for ensuring the long-term viability of the sector through enshrining legal fishing rights and meaningful participation in decision-making processes.

Promote Responsible Aquaculture
Aquaculture has the promise of expanding access to nutritious aquatic foods, but too often it has come at the expense of natural habitats and requires too much wild-capture feed to be sustainable. To develop low impact, low footprint farmed aquatic food sources, we must invest in promising, innovative sustainable practices and new feed sources that reduce dependency on wild-capture fisheries and protect habitats.

Maximize Value and Minimize Waste
Nearly a fifth of all food produced each year is squandered or lost before it can be consumed – a problem with huge environmental consequences. Simply using more of the fish and increasing circular economy solutions can help minimize waste and ensure that nutrient-rich aquatic foods are available to vulnerable communities.

Address Climate Change
The impact of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture cannot be overstated. Wild species distribution is expected to change, and warming waters could increase diseases in aquaculture. Practices that bolster the resilience of aquatic food systems and communities need to be expanded, and should include the development of sustainable, low impact aquaculture practices.

Implement Global Biodiversity Frameworks
The FAO can play an important role in mainstreaming biodiversity in aquatic food production systems. Ratifying and implementing international agreements such as the High Seas Treaty and the WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement will help protect our marine biodiversity and ensure sustainable fishing practices.

Combat Plastic Pollution
Marine plastic pollution, particularly abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear, poses a significant threat to our oceans. We must support measures to reduce plastic pollution, for example by promoting sustainable design and recycling of fishing gear, and by ensuring a strong, legally binding plastics treaty. 

Complementing COFI is the Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF) Summit 2024 which aims to transition from discussions to unified action, focusing on advancing the FAO’s SSF Guidelines. Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the guidelines, the second SSF Summit will assess the current implementation status at national, regional, and global levels to guide future actions. This event, which builds on the success of the first SSF Summit in 2022, will address governance and development challenges in small-scale fisheries and propose solutions to strengthen the SSF Guidelines' implementation and continue to raise awareness, empower stakeholders, and build partnerships between SSF networks, NGOs and other supporting organizations. 

Looking Ahead: A Roadmap to 2030
Governments worldwide have set 2030 as the target year to achieve significant biodiversity, climate and sustainable development goals. Between now and then, COFI will hold its 37th and 38th sessions, when we can do a comprehensive stocktake of our progress and areas for improvement. With political will and sustained investment, COFI 39, in 2030, can be a celebration of how fisheries and aquaculture are contributing to a nature-positive, net-zero, healthy and prosperous future for all.