Trends in consumption

Overview

Despite fluctuations in supply and demand due to the state of the fishery resources, the economic climate and environmental conditions, fisheries and aquaculture remain very important to many countries and communities as a source of food, employment and revenue. As far as the contribution to food is concerned, fish is particularly important as a source of micro-nutrients, minerals, essential fatty acids and proteins and it makes a very significant contribution to the diet of many communities in both the developed and developing world. Taken globally, in 2003, about 44 percent of the world's population derived at least 20 percent of its animal protein from fish and some small island nations depended on fish almost exclusively. Fish is crucial in the daily diet of countries where there are not many alternative protein foods locally grown and where a preference for fish has been developed and maintained (examples are Japan, Iceland and some small island states).

Fish proteins are essential and critical in the diet of some densely populated countries where the total protein intake level may be low (e.g. fish contributes more than or close to 50 percent of total animal proteins in some small islands states and in Bangladesh, Equatorial Guinea, the Gambia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka).

In 2003, average apparent per caput consumption of fish, crustaceans and molluscs worldwide was estimated to be about 16.5 kg. If China is excluded, the per capita fish supply would be 14.2 kg. The total food fish supply for the world excluding China has been growing at a rate of about 2.5 percent per year since 1961 (from 24.8 million tonnes in 1961 to 71.1 million tonnes in 2003), while the population has been expanding at 1.8 percent per year.

However, since the late 1980s population growth for the world excluding China has occasionally outpaced total food fish supply, resulting in a decrease in per capita fish supply from 14.6 kg per capita in 1987 to 14.2 kg in 2003. For China, the corresponding figures are 6 percent per year increase for food fish supply since 1961 and 1.6 percent for the population. The annual growth of the Chinese food fish supply has been steady until the mid-1980s (3.8 percent in 1961-1985) and has nearly trebled since then (9.0 percent in 1985-2003).

Currently, 57 percent of the total food fish supply is obtained from fishing in marine and inland waters; the remaining amount is derived from the production of aquaculture. The contribution of commercial inland and marine capture fisheries to per caput food supply declined slightly in the last decade and in particular since 1997, with a decrease of the per capita supply from nearly 10.8 kg in 1997 to 9.4 kg per capita in 2004. Recent increases in per capita availability have, therefore, been obtained from aquaculture production, from both traditional rural aquaculture and intensive commercial aquaculture of high-value species.

On average, for the world except China, aquaculture's contribution to per capita food availability grew from 0.6 kg in 1970 to 3.0 kg in 2004 - at an average rate of 4.7 percent per year. In China, where fish farming practices have long traditional roots, the per capita supply from aquaculture is reported to have increased from nearly 1 kg in 1970 to nearly 24 kg in 2004, implying an annual average growth of 10 percent.

Fish consumption and proteins

During the period 1961-2003, the proteins derived from fish, crustaceans and molluscs accounted for between 13.7 percent and 15.6 percent of the animal protein intake of the whole human population, showing a slight decline in the last few years (1996= 16.0 percent).

In industrialized countries, where diets generally contain a more diversified range of animal proteins, the supply increased from 13.13 million tonnes in 1961 to 27.3 million tonnes in 2003, implying a rise in per capita provision from 20.0 to 29.7 kg. The growth rate was steady until the latest 1980s, but stabilized since then. In this group of countries, fish contributed an increasing share of total protein intake until 1989 (accounting for between 6.5 percent and 8.5 percent), but its importance has gradually declined since then and, in 2003, its percentage contribution (7.8 percent) was back to the level prevailing in the mid-1980s.

In the early 1960s, per capita fish supply in LIFDCs was, on average, one-fourth of that of the richest countries. The gap has gradually lessened, however, and in 2003 average LIFDC fish consumption (14.1 kg per capita) was close to half that of the more affluent economies. However, if China is excluded, per capita supply in the other LIFDCs is still rather low, estimated to be of about 8.7 kg in 2003, with an annual growth rate of 1.3 percent from 1961 and of only 0.4 percent since 1990.

Despite the relatively low consumption by weight in LIFDCs, the contribution of fish to total animal protein intake is considerable (nearly 20 percent) and it may be higher than official statistics indicate, due to the contribution of unrecorded subsistence fisheries to food intake. Over the last four decades, however, the share of fish proteins to animal proteins has exhibited a slight negative trend owing to faster growth in the consumption of other animal products.

As well as income-related variations, the role of fish in nutrition exhibits marked continental, and regional and national differences. For example, of the 104 million tonnes available worldwide for consumption in 2003, only 7.0 million tonnes were consumed in Africa (with a per capita supply of 8.2 kg), whereas two-thirds of the total were consumed in Asia of which 36.3 million tonnes (14.3 kg per capita) outside China and 33.1 in China alone (25.8 kg per capita). Europe consumed 14.5 million tonnes (19.9 kg per capita), while North America consumed 7.7 million tonnes (23.8 kg per capita), Central America and Caribbean 1.7 million tonnes (9.4 kg per capita), South America 3.1 million tonnes (8.7 kg per capita) and Oceania 0.8 million tonnes (23.5 kg per capita).

Species consumed

The total amount of fish consumed and the species composition of the food supply vary according to region and country, reflecting the different levels of natural availability of aquatic resources in adjacent waters, as well as diverse food traditions, tastes, demand and income levels. Demersal fish are much preferred in northern Europe and North America, and cephalopods are consumed extensively in several Mediterranean and Asian countries, but to a much lesser extent in other regions. Despite the fast-growing contribution of aquaculture to production, crustaceans are still high-priced commodities and their consumption is mostly concentrated in affluent economies. Of the 16.5 kg of fish per capita available for consumption in 2003, three-fourths were finfish. Shellfish supplied 25 percent - or about 4.2 kg per capita, subdivided into 1.5 kg of crustaceans, 0.6 kg of cephalopods and 2.1kg of other molluscs.

In terms of total supply, 30 million tonnes (about 4.8 per capita) were made up of freshwater and diadromous species. Marine finfish species provided more than 46 million tonnes, subdivided into 18.4 million tonnes of demersal species, 19.8 million tonnes of pelagics and 8.4 million tonnes of unidentified marine fish. The remaining share of the total food supply consisted of shellfish, comprising 9.4 million tonnes of crustaceans, 3.6 million tonnes of cephalopods and 13.4 million tonnes of other molluscs. Historically, there have not been dramatic changes in most of the broad groups' shares in average world consumption: demersal and pelagic fish species have stabilized at about 3.0 kg per capita. Two groups are exceptions in that they showed considerable increases between 1961 and 2003: the per capita availability of crustaceans increased by more than three times from 0.4 to 1.5 kg, largely because of the increased production of shrimps and prawns from aquaculture practices; and molluscs (excluding cephalopods) similarly increased from 0.6 to 2.1 kg per capita.

The FAO/WAICENT food balance sheets database is used to prepare a publication providing statistics of total and per capita fish supply in live weight and contribution of fish to animal protein supply by country.