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The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released yesterday its latest report on world fisheries. The paper concludes that one in three fish caught for human consumption never reaches the plate.
Fish production in 2016 was 171 million tonnes. / Getty Images
Global fish production in 2016 was 171 million tonnes: 79 million from wild marine fisheries, 80 million from fish farming and 11 million from freshwater. Of this total, 88% was for human consumption and the remaining 12% was used to produce fishmeal and fish oils not intended for human consumption. This was revealed by the report "The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2015-2016", published yesterday by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO ).
According to the study, one in three fish caught for human consumption never reached the plate either because they returned to the sea without any life or because they rot before being eaten. "A quarter of those losses are due to unwanted releases or captures," said Manuel Barange, one of the FAO researchers. Poisonous fish, small or tasteless, that do not meet the minimum quality standards, are thrown into the sea by boats. Other losses are due to the lack of knowledge or the refrigeration and ice-making equipment needed to keep the fish fresh.
FAO also presented the results of its joint work with governments in developing countries. development to reduce these losses. "We have built better facilities to handle the crab harvest around the Indian Ocean, with losses being reduced by 40%."
Another chapter of the report shows how per capita fish consumption in the world continues to increase: while in 1961 a person ate on average 9 kilos of fish; in 2016 consumed 20.5 pounds each year. According to research, the areas where we eat the most fish are the islands of Oceania, where we record nearly 50 pounds of fish per person per year. The places where consumption is lowest are in Central Asia and the countries of Africa and Latin America without access to the sea, with just over two kilos per person and per year. By 2030, according to the FAO, the combined production of wild marine fisheries, fish farming and freshwater fisheries will reach 201 million tonnes, an increase of 18% over 2016. [19659004] today fish consumption in the world has doubled, demonstrating that this sector is crucial to achieving FAO's goal of a world without hunger and malnutrition ", FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said: "Sustainable fishing is, without a doubt, the key to reducing economic growth and the fight against poverty."
The results of the report show another growing problem "33.1% of fish stocks are exploited in an unsustainable way." This shows that the indiscriminate fishing of one-third of the species prevents their natural restocking. " This is the most negative message because making all the fishing lasted ble is practically impossible, but we are going in the opposite direction, "Manuel Barange told the newspaper El País from Spain. "The number of overexploited species has tripled in the last 40 years."
The highest levels of unsustainable catches, according to the report, are found in the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and both oceans. South America. The areas where fishing practices are best are scattered throughout the rest of the Pacific Ocean.
Finally, the FAO report reveals that the world fishery employs 60 million people and that there are 4.6 million fishing boats in the world. the planet.
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