Sustainable marine food production
If our population increases to 10 billion by 2050, as projected, our food systems will need to transform.
Ocean-based food sources, including fish, shellfish and sea vegetables, offer high-nutrient alternatives to terrestrial food, and already constitute the primary source of protein for more than half of the population in least-developed countries. Thanks to modern technology, fishing methods have become more efficient – but in many cases, industrialised fishing is unsustainable.
Some 30-35 percent of the world’s wild fish stocks are being overfished, and a further 60 percent are being fished to their maximum sustainable levels. Aquaculture is providing some 50 percent of today’s fish consumption, but continues to grapple with managing its environmental impacts. A growing number of customers are committed to making sustainable food purchasing decisions, but complex value chains and poor data availability make traceability challenging. Identifying the data that is needed to establish best practices, gathering and qualifying that data, analysing it and sharing it with those who need it, are all ongoing challenges in this growing industry.
The challenge: How might we identify and incentivise more responsible marine food production across the world?