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STORY: FAO / SOFIA 2024 FLAGSHIP REPORT
TRT: 05:57
SOURCE: FAO
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT FAO ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / SPANISH / NATS
DATELINE: 28 MAY 2024, ROME, ITALY / FILE
02 MAY 2023, IJEBU-ODE, NIGERIA
1. Drone shot, aquaculture ponds in a rural area
2. Drone shot, farmer feeding catfish
3. Close up, catfish scrambling for food
JUNE 2023, GUANGDONG PROVINCE, CHINA
4. Drone shot, aquaculture park
5. Wide shot, fish producers working in a pond of an aquaculture park
6. Wide shot, fish producers catching fish from a pond
28 MAY 2024, ROME, ITALY
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Manuel Barange, Assistant Director-General / Director, Fisheries Aquaculture Division, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO):
“We have 750 million people that are suffering from hunger today, a number that is not being reduced. We need to produce more and to produce better. And the growth in aquaculture is building up, in fact, on a stabilisation of captured fisheries. So that overtaking [by aquaculture] on capture fisheries is not because capture fisheries is decreasing in production, it’s very stable, it has been very stable for 30 years. But aquaculture continues to grow.”
2 MAY 2023, IJEBU-ODE, NIGERIA
8. Wide shot, workers in a catfish pond
9. Med shot, woman collecting catfish from a net
10. Med shot, catfish collection
11. Tilt up, woman touching catfish
12. Close up, catfish in a bucket
13. Drone shot, catfish ponds and solar panels in Ijebu-Ode
28 MAY 2024, ROME, ITALY
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Manuel Barange, Assistant Director-General / Director, Fisheries Aquaculture Division, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO):
“Aquaculture has been very successful, but 90 percent of global aquaculture is produced in Asia. Only, for example, 1.9 percent is produced in Africa. So, if we need to continue growing aquaculture properly, we need to make sure that this geographical imbalance is addressed. And some of the work that FAO will do is particularly focused on how to develop aquaculture in the places where aquaculture is not being successful or is not developing properly.”
26-29 APRIL 2022, PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN PROVINCE, THAILAND
15. Drone shot, fishing boats at sea
16. Med shot, worker in a wholesale fish market
17. Wide shot, buyers at a wholesale fish market
18. Med shot, female workers at a fish market
19. Med shot, female workers at a fish market
28 MAY 2024, ROME, ITALY
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Manuel Barange, Assistant Director-General / Director, Fisheries Aquaculture Division, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO):
“The biggest challenge is how to feed 9.7 billion people in the year 2050. We need to put our heads together and show that we have the technical elements together and the political will. We know what is needed. But you know, everyone has to walk that talk. But we are confident that we have the technical knowledge to achieve it.”
JUNE 2021, CALETA TONGOY, CHILE
21. Wide shot, fisher pulling up fishnet
22. Wide shot, fishers collecting the catch
23. Wide shot, multiple small scale fishers boats
JANUARY 2018, SAMSUN, TURKEY
24. Wide shot, aquaculture pods in sea
25. Med shot, fish farmer feeding the fish
26. Wide shot, aquaculture ponds
28 MAY 2024, ROME, ITALY
27. SOUNDBITE (English) Manuel Barange, Assistant Director-General / Director, Fisheries Aquaculture Division, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO):
"There are three main objectives of Blue Transformation. The first one is to continue growing aquaculture sustainably with the target of growing it by 35 percent by the end of this decade. The second objective is to improve fisheries management because, although capture fisheries continue to produce well, sustainability issues remain, and we have a target ensuring that 100 percent of fisheries in the marine environment and in inland waters too are subject to proper management measures. And the third objective is to develop the value chains of aquatic foods, it’s not just about what you capture or what you grow, is what you do with it. Reducing losses, adding value to the product, facilitating the access to markets and to the consumers. All those are part of a package, and that package is what we think needs to be done to make sure that the sector contributes more to ending hunger and poverty."
25 JULY 2022, QUANG NINH PROVINCE, VIET NAM
28. Wide shot, equipment in an aquaculture pond
29. Med shot, fish producer by a shrimp pond
30. Close up, shrimp
8 MAY 2019, EL MANZANO, HUALAIHUÉ, CHILE
31. Drone shot, clam harvesting area in El Manzano
32. Tracking shot, clam harvesters working
33. Pan right, clam harvesters working
34. Med shot, clam harvester
35. Close up, unearthing clams
36. Close up, clams collected by worker
28 MAY 2024, ROME, ITALY
37. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Manuel Barange, Assistant Director-General / Director, Fisheries Aquaculture Division, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO):
"Overall, we have produced 185 million tons of aquatic products [aquatic animals]. Out of those 185 million, 51 percent comes from aquaculture, and that's the first message of SOFIA. For the first time in history, aquaculture produces more aquatic food [aquatic animals], more aquatic products, than fishing. This is a success because it allows us to continue increasing the contribution of fishing and aquaculture to the fight against hunger and malnutrition, without reducing fishing, which has remained fairly constant for the last 30 years, but by increasing aquaculture production."
