Food Provision
HARVESTING SEAFOOD SUSTAINABLY
This goal measures the amount of seafood captured or raised in a sustainable way.
Seafood helps more than half the world's population meet their need for protein.
Global Goal Score
Likely Future State
Country Rankings
*The estimate of a goal’s likely near-term future status is a function of four dimensions: Status, Trend, Pressure, and Resilience.
Sub-Goals
Food
Provision is divided into two sub-goals: Wild-caught commercial seafood and
Mariculture, or ocean-farmed seafood. The more seafood
harvested or cultured sustainably, the higher the goal score. The wild-caught
commercial seafood sub-goal evaluates the ability to obtain maximal wild
harvests without damaging the ocean’s ability to continue providing fish for
people in the future. Sustainable harvest of
wild-caught seafood avoids excessively high exploitation of target species, and
does not target threatened populations. Additionally, pressures upon surrounding habitats and
high bycatch may influence the resilience of the ecosystem and, indirectly, the
productivity of the fisheries.
Sustainable
mariculture supports food provisioning needs through practices that can be
maintained over the long term. This includes not compromising the water quality
in the farmed area and not relying on wild populations to feed or replenish the
cultivated species.
Some mariculture practices,
although they do not compromise future harvests, may impact the delivery of
other goals, through habitat destruction and accidental release of non-native
species. These factors do not affect the sustainability of mariculture, but
their impact on the sustainability of other goals is captured as pressures when
assessing such goals.
Select a sub goal
to learn more
-
Wild Caught Fisheries
Why Are Wild Caught Fisheries Important?
Seafood caught in the wild is the main source of protein for more than one-fifth of the world’s population. This sub-goal evaluates the ability to obtain maximal wild harvests without damaging the ocean’s ability to continue providing fish for people in the future.
The sustainable harvest of wild-caught seafood avoids excessively high exploitation of target species and does not target threatened populations.
Additionally, high bycatch and pressures upon surrounding habitats may influence ecosystem resilience and, indirectly, the productivity of fisheries. These aspects are captured in the resilience dimension of this goal.
Global Sub-Goal Score
25
Likely Future State
+13%
*The estimate of a goal’s likely near-term future status is a function of four dimensions: Status, Trend, Pressure, and Resilience.
What Does This Score Mean?
The reference point for Fisheries is for the total landed biomass of wild-caught fish to be no more than 75% of the multispecies Maximum Sustainable Yield (mMSY). The mMSY was calculated by summing the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) for all key species.
The reference point is set 25% below mMSY to protect against the possibility that mMSY might overestimate the amount of fish that could be safely caught. It minimizes the possibility for overfishing and serves as a reference point for the maximum possible amount of fish that can be caught sustainably within a region. Countries are penalized for harvests above or below this reference level.
A score of 100 would indicate that a country’s commercial fisheries are sustainably catching a total amount of fish that is as large as it can be without jeopardizing future catches.
A low score indicates one of two things – that seafood is being caught in an unsustainable manner, or countries are not maximizing the potential to catch as much as sustainably possible within their marine waters.
Current Score
The current score of 25 indicates that most countries are significantly below their sustainable target values. Some countries are jeopardizing their future landings with unsustainable yields, while others are not producing as much wild-caught seafood as they could.
25
N/A0102030405060708090
How Is It Measured?
Each goal is evaluated on the basis of four dimensions
Present Status
Present Status is a goal's current value (based on the most recent available data) compared to a reference point.
Trend
Trend is the average percent change in the present status for the most recent 5 years of data.
Pressures
Pressures are the sum of the ecological and social pressures that negatively affect scores for a goal.
Resilience
Resilience is the sum of the ecological factors and social initiatives (policies, laws, etc) that can positively affect scores for a goal by reducing or eliminating pressures.
Pressures
Pressures are human-caused stressors that influence both ecological and social systems, negatively affecting the ability of a goal to deliver its benefits to people.
Status
Status refers to the current value of a goal relative to its goal-specific reference point. The reference point is the best condition for a goal that can reasonably be achieved; it is a target to aim for when taking actions to improve ocean health.
Resilience
Resilience refers to the social, institutional, and ecological factors that positively affect the ability of a goal to deliver its benefits to people.
References
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Review of the state of the world marine fishery resources. (Fisheries and Aquaculture, Policy and Economics Division FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department: Rome, Italy, 2011).The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture. 209 (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Rome, Italy, 2012).
-
Mariculture
Why Is Mariculture Important?
As humanity’s population continues to expand, we must increasingly rely upon new and improved methods for cultivating food on land and in the ocean. The term aquaculture refers to the cultivation in water (fresh and saltwater) of animals or plants for human consumption. Mariculture refers to the commercial harvest of seafood that is farm-raised in the ocean and along the coast.
Sustainable mariculture supports food-provisioning needs through practices that can be maintained over the long term. This includes not compromising the water quality in the farmed area and not relying on wild populations to feed or replenish the cultivated species.
Some mariculture practices, although they do not compromise future harvests, may impact the delivery of other goals through habitat destruction and accidental release of non-native species. These factors do not affect the sustainability of mariculture, but their impact upon the sustainability of other goals is captured as pressures when assessing such goals.
Global Sub-Goal Score
10
Likely Future State
+16%
*The estimate of a goal’s likely near-term future status is a function of four dimensions: Status, Trend, Pressure, and Resilience.
What Does This Score Mean?
The reference point for mariculture is the amount of fish and seafood produced per kilometer of eligible coastline in the most productive country which, at the time of study, was China. The score for each country indicates how close its current yield is to that reference point.
A high score can mean that a country is sustainably harvesting as close to the maximum amount of farmed fish and seafood as possible based on its own potential. A low score can indicate one of two things – that fish and seafood is being farmed in an unsustainable manner or that countries are not maximizing the potential to farm fish and seafood in their marine territory.
Current Score
The current score of 10 indicates that most countries are not sustainably producing the amounts of farmed fish and seafood that they potentially could.
However, it is important to note that the reference point is likely too high for most countries, due the fact that all near-shore habitat was included as "potentially suitable for mariculture". In reality, depending on the type of species cultivated, there are certain habitat requirements, but to predict them would require high resolution spatial information on habitat, currents, productivity, etc. that are not available at the global scale.
10
N/A0102030405060708090
How Is It Measured?
Each goal is evaluated on the basis of four dimensions
Present Status
Present Status is a goal's current value (based on the most recent available data) compared to a reference point.
Trend
Trend is the average percent change in the present status for the most recent 5 years of data.
Pressures
Pressures are the sum of the ecological and social pressures that negatively affect scores for a goal.
Resilience
Resilience is the sum of the ecological factors and social initiatives (policies, laws, etc) that can positively affect scores for a goal by reducing or eliminating pressures.
Pressures
Pressures are human-caused stressors that influence both ecological and social systems, negatively affecting the ability of a goal to deliver its benefits to people.
Status
Status refers to the current value of a goal relative to its goal-specific reference point. The reference point is the best condition for a goal that can reasonably be achieved; it is a target to aim for when taking actions to improve ocean health.
Resilience
Resilience refers to the social, institutional, and ecological factors that positively affect the ability of a goal to deliver its benefits to people.
References
The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture. 209 (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Rome, Italy, 2012).Trujillo, Pablo A Global Analysis of the Sustainability of Marine Aquaculture. (Resource Management and Environmental Studies: University of British Columbia, 2007).
