The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020

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PART 2 
SUSTAINABILITY IN ACTION
The multisectoral nature of food security and nutrition 
(FSN) calls for policies that address these issues by 
different sectors in a coordinated way. In the island 
nations of the Pacific, where people face numerous 
challenges in accessing affordable, nutritious and 
diverse foods, fish are an essential part of the 
diet, constituting an important source of protein 
and micronutrients.
Pacific communities have long been particularly 
dependent on marine resources, with consumption 
levels at 2–4 times the global average.
1
However, 
substantial changes in consumption patterns have 
resulted in a greater focus on processed, cheap and 
unhealthy foods, thereby fuelling an obesity pandemic 
and contributing to high rates of non-communicable 
diseases in all Pacific countries.
Despite these facts and the importance of fisheries 
for food and nutrition in the Pacific, general awareness 
on the need to consider FSN in fisheries policies 
remains limited (see figure), as does the incorporation 
of fisheries in FSN policies. Moreover, evidence-based 
ways on how to implement integration are even harder 
to find. 
FAO is working in the FSN policy landscape to 
reverse this situation. Country-level diagnostics 
assessing the effectiveness of FSN in Fiji and 
Solomon Islands were carried out by the Food and 
Nutrition Security Impact, Resilience, Sustainability 
and Transformation
(
FIRST) programme in 2019 in 
an attempt to improve resource allocation and 
investment and capacity development decisions in 
this domain, informing the new policy initiatives. The 
analyses identified fisheries as key to achieving Zero 
Hunger and provided entry points and 
recommendations on how to incorporate the sector in 
upcoming FSN actions. 
Countries are now seeing the need to integrate 
these important pieces of policy into the national 
policy framework. Fisheries is part of two upcoming 
FSN policies in Solomon Islands. The Lokol Kaikai 
Initiative, a framework for action on food security, and 
the National Food Security, Food Safety and Nutrition 
Policy both consider the fisheries sector as one of the 
main pillars. For the latter policy, fisheries stakeholders 
have been actively engaged as members in the 
working committee overseeing its implementation.
Making progress in a multisectoral environment is 
challenging, and more needs to be done to bridge the 
gap between policy design and actual implementation. 
However, these examples provide promising evidence 
of ongoing changes in terms of FSN policy and 
planning, and show that integration has already begun.
BOX 21
NOT LEAVING FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE BEHIND IN MULTISECTORAL POLICIES
FOR FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION
1
Bell, J.D., Johnson, J.E., Ganachaud, A.S., Gehrke, P.C., Hobday, A.J., Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Le Borgne, R., Lehodey, P., Lough, J.M., Pickering, T., Pratchett, M.S. & Waycott, M. 2011. 
Vulnerability of tropical Pacific fisheries and aquaculture to climate change: summary for Pacific island countries and territories
. Noumea, Secretariat of the Pacific Community. 394 pp.
NOTE: Low = only a mention of food security and nutrition (FSN); moderate = FSN included as an objective; and high = FSN included in objectives along with specific 
details and action items needed to meet those objectives.
SOURCE: Koehn, J.Z. 2020. 
Fishing for nutrition - improving the connection between fisheries, the food system and public health. 
University of Washington, Seattle. 
(Doctoral dissertation)
LEVEL OF INTEGRATION OF FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION IN NATIONAL FISHERIES POLICIES IN THE PACIFIC
Australia and New Zealand
Melanesia
Micronesia
Polynesia
No
Low
Moderate
High
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THE STATE OF WORLD FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE 
2020
but can also be a significant issue from a food 
security and nutrition perspective (Asche 
et al
., 
2015). In addition, lower-value small fish may be 
diverted from human consumption to feeds for 
farmed fish species, although they could have 
a greater impact in terms of food security and 
nutrition if consumed directly. 
There has been increased attention to the use of 
small fish and seaweed in value-added products 
such as snacks and seasonings, fish chutney 
and fish powders for fortifying young children’s 
foods. Small fish and fish powders are easy 
to share and mix into dishes with vegetables, 
legumes and other foods, enhancing nutrient 
bioavailability. Fish powders produced from 
grinding all parts of small fish or unused parts 
of larger fish (bones, head, eyes and viscera, 
which can account for up to 50 percent of the 
fish when processed) are micronutrient-rich 
and have been found to be highly acceptable to 
children (Bogard 
et al
., 2015). 
Communities situated at greater distances 
from waterbodies or fish farms (so-called “fish 
deserts”) may spend more money on fish; per 
capita income and fish consumption are positively 
correlated, and social norms may play into 
intra-household consumption patterns (Asche 
et al
., 2015). This underlines the importance of 
location, seasonality, socio-economic status, and 
gender in relation to access to fish as food.
The significant investment required for 
aquaculture farms, coupled with limited 
purchasing power in developing countries, 
may drive investment into export-oriented 
and lucrative aquaculture (Asche 
et al
., 2015). 
For aquaculture to create lasting solutions 
to nutrition security without exacerbating 
existing inequities in access to food and land, 
development programmes must consider the 
sociocultural dynamics of local food systems. 
Cost-sensitive production of innovative fish 
products, expansion of nutrition-sensitive 
preservation, storage and distribution of fish to 
fish deserts, and improving women’s direct access 
to fish – both economically and geographically – 
have the potential to enhance food security 
and nutrition, particularly in nutritionally 
vulnerable communities. 
There are successful cases of aquaculture’s 
orientation for food security and nutrition in 
populations with little access to fish or income 
opportunities. These include approaches such 
as pond polyculture, where nutrient-rich 
small fish for household consumption are 
grown together with higher-value large fish to 
increase household income. From a livelihoods 
perspective, capture fisheries and aquaculture 
indirectly contribute to food security through 
livelihood opportunities for almost 60 million 
people engaged in the primary sectors of 
capture fisheries (38.98 million) and aquaculture 
(20.53 million). Women account for 14 percent 
of those 60 million people, although when 
secondary-sector activities such as processing 
and marketing are considered, the total work 
force is more evenly divided. Many studies 
have demonstrated that women’s engagement 
in livelihood activities is linked to better health 
and nutrition outcomes for themselves and 
their children. 
Evidence of the positive impact of fish and 
aquatic foods on human health is prevalent 
in the scientific literature, but is not reaching 
enough decision makers, marginalizing the 
role that capture or culture fisheries can and 
should play in national food security and 
nutrition policies. If the benefits of fisheries 
and aquaculture are to be realized for food 
security and nutrition – particularly in 
nutritionally vulnerable populations – attention 
in policymaking and management must focus 
on smaller, food-critical and economically 
viable fisheries and fish farms (Bogard 
et al.
, 
2019). Better understanding of nutritionally 
vulnerable populations’ fish preferences, 
combined with improved preservation, storage 
and distribution, can re-orient fisheries and 
aquaculture for food security and ensure that 
fish is available and accessible in fish deserts. 
Data on sustainable fish food systems can be 
improved through: (i) disaggregation of nutrient 
composition data by species; (ii) inclusion of 
local and underutilized species in composition 
and consumption data; (iii) diet–environmental 
footprint analysis for various fish production 
methods; and (iv) improved reporting methods 
for inland fisheries stocks. Expanding the data 
and evidence on fish in nutritious, sustainable 
food systems has the potential to improve the