25 JULY 2022, QUANG NINH PROVINCE, VIET NAM
38. Wide shot, fish producer in aquaculture pond
39. Tilt up, fish producer in aquaculture pond
40. Med shot, fish producer working in aquaculture pond
41. Close up, fish producer working in aquaculture pond
28 MAY 2024, ROME, ITALY
42. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Manuel Barange, Assistant Director-General / Director, Fisheries Aquaculture Division, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO):
"Aquaculture is expanding in all countries, but 90 percent of the production occurs in Asia, primarily in China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and India. Only three countries in the top ten producers are non-Asian. This indicates the need to enhance production in regions where aquaculture is not yet prevalent. For instance, in Latin America, only 3.3 percent of global production originates from these countries. Therefore, it's imperative to collaborate more closely with these nations, supporting them in legal infrastructure, policy development, knowledge transfer, and capacity building to bolster production."
22 JANUARY 2024, CILACAP, JAVA PROVINCE, INDONESIA
43. Drone shot, aquaculture ponds in rural area
World fisheries and aquaculture production has hit a new high, with aquaculture production of aquatic animals surpassing capture fisheries for the first time, according to a flagship report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released today (7 Jun).
The 2024 edition of The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) said global fisheries and aquaculture production surged to 223.2 million tonnes, a 4.4 percent increase from 2020.
In terms of aquatic animal production, aquaculture surpassed capture fisheries for the first time with 94.4 million tonnes or 51 percent of the world total.
This trend offers a promising path towards tackling global hunger while safeguarding oceans, said Manuel Barange, FAO Assistant Director-General and Director of the Fisheries Aquaculture Division
Barange said, “We have 750 million people that are suffering from hunger today, a number that is not being reduced. We need to produce more and to produce better. And the growth in aquaculture is building up on, in fact, a stabilisation of captured fisheries. So that overtaking of capture fisheries is not because capture fisheries is decreasing in production, it’s very stable, [it] has been very stable for 30 years. But aquaculture continues to grow.”
Global apparent consumption of aquatic animal foods reached 165 million tonnes in 2022.
This figure has increased at nearly twice the rate of the world population since 1961, with global per capita annual consumption rising from 9.1 kg in 1961 to 20.7 kg in 2022.
Aquaculture growth shown in the SOFIA report indicates the sector can further contribute to meeting the rising global demand for aquatic foods, but future expansion and intensification must prioritise sustainability and benefit regions and communities most in need.
At present, a small number of countries dominate aquaculture. Ten of them (China, Indonesia, India, Viet Nam, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Norway, Egypt, and Chile) produced over 89.8 percent of the total.
Targeted policies, technology transfer, capacity building and responsible investment are crucial to boost sustainable aquaculture where it is most needed, especially in Africa, stressed Barange.
Barange, said, “Aquaculture has been very successful, but 90 percent of global aquaculture is produced in Asia. Only, for example, 1.9 percent is produced in Africa. So, if we need to continue growing aquaculture properly, we need to make sure that this geographical imbalance is addressed. And some of the work that FAO will do is particularly focused on how to develop aquaculture in the places where aquaculture is not being successful or is not developing properly.”
Record production of aquatic foods underlines the sector’s potential to tackle food insecurity and malnutrition, but many issues remain unaddressed in the long term.
The 2024 SOFIA report presents scenarios for supply of aquatic animal food up to 2050. Due to the rising global population, to maintain through to 2050 the 2022 levels of pre capita consumption of aquatic animal foods it would require an increase of 22 percent in the total aquatic animal food supply.
Barange stressed that, looking ahead, this is “the biggest challenge.”
He said, “The biggest challenge is how to feed 9.7 billion people in the year 2050. We need to put our heads together and show that we have the technical elements together and the political will. We know what is needed. But you know, everyone has to walk that talk. But we are confident that we have the technical knowledge to achieve it.”
The FAO Assistant Director-General and Director of the Fisheries Aquaculture Division highlighted that the Organization’s has proposed a series of actions designed to support resilience in aquatic food systems and ensure fisheries and aquaculture grow sustainably while leaving no one behind, especially those communities that depend on the sector.
This initiative is called Blue Transformation.
This “visionary” strategy aims to enhance the role of aquatic food systems in feeding and nourishing the world’s growing population, said Barange.
He also said, "There are three main objectives of Blue Transformation. The first one is to continue growing aquaculture sustainably with the target of growing it by 35 percent by the end of this decade. The second objective is to improve fisheries management because, although capture fisheries continue to produce well, sustainability issues remain, and we have a target ensuring that 100 percent of fisheries in the marine environment and in inland waters too are subject to proper management measures. And the third objective is to develop the value chain of aquatic foods, it’s not just about what you capture or what you grow, is what you do with it. Reducing losses, adding value to the product, facilitating the access to markets and to the consumers. All those are part of a package, and that package is what we think needs to be done to make sure that the sector contributes more to ending hunger and poverty."
SOFIA is an FAO flagship report that analyses the status and health of global fishery stocks as well as trends in fisheries and aquaculture at a global and regional level.
The 2024 edition spotlights the concrete advances of Blue Transformation in action, showcasing the role of FAO, in collaboration with Members and partners, in driving change towards sustainable aquaculture expansion and intensification, effectively managed fisheries, and value chains that prioritize efficiency, safety and equity.